Meet your new fashion faves from the 2023 Dazed 100

When Alex Consani is not walking the runway for the likes of Balenciaga, Mugler, Coperni, and Ludovic de Saint Sernin – an important face for trans representation – she can be found goofing about on TikTok, where she’s better known as Miss Mawma. Never afraid to act a fool, her off-kilter videos show her extremely online humour backstage at fashion shows or terrorising the streets of New York.

The weird and wonderful world of Swedish designer Beate Karlssson has to be seen to be believed. Cutting her teeth at Parsons, Central Saint Martins, and Pyer Moss, she is currently creative director at conceptual brand AVAVAV with a simple MO: to make fashion fun. During her tenure, her collections have gone viral for their intentional mishaps – with models falling flat on their faces, breaking their heels, or having their clothes pulled off them in an instant. The clothes are just as fun too, Yeti-sized fur boots, heels sprouting toes, and a mind-boggling suit worn by Dorian Electra at the brand’s SS24 show made entirely of Post-Its.

The adorably named Dolly Baby always dreamed of becoming a model and her prayers were answered last year. Making her debut at Valentino no less, she appeared alongside catwalk heavyweights Kristen McMenamy and Anna Cleveland. Instantly recognisable for her doll-like features and tattoos – she has 47 in total, including her favourite, a teddy bear on her cheek. With an impressive debut under her belt, she quickly added Burberry, Diesel, KNWLS, Ashley Williams, and Givenchy to her roster, as well as Giambattista Valli, Iris Van Herpen, and Valentino Couture. Nobody puts Dolly Baby in a corner.

New York-based Elena Velez is among the new guard of designers emerging from the city’s fashion scene. Making her New York Fashion Week debut in 2021, her oeuvre focuses on craft and working with artisan metalsmiths, nodding to her upbringing in Milwaukee. Uninterested in ‘beauty’, her looks are often aggressively dishevelled, stained with ink and spliced open to reveal skin. For her SS24, Velez pushed this further, taking over a mud-filled warehouse in Bushwick, with the models ending up in a mucky heap.

Founded by Benjamin Barron and Bror August Vestbø, All-In first entered fashion in 2015 as an independent magazine. As the pair created one-of-a-kind upcycled pieces for shoots, fans began to notice – designer Maryam Nassir Zadeh asked to sell a unique piece in her store and stylist Lotta Volkova was the first to get her hands on one of their looks. From there, the duo have slowly turned up the dial – to keep up with their upcycled POV – garnering a cult-like following for their trinket-adorned heels and ultra-wide Level boots. With a handful of successful shows under their belt – shown off-schedule at Paris Fashion Week – it looks like their fans will be all-in in 2024.

After first sashaying onto the runway during the throes of the pandemic, South Sudanese model Ajok Daing has quickly become a pioneer for much-needed curve representation in the industry. With a quintet of Chanel appearances already under her belt – the most recent outing at its Manchester-based Pre-Fall 2024 show – she’s walked for other heavyweights including Moschino, Fendi, and Valentino as well as burgeoning names like KNWLS, Theophilio, and Sunnei.

The London-born designer first made a name for himself with his graduate collection for Central Saint Martins’ BA in Fashion Design and Marketing, photographed by Wolfgang Tillmans. Launching his eponymous label shortly after, Shinder became the latest creative to join the Fashion East line-up, presenting his debut outing at the SS24 shows in September. Sponsored by Nike, the collection featured the sensual-yet-sensible workwear he’s become known for. Giving utilitarian jackets, tops, and trousers a luxury feel, they’re queered up with plunging necklines, cutouts, and fetishistic elements. Shinder will present his sophomore collection at the AW24 shows in February.

When it comes to standout debuts, Nigerian-Brazilian designer Torishéju Dumi – the founder of label Torishéju – takes the top spot for 2023. Opened by Naomi Campbell, closed by Paloma Elsesser, and styled by Gabriella Karefa-Johnson, the collection itself nodded to her Catholic upbringing, a common theme within her work. Inspired by African mothers tying their babies to them, this manifested in classic tailoring modernised with the twist motif – mirrored by the models’ hair. Focused on sustainability, the collection was created entirely from deadstock materials, including fabric from Craig Green.

Colin Jones – Col The Doll as she’s known on Instagram – is at the forefront of new faces bringing trans representation to the runway, alongside fellow Dazed 100er Alex Consani. Continuing the work started by Teddy Quinlivan, Lea T, and icons like Tracey Norman and Connie Girl, you’ll have seen the Utahn model strutting at Maison Margiela, Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs, and Prada.

The Jamaican-Vincentian designer first grabbed our attention at Central Saint Martins’ MA show in February where he snatched up a trio of awards including L’Oréal’s Professionnel Creative Award – hand-picked by Dazed editor-in-chief Ib Kamara. His collection – entitled The Impossible Family Reunion in RPG Space – reimagined his family as video game characters, describing it as the meeting point between fantasy and afrofuturism. Imagine gargantuan puffer coats in hyper bright colours, oversized knitwear accessories, and distressed streetwear elements.

Depending on your social media platform of choice, you’ll have come across New York-based writer and fashion theorist Rian Phin on either Twitter or TikTok where she unpacks contemporary fashion and culture to a legion of fellow fanatics. A font of historical knowledge, Phin regularly revists collections from the annals of fashion – from Yohji Yamamoto AW02 to Hood By Air SS14 – offering fresh insight and comparisons to cyclical trends emerging today. More than bitesize trend recaps, her incisive POV makes sense of the complex prism of fashion and how it intersects with capitalism, misogyny, and sustainability.

New face Achol Ayor is the latest addition to the slew of South Sudanese beauties in fashion – alongside fellow Dazed 100er Ajok Daing, as well as Adut Akech, Shanelle Nyasiase, Aweng Chuol, and OG Alek Wek. After her impressive debut outing at the SS23 shows, where she walked for Miu Miu and The Row, she’s since gone on to walk at Valentino, Ferragamo, 16Arlington, and Alaïa, as well as featuring in campaigns for Balenciaga and Off-White. Expect to see more of her at the AW24 shows next year. 

Toronto-based designer Spencer Badu first launched his eponymous brand in 2015, while studying at college in Canada. The son of immigrants, his collections reflect his blended upbringing, the meeting point between his West African heritage and western pop culture. A genderless uniform – made for him, her, or them – his offering includes luxe retro streetwear, boxy outerwear, and vests in bright green, red, and yellow repping Ghana.

After graduating from Central Saint Martins in 2020, London-based, Russian designer Katya Zelenstova cut her teeth at Marc Jacobs and Burberry before launching her eponymous brand. Described as “sentimental knitwear”, her oeuvre is the meeting point of naughty and the Noughties – a mix of playful frills and sexy cutouts, with barely there crochet bras and panties for those who are more brave.

Manchester-based designer Junior Clint is the mastermind behind Clints, the sneaker-turned-streetwear brand. Self-taught, he started out making footwear in his bedroom, experimenting with techniques and materials as he went along. Pumped-up kicks with a recognisable tread, his outlook quickly expanded to include streetwear pieces too – oversized denim and outerwear that nods to the 90s hip hop scene. As we move into 2024, Clint hopes to expand his offering with a new production space.