(Image credit: getty images,
From oversized knickers to exotic chic and inflatable fashion, here are some of the year’s most fascinating, playful and controversial looks, writes Daisy Woodward.
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Last year, a slew of apparel trends spanning everything from barbiecore to oversized suits proved that after two years spent in indoor loungewear, we were ready to embrace more eccentric ways of expressing ourselves in apparel. .
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And this year, it seems, we’ve only gathered steam, gravitating toward the absurd, the exotic, the attention-grabbing, and the flesh-flashing. Here, as 2023 comes to a close, we consider some of its most extreme trends on and off the runway, from the playful and provocative to the clownish and controversial.
The clown-like, gaunt shoe trend was one of the most fun but absurd looks of the year (Credit: Getty Images)
1. Giant Shoes
Cartoonishly clampy footwear has been one of the year’s most attention-grabbing trends, starting with the launch of US label MSCHF’s “big red boot” in February. The eye-catching, Astro Boy-channeling boot went viral on TikTok, proving to be a hit with celebrities like Lil Nas X and Iggy Azalea. Since then, the craze has grown even bigger, with high fashion brands like Marni, Prada, Loewe and Proenza Schouler introducing their own offerings of ridiculously oversized, “clowncore” shoes. Evoking everything from manga to Joker, 70s disco looks to the Spice Girls’ platform trainers, the growing popularity of big shoes has meant a collective feeling of nostalgia and a desire to stand out. Read more about it here.
Julia Fox was on trend at New York Fashion Week in her extreme cutout ensemble (Credit: Getty Images)
2. Excessive cutouts
Cutout dresses – garments with strategically cut sections designed to reveal the skin underneath – first emerged in the 1930s, but it wasn’t until the 1990s when designers like Thierry Mugler and Tom Ford embraced the trend. But noticed, that it really came into play. The latest iteration of the cutout craze has reached full fruition in 2023, rendering exposed abs and framed belly buttons part of contemporary design clothes. Julia Fox has presented some of the most stunning examples this year, including her all-leather ensemble from The Uncommunist, complete with buttocks-exposing circular cutouts and a ponytail. Meanwhile brands including Diesel, Laquan Smith and Ann Demeulemeester all sent models down the autumn/winter 2023 runways with large chunks of skin on display.
Bleached brows go mainstream in 2023 – with a trending look on TikTok (Credit: Getty Images)
3. bleached eyebrows
One of the beauty industry’s most divisive trends, the bleached brow — which has gone mainstream this year — makes a particularly bold (or should we say bald) statement. It was the Elizabethan era, when a high, open forehead was visible two magazinesAccording to researcher Rachel Gibson at W Magazine, the modern take on the “no brow” aesthetic gained popularity in the 1990s. Championed by club kids and models alike, the fad was seen by some as the ultimate anti-aesthetic claim, while others embraced its androgynous edge. Last year, celebrities (notably Kendall Jenner at the Met Gala) and fashion houses (think Versace and Marc Jacobs) reached for bleach once again, while this year you’ve seen the trend gain mass appeal, As evidenced by the abundance of TikToks. Tutorials on the topic: Searches for “bleached brows” have been viewed more than 124 million times on the platform.
The tulle ball gown was worn at unexpected angles at Viktor & Rolf’s catwalk show (Credit: Getty Images)
4. Catwalk Chaos
When you can’t calm the storm, embrace it: That was the message behind two of 2023’s most memorable runway glasses. For their Haute Couture Spring/Summer 2023 show, Dutch design duo Viktor & Rolf presented a “parade of dreamy, romantic tulle ball gowns”, freeing themselves from the models’ bodies as the show progressed. Started – some turned outwards, others turned exactly the opposite. Dubbed a “Late-Stage Capitalism Waltz,” the collection poked fun at fashion’s penchant for embellishment, while showcasing the breathtaking skill required to create haute couture creations. AVAVAV designer Beat Carlsson similarly chose chaos for the presentation of her autumn/winter collection in Milan, where heels and bag straps snapped and broke, dresses appeared sharply torn and beads took over the fashion trend. Scattered down the catwalk in a playful criticism of. Take yourself very seriously.
This year you’ve seen double (or even triple) denim appreciation (Credit: Getty Images)
5. Double denim
If you thought double denim reached its peak in the 2000s, when Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake stepped out in their matching blue-on-blue ensembles, think again. This trend has reasserted itself with a vengeance in 2023, with surprisingly high results. Marine Serre, Versace, DSquared2, Stella McCartney and others have championed all-denim outfits in their various collections, which look both cool and sophisticated when executed well. This craze is compounded by the growing appreciation for all things cowboy this year, from the rise of the “Coastal Cowgirl” trend, a beach-meets-Western aesthetic, to the Business of Fashion’s revelation that US and UK retailers will be selling it in 2023. Introduced 240 percent more new styles. The number of cowboy boots (see below) and denim shirts is up from last year.
Doja Cat wore a crystal-studded look in January – setting the ethereal tone for the year (Credit: Getty Images)
6, ethereal chic
For those with more ethereal tastes, supernatural jewelery is all the rage in 2023. Doja Cat caused a stir in January by arriving at the Schiaparelli Haute Couture Autumn/Winter 2023 show looking like she’d been dropped from a luxury spaceship. , her entire face, head and torso were covered in 30,000 red Swarovski crystals. At Thom Browne autumn/winter 2023, a series of alien-channeling models strutted down the runway in planet-spangled dresses and headwear, sporting ultra-long, curly finger and toe nails – one of the season’s most extreme beauty moments, Otherworldly beings along with Rick Owens’ group were wearing contact lenses, which had darkened their pupils.
Emma Corrin designed sequin knickers for Miu Miu; Underwear as outerwear was the key look of 2023 (Credit: Getty Images)
7. Underwear as outerwear
Reversing tradition, shorts have been officially recognized as fashionable outerwear in 2023. Ever the influencer, Kendall Jenner was one of the early pioneers of this trend, causing half a frenzy when she stepped out in an underwear-over-tights look from Bottega. Veneta’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection late last year. Miuccia Prada took the trend a step further by putting panties front and center at the Miu Miu Autumn/Winter 2023 runway show, and it was soon followed by everyone from Tom Ford and Victoria Beckham to Gucci and Acne. In fact, according to a Vogue Runway report, 38 percent of designers exhibiting at Paris Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024 included panties in their collections.
Moschino’s attention-grabbing “inflation chic” brought exaggerated shapes to the catwalk (Credit: Getty Images)
8. Big shapes
Echoing the ongoing craze for maximalism, dramatic shapes have proven another key look this year. This extends from oversized silhouettes – like the flared hip-exerting hoop skirts in the Dior Spring/Summer 2023 collection or the puffy shearling in Gucci’s statement coats for Autumn/Winter 2023 – to dramatic details. For example, the long, uber-pointed collars that punctuate Prada’s autumn/winter 2023 menswear collection or, most eye-catching, the neckline, hemline and plunging neckline on Jeremy Scott’s already sculptural dress for Moschino spring. Shapely inflatable pool toys envisioned as decoration/summer 2023.
Cowboy Boots Crocs were an unexpected hit this year (Credit: Crocs)
9. cowboy boots crocs
In a release that no one expected, Crocs caused a stir late last month when they launched their rubbery take on the cowboy boot. With the brand’s familiar clog-shaped toe, the black boot reflects 2023’s prevalent Western aesthetic, featuring “high-shine croc-embossed textures and bold Western-inspired tailoring,” interspersed with spur charms. . This is the second major boot moment for Crocs this year — in August they paired up with MSCHF for “The Big Yellow Boot,” which, as mentioned earlier, is a stripped-down version of its big red predecessor, which itself Is proving to be hot. The most fantastical fixture of the year.
Dua Lipa was among the glamorous celebrities who opted for a daring, ultra-sheer look this year (Credit: Getty Images)
10. transparent fabric
With 2023 officially confirmed as the year we decide to endure everything, sheer dresses are one of this year’s most ubiquitous style choices. Ranging from slightly sheer to completely translucent, diaphanous dresses, tops and skirts have dominated the runways and red carpets for the likes of Alaia, Acne, Bottega Veneta and beyond, and everyone from Dua Lipa and Kate Moss to Florence Pugh and Rihanna. Are visible on. Meanwhile, rising Albanian designer Nancy Dojaka, one of the trend’s most popular pioneers, has provided a reimagining of the wardrobe staple in delicate organza and tulle, resulting in some of its most wearable, yet fashion-forward examples Are.
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