The fall 2023 season wrapped up last week, and one of the things we noticed is that more and more designers are crafting narratives not just with their seasonal collections but with their brand identity. It means that overarching themes extend from one season to the next, so many of the trends from spring—like gloves, shoes with embellished details, and even little socks—continued on to fall in one way or another.
This season there is both a desire to recognize the way we’re living and dressing in real life and a wish to imbue that reality with special details. It can be seen as a reaction to a world that threatens to fall apart around us—Undercover’s Jun Takahashi zeroed in on the lyrics of a song by the Specials that goes, “Enjoy yourself / It’s later than you think,” and Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada paired bridal skirts with gray cashmere sweaters as a way to emphasize the importance of love, or rather the action of committing to love. “Why should this celebration of love be for only a single day?” asked Simons.
What does all this translate to when it comes to accessories? It means that the return of the pointy toe, a symbol of a specific kind of femininity, coexists with a practical, combat-boot-inspired lace-up style. It means lady bags that dangled from an extended wrist but also oversized bags carried under your arm as a form of protection (of them or yourself, it’s not clear). It means there is no longer a reason to suffer for the sake of fashion, whether you wrap yourself in an enveloping scarf or simply refuse to give up your eyeglasses (like so many teen movies have encouraged us to do to reveal the babe within). So go ahead, indulge yourself. You deserve it.
