The Key Autumn/Winter 2023 Trends To Know Now | British Vogue
The biggest autumn/winter 2023 fashion trend? Not clothes, but a pose – or a clutch, to be precise. At Giorgio Armani, the models clutched powder compacts.
meaningful gesture
The biggest autumn/winter 2023 fashion trend? Not clothes, but a pose – or a clutch, to be precise. At Giorgio Armani, the models clutched powder compacts; at Ann Demeulemeester, they clutched their breasts. From the model clasping her crimson edge-to-edge coat at The Row, to the girls illuminated by the glow of the iPhones clamped in their palms at Courrèges, to the woman grasping her ivory liquid-silk dress round her shoulders like she’d just stepped out the shower at Loewe, the <anchor>meaningful gesture</anchor> was everywhere. All conspired to make the autumn/winter catwalks in New York, London, Milan and Paris feel a little more human.
Fall 2023 Was the Season of the Gesture | Vogue
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# Fall 2023 Was the Season of the Gesture

March 29, 2023

Fall 2023 Was the Season of the Gesture

Altuzarra, Miu Miu, Richard Quinn, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten, Courrèges.

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Actions speak louder than fashion choices. While our style has much to say about us—who we are, what we do, how we live—the way we wear our clothes makes a more profound statement. At the fall 2023 collections, designers reconnected with craft, leaving viral gimmicks aside. Both the actual runways and the collections that came down them were formal and pared-back, prioritizing earnestness over frivolity, and intentionality over apathy. But these hushed collections weren’t entirely voiceless. In lieu of loud clothes came subtle gestures: clutched lapels, phones grasped in both hands, cupped breasts, self-embraces. Fall 2023 was the season of the gesture, but what do these gestures mean?

A model clutches a silk cape at Loewe, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.

Back in September 2020, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons put on their first Prada show (it was the height of the pandemic, so it was a virtual show, released online). Among the reissued archive prints and the pointy-toed slingback kitten heels, one of its main takeaways was its coats, which the models clutched to their chests. As Nicole Phelps’s review pointed out, the gesture looked simultaneously like Mrs. Prada—see her many bow shots over the years—and like Simons, who had employed it at Jil Sander back in 2012. They were timely, too. We don’t need to revisit the early months of the pandemic to remember that it was a moment when we sought comfort and protection.

This season, everyone from The Row to Palomo Spain revisited the clutch coat gesture, but three years later it means other things. At Dries Van Noten, it seemed to be about not letting the world in and giving it less of yourself. As Sarah Mower wrote in her review of the show, the Belgian designer “was particularly concerned with the up-close.” The introspective motion made his clothes feel as personal as ever—“the opposite of showing off,” he said.

The Row, resort 2023.
Photo: Courtesy of The Row

Richard Quinn, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Daniele Oberrauch / Gorunway.com

Dries Van Noten, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Alessandro Lucioni / Gorunway.com

Altuzarra, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

Palomo Spain, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

Burberry, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Courtesy of Burberry

Willy Chavarria, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Laura S. Fuchs / Courtesy of Willy Chavarria

Jason Wu, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.
Photo: Filippo Fior / Gorunway.com

At Richard Quinn and Jason Wu, the same motion was a way to lure us in, opera coats held tight to evening dresses read as coy invitations to find out more. Joseph Altuzarra, for his part, responded to the gesture’s nonchalance. “It hints at a sort of old world couture kind of feeling, but there’s also something natural about it,” he said. “We all do it, which I think lent the looks a feeling of being anchored in reality.” He’s right: If there’s romance in the movement, there’s also something primal about the way we clutch our coats when a sudden wind chill comes our way.

Nicolas Di Felice was thinking about human instinct too when he sent models down his Courrèges runway holding phones. He even added slits to the torso of jackets so they could access their devices more easily. The design decision highlighted our disconnect with the world around us. “I don’t judge,” he said, “but I question it, and I wanted to try to reflect on it.”

Texting and walking at Courrèges, fall 2023 ready-to-wear.

At his Ann Demeulemeester debut, Ludovic de Saint Sernin had his models cross their arms over their bare breasts, “almost like a dove,” he said, nodding to Demeulemeester’s love for feathers and his own  longing to spread his wings at the house. It was a callback to the closing look at a spring 2003 Demeulemeester show, though her model was holding her arms over her chest in a strong but modest motion, while de Saint Sernin’s models cupped their breasts. This subtle change hints at the young designer’s sex-positive perspective, but it’s also an indicator of the way fashion has undressed and uber-sexualized women since the pandemic—there is a point to be made here about the nuances between the male and female gazes.

Backstage at Ann Demeulemeester.
Acielle StyleDuMonde

Ann Demeulemeester, spring 2003 ready-to-wear.
Shoot Digital for Style.com

At Miu Miu models held their handbags in the bend of their elbows, projecting a certain primness. But look more closely at their frizzy up-dos and punk-ish no-pants looks, and what Miuccia Prada seemed to be up to was rethinking what “acting like a lady” means in 2023.

Do you wear your jackets draped over your shoulders? Do you pop your collar when a chilly breeze grazes your neck? Fashion at its purest is a form of expression, and these motions are performances we put on to communicate through our clothes. The next time you clutch your coat or pocket your hands, check your mood—it all comes down to body language, and you’re speaking more loudly than you think.

Emma Corrin closes the Miu Miu fall 2023 ready-to-wear show.



José Criales-Unzueta is a Fashion News Writer at Vogue Runway, where they cover designers, collections, and industry news with a focus on menswear and queer and digital cultures. Prior to Vogue, they were a contributor at i-D and wrote for Business of Fashion, PAPER, and more. José became a writer following a career as a designer working for... Read more

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