The wild fashion moments that made 2023

In May, as usual, the Met Gala swung around, this time themed around the late Karl Lagerfeld and his years designing at Chloé, Fendi, and Chanel. Wearing Oscar De La Renta, Doja Cat paid homage to Herr Lagerfeld’s catpanion Choupette – who CBA to rub shoulders with civilians, but granted one lucky fan a selfie – appearing as a cute kittie. Lil Nas X decided to sexxx up Mme Choupx, appearing in silver body paint and a thong. Meanwhile, Jared Leto, somehow still invited, decided to give us a cursed realistic version with a detachable (!) head. The Cat in the Hat, if he didn’t slay. Despite the stiff competition, the winner of most iconic animal on the cream carpet that night went to this cockroach. And she’s the one who had to die (sob!).

Following the untimely death of Virgil Abloh in 2021, Pharrell Williams was announced as his successor at Louis Vuitton menswear – beating off rumoured stiff competition from Martine Rose and Grace Wales Bonner. Come June, Williams made his official debut with the brand’s SS24 collection. An all-out fashion Superbowl, everyone was there: including  Rihanna, Zendaya, Naomi Campbell, Megan Thee Stallion, some men from music, and Beyoncé, who came to Paris midway through her Renaissance tour. “Actions speak louder than words,” the creative proclaimed on an opening film before showing the industry (and everyone else watching), exactly why he was hired. Picking up the baton from Abloh, the collection was a visual feast, blending the past and the future, reviving the iconic Miroir bags and reinventing the monogram to create ‘Damouflage’. With a sophomore outing now under his belt – a hop over to Hong Kong for Pre-Fall – his follow-up collection for AW24 will likely (somehow) be an even bigger affair.

While there were plenty of noteworthy debuts this year, it was the dramatic exits preceding them that had us gagged. Among the adieus was Jeremy Scott, who said sayonara to Moschino after ten years, Alessandro Michele, who waved arrivederci to Gucci after two decades (seven at the helm), and Sarah Burton who departed Alexander McQueen after 26 years of service, 14 as creative director. Elsewhere, Tom Ford decided to quit Tom Ford – stepping away from his eponymous brand after 13 years. As 2024 approaches, expect big moves from these benched fashion heavyweights.

What do a pig, lizard, mouse, and rooster have in common? They all showed up at Collina Strada’s AW23 show in February. Unofficial mascots of the weird world created by New York designer Hillary Taymour, the critters were part Furry, part science experiment gone wrong concocted by make-up wizard Isamaya Ffrench. Entitled Please Don’t Eat My Friends, the collection notes politely reminded us that “humans and worms share 70 per cent of their DNA”.

Thanks to the release of Renaissance last July and the tour that followed this year, Beyoncé has had us shaking our asses like our lives depend on it. That’s without even mentioning her bonanza of a tour, with a constant rotation of looks courtesy of Loewe, Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu, Mugler, and more. But who is giving back to Beyoncé? Well, Balmain’s Olivier Rousteing. In honour of the singer’s seventh studio album, he created an entire collection just for her, with each of the 16 songs represented in a single look. A plethora of feathers, gold, crystals, and chrome, the collection was notably missing from her tour. With the long-awaited visuals, as well as promised act ii and iii still outstanding, we’ll pray these looks get the stage time they deserve.

After presenting his debut collection for Ann Demeulemeester, in May it was announced that Ludovic de Saint Sernin would be stepping away from the brand. In a breakneck speed we haven’t seen since Justin O’Shea exited Brioni in 2016 after only six months in the role as creative director, de Saint Sernin follows short stints from peers including Benjamin Alexander-Huseby and Serhat Işık who parted ways with Trussardi, and Charles de Vilmorin and Rhuigi Villasenor who stepped away from their roles at Rochas and Bally respectively. With designers given a short deadline to transform the houses they’ve been hired at, the speed of fashion’s never-ending game of musical chairs has been cranked up once again.

Gone are the 00s days in which our fave high-profile celebrities would schlep to court, just like us regular folk, showing off their modest, little brown Bebe shoes (read: not six-inch Louboutins). Gwyneth Paltrow had her moment with Miss Justice in March, when she was summoned to court after being sued – I’m being told it’s something to do with a skiing accident. More importantly: what she was wearing. At the other end of the spectrum to Naomi Campbell’s Dolce & Gabbana community service serve, Mother Goop’s trial style whispered in its wealth with inconspicuous-looking turtlenecks and plain skirts unsurprisingly toting tags from Brunello Cuccinelli and The Row.

Besides those B*g R*d B**ts that were everywhere at fashion week – more on that later – PETA was inescapable at the SS24 shows. Seemingly upping its public appearance budget, they sent out four of their cvntiest protestors available to crash a show in each city: Coach in New York, Burberry in London, Gucci in Milan, and Hermès in Paris. “Today’s conscientious consumers know that the future of fashion lies in innovative vegan materials, not in cows’ sliced-off skin,” Peta’s executive vice president Tracy Reiman said in a statement released after the Coach crasher. We’re not even going to get into what her colleague said.

Every year we unfortunately say farewell to fashion legends and 2023 was no different. In February, Paco Rabanne, the designer behind the space-age fashions of the 60s passed away at the age of 88. Then in July, Jane Birkin – OG cool French girl – died aged 76. Perhaps the most shocking loss though was that of Davide Renne, whose untimely death was announced just nine days after he started as creative director at Moschino.

What’s fashion week without a mad moment that you end up seeing on social media over and over again. No strangers to virality – you may still be reeling from SS23’s sci-fi spray-on dress on Bella Hadid – Coperni’s AW23 show featured a terrifying edition alongside the models, Boston Dynamics’ robot dogs that look straight out of an episode of Black Mirror. Significantly less homicidal, these fashion pups “danced” and held Lila Moss’ bag for her – how kind!

Ever since we survived the life-altering events of 2020/1, fashion has firmly put the pedal to the metal, with the breakneck speed of pre-pandemic life back in swing. Bringing a whole new definition of ‘fast fashion’, for AW23 Marc Jacobs appeared to be after the Guinness World Record for the shortest show ever. In a New York minute – three, to be exact – the 29 models at the designer’s off-schedule show did a lap of the New York Public Library before editors even had a chance to whip out their phones. In the ChatGPT-penned show notes, it was declared: “The Marc Jacobs fashion show mesmerised its audience with an awe-inspiring fusion of masculine tailoring and feminine elegance.” Looks like I’ll be out of a job by next season…

Hands down the best campaign image of 2023. Don’t agree? Argue with the wall!

In March, following the Oscars – in which he styled six separate looks– stylist Law Roach shocked the industry, announcing via a post on Instagram that he would be retiring imminently. “Thank you to everyone who’ve supported me and my career over the years. Every person that trusted me with their image, I’m so grateful for you all,” the now-deleted post read. “If this business was just about clothes I would do it for the rest of my life but unfortunately, it’s not! The politics, the lies and the false narratives finally got me! You win… I’m out.” In an interview that followed with The Cut, the stylist outlined the poor treatment he has faced over the years as a Black creative working in the industry. While we’ve since seen him make appearances himself on the red carpet, other than his ongoing partnership with Zendaya, it appears Roach has hung up his styling shoes.

The perils of modern dating are well-documented and the streets these days are lawless. But who knew that amid ghosting, catfish, and cheaters you’d also have to watch out for fashion thieves? As New Yorker Lexus found out when meeting a guy on Tinder, not only did her bae already have a boo, but to add insult to injury, he had also swiped her Margiela Mary-Jane Tabis to gift to his significant other and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Thanks to TikTok sleuths, the Tabi Swiper was identified and Lexus was later reunited with her babies. Lesson learned: Lock. Up. Your. Tabis. A24 movie on the saga next year?

At NYFW’s AW23 shows in February, the undoubtable street style star of the season was a pair of big, cartoony, red rubber boots courtesy of MSCHF – the New York-based brand that previously brought you a microscopic purse and Lil Nas X’s blood-filled ‘Satan Shoes’. When we say that everyone was wearing them, we mean everyone – your grandmother even had a pair. While the months since have seen new iterations – including a more modest black pair, and the more terrifying Croc hybrid – the hysteria passed almost as quickly as it came on. Can’t wait for our ancestors to discover them in a landfill site in 1,000 years time!

In June, beloved designer Christopher Kane announced the shuttering of his eponymous label after 15 years. From his standout Central Saint Martins graduate collection in 2006, Kane was at the forefront of London’s new wave of young talent and over the years peddled off-kilter wonders from crystallised Crocs and gorilla prints to highlighter neon lace. A testament to the gruelling task of longevity for designers today, Kane’s purview is sadly missing from London Fashion Week, but his legacy lives on.

In perhaps one of the most tone-deaf fashion moments of the year – and there were some big contenders – everyone’s least favourite fast fashion giant Shein attempted to rehabilitate its image by inviting influencers to its ‘Innovation Centre’ in China. Offering a behind-the-scenes look at its production, the trip was filmed for Shein 101 – a web docuseries. Unsurprisingly, there was backlash, with critics condemning the attendees for endorsing the company’s work ethos despite previous reports revealing claims of forced labour, low wages, and dangerous materials and conditions. Shein refutes this, claiming that it is “committed to transparency,” but the jury is still out.

With the ushering in of quiet luxury this year, the showmanship and excess we’ve been accustomed to at fashion week was amiss – look no further than Sabato de Sarno’s stripped-back Gucci debut. It was a famine of beauty, our eyes were starving. Then came designer and Dazed 100er Elena Velez’s SS24 show. Staged in a a Brooklyn warehouse, models paced menacingly around a mud pit before ending up in a full-on brawl in their looks. More of this next season please!

Putting her own twist on Princess Di’s Christina Stambolian revenge dress, a post-breakup Shakira turned up at the AW23 Couture shows wearing a subtle white trench fromViktor & Rolf’s AW08 collection. But what was the giant diamante-studded ‘NO’ in response to? ‘Should I text my ex? Can I afford to drop £5k on the SSENSE sales? Do I want to return to work in the new year?’ The options are endless…