This season, we are breaking down the autumn/winter 2023 collections with a new franchise, The Fashion Week Cheat Sheet. After speaking to designers about their inspiration, their hero pieces, the faces on the catwalk and the names on the front row, we present everything you need to know about AW23.
On the final day of New York Fashion Week, Michael Kors presented his autumn/winter 2023 collection, one which he defined as ‘Urban Bohemia’.
The designer showed in Greenwich village, the neighbourhood he lived in as a teenager, and which partly inspired this collection. Kors came of age in the 1970s, and so it is the icons of this day which he felt particularly influenced by when he sat down to design this season, perhaps most notably, Gloria Steinem, who was sat on the front row.
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The collection was filled with references to the Seventies, and it was one designed to dress not just one generation, but the various age groups which now make up his growing customer base.
“I have been doing this for so long, we have three generations of clients, which is incredible,” Kors said backstage this week. “In the show, we have a variety of sizes and ages – from teenage to 50 years old, size two to size 16 – and for me, that’s the pleasure of being a designer, dressing this great group of women. I don’t think it’s a trend. Everyone has to stop thinking that it’s a trend to dress people of different ages and sizes, it should never be a trend, it’s part of our job.”
Theme and inspiration
“The world influencer means one thing in today’s world, but I was really thinking about the things that influenced me when I was coming of age in the 1970s. I was thinking about the women who influenced me, the neighbourhood which influenced me, Greenwich Village, which was the perfect combination of big city glamour and bohemia, it was urban bohemia.”
Kors explained that he looked to those women who intrigue him, those who “despite being strong, powerful and smart, are happy to admit that they enjoy fashion”. Some of these women include his mother – whom he describes as “an athlete and feminist” – as well as Gloria Steinem (“a remarkable woman in every sense”). He also name-checked Yoko Ono, Tina Turner, Cher, Lena Horne, Jane Fonda, Ali McGraw and Aretha Franklin as women who fit this mould.
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The collection was clearly inspired by the Seventies – there was plenty of fringing, shaggy shearling coats, lots of suede, big shades, beautiful capes, Studio 54-inspired sequins, jumpsuits and tiny shorts, which were paired with knee-high boots.
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One piece stood out most clearly though, and that was the hip belt, which punctuated many of the outfits. “This belt is very much a modernist take on Gloria’s silhouette, something low-slung, which I showed a version of 19 years ago. I have always believed in the pieces that change your outfit, change your spirit, change your proportion.”
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And, the coats were key: “My customers are big city, whether that’s Tokyo, Shanghai, Milan, London. In the city, it is all about a fabulous tailored coat, your coat is your message…The first thing in an urban wardrobe should be a coat that stops traffic.”
“A friend of mine works in a hair salon in Park Avenue, and he said that the women wearing leggings have got to stop. I said, well, ‘If you have to wear leggings, then wear an amazing coat, if you have to wear gym kit, wear a fabulous coat – that’s what really becomes your personality.'”
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Hero pieces
“Don’t ask me for one piece! To name a few key items though, definitely something with slashes, a skirt or dress that has movement, fringe, something that moves! Definitely a hip belt, certainly something in suede or shearling. Pants that you can move in, whether a jumpsuit or a trouser and cashmere, cashmere, cashmere.”
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Who was there?
Gloria Steinem, Kate Hudson, Katie Holmes and Mindy Kaling sat on the front row alongside New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Lea Michele, Ellen Pompeo, Dahyun Kim, Feifei Wang, Isabelle Adjani, Beatrice Grannò and Simona Tabasco.
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Meanwhile, Amber Valletta, Irina Shayk, Liya Kebede, Adut Akech and Vittoria Ceretti were some of the big names to walk the runway.
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Trend takeaways
What might this collection mean for your wardrobe? If you dare, it could be time to re-embrace the low-slung ‘Gloria’ belt. Invest in cashmere coats, capes and Seventies touches – fringing, slashes and fabulous flared trousers you can dance in.
Head here for more from New York Fashion Week and the autumn/winter 2023 collections.