Fashion seems to be changing for Spring/Summer 2023. The runways in New York and London showcased not only surprise modeling moments, but also striking looks commemorating the death of the Queen and the emergence of bridalwear 2.0. Yet, we’ve seen womenswear brands experimenting with menswear and vice versa.
The impeccable tailoring synonymous with five-year-old label Peter Do has always had an androgynous unisex elan. However, the brand has emphasized its menswear claim for his Spring/Summer 2023 season, with K-pop group NCT member Lee Geno opening the show.
“To complete the Peter Do universe, people have always said, ‘It’s time to launch men’s!’ “The eternal question, ‘Who is Peter De Woman?’ has always limited me. Do we only wear women or men?” she told Vogue’s Anders Christian Madsen before the show. I’m thrilled to say that Peter Doe is for everyone because it dresses people rather than it.
In London, Simone Rocha presented her Spring/Summer 2023 collection in the marble-clad halls of the Old Bailey, England’s Central Criminal Court. The product verdict that marked her most comprehensive expansion into menswear? Unanimously positive. Rocha’s menswear has been evolving for some time, but the designer told her Alice Newbold in Vogue that she “doesn’t want it to really have its own identity and proudly sit alongside women’s things.” I explained that I was waiting for
This combined Rocha’s graceful and artfully delicate designs into pieces with a more practical foundation. Button-down pinstripe trousers, nylon tracksuit bottoms with punky zippers, bomber jackets bursting with tulle ruffles, silk brocade trench coats, and ruched shirts.
Molly Goddard, who ventured into menswear in 2020, also loved pinstripes. It featured Wall Street tailoring, colorful Nordic knits and relaxed menswear such as ruffled jackets.
There’s good reason to be lucky with Feben’s Spring/Summer 2023 collection. For her sophomore show at London Fashion Her Week, the designer turned to the symbolism of the Tarot for her cards, featuring superstitious prints and literally demonicizing the details. The designer’s collection also features an expansion into menswear, incorporating her signature 3D bobble weave into her tailored pants and sleeveless dresses layered with striped shirts. Daniel W. Fletcher also experimented with womenswear silhouettes, creating an entire collection using deadstock fabrics, including seersucker shirting, flowing halter dresses, and her Brigadier jacket.
Ladies wear drumroll! Menswear brands expanded their horizons on the London catwalk. Stephen Cook – a brand synonymous with unisex dressing (note that men in miniskirts prefer it) – made its first foray into womenswear to delight its female fans.
“We wanted to express a palpable strength without abandoning femininity,” said founders Stephen Cook and Jake Burt. trendAlex Kessler before the show. Their frenetic offerings featured saucy ruffled miniskirts, loose multi-seam he denim, and t-shirts, adorned with taffeta bows inspired by Victorian jacket detailing. There was flamboyance in silhouettes inspired by generic ‘hero figures’ and court etchings of Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II I encountered in the British Museum.
SS Daley also fell in love with the concept of aristocracy for Spring/Summer 2023. His collection – his most serious expansion into womenswear to date – features a flowering garden motif, inspired by the long relationship between Sackville-West and Violet Trefusis. Gardens cultivated by Saville-West at Sissinghurst Castle. “They are both perfectly dressed in all black, with Sackville-West in a men’s tuxedo and the incredible image of them arm in arm in the South of France,” Daly explained. The collection features mannish pants with voluminous pleats, sleeveless knits, and high-necked floral gowns.
This article was originally published on Vogue.co.uk