Hot off the runway...here's our concise guide to the six most wearable catwalk trends you need to know about this spring

This Spring's catwalks featured a number of creative interpretations of highly wearable trends in including bold florals, bright whites and indigo denims

I don’t know about you, but I like to think of this time of year as a clean slate – a time to revitalise and detox, for spa treatments and a good wardrobe refresh.  As the first snowdrops and crocuses appear in our gardens and the green spaces around, and the evenings get noticeably lighter, suddenly things feel more optimistic. Naturally we're inclined to start to think forward to sunnier, warmer and more social times ahead. So it's no surprise that the first fashion and trend guides for Spring 2023 are already starting to appear, packed with images of extraordinary catwalk creations that for most of us, often seem a little dislocated and out of reach. Here at Ridley we're all about flattering wearability, and if you diligently sift through all of the glossies, social media feeds and influential editorials a few key ideas and accessible trends stand out. We've analysed, reflected and compressed this into our concise guide of the most wearable key trends you need to know about for Spring and summer 2023.

Macro Trends

Across the fashion press, editors and stylists are encouraging readers to take a more environmental view of their wardrobes and wherever possible to cleverly re-cycle old pieces by re-styling and adding new accessories. Here at Ridley, we’ve always been about shopping smart and with the environment in mind. This is why our ethos is centred on manufacturing high-quality garments of natural fibres to create ‘forever pieces.’ It also happens to be in keeping with the three overarching ‘macro’ trends this season.

With the environment and the cost of living crisis very much in mind, the fashion cognoscenti are moving away from hype fashion, heavily dependent on logos and overt statements in favour of ‘quiet luxury.’ From a consumer perspective, this has seen a rise in brands with a mission to produce garments of high quality, craftsmanship and heritage as opposed to ‘loud fashion,’ which is centred on social class or status and are often off the radar but spotted by the well-trained eye. As Melisa Barbieri for Forbes describes it, 

‘Looking anonymously chic… (believing) that less is often more and carefully selecting products that are about beauty, craftsmanship and quality. Wearing coded luxury items is a low-key mode of camouflaging while still asserting status and wealth in other subtle ways.’

In this period of economic uncertainty, forecasts for Spring 2023 are a deliberate rebuke to the high-octane frivolity of previous seasons. Just as the King has sensitively scaled back plans for the coming coronation, fashion is trending to a more subdued elegance. So it’s no surprise, that this season features a strong ‘utility’ aesthetic. Not only will we be seeing numerous pockets, zippers and hard wearing fabrics with the continued preference for cargo trousers (as part of the Y2K trend), but utility-inspired pieces will feature. This harks the return of the occasion piece, conceived to help the buyer curate their purchases for their personal schedule.

The last overarching trend stems from last season’s purposeful attempt by many brands towards inclusivity by featuring plus-size models and those with proportions common to the average person. For Spring, silhouettes are cut to flatter the average woman and not just the catwalk models, which has always been central to what we do here at Ridley. And with this in mind, we’ve scoured the catwalk coverage and influencer coverage to give you a concise insight into the 7 most wearable trends you need to know about for spring 2023.

 

1. Diaphanous Dreamer

Across the board on the catwalk, nearly every collection featured transparent pieces and sheer layering ensembles with the top brands in silk. Marie Claire’s Zoe Anastasiou wrote, 

‘It was the season of see-through, as sheer and transparent looks appeared all over the Spring/Summer 2023 runways. According to TagWalk, an estimated 77% of designers included transparent looks in their collections, further solidifying the trend’s prominence.’ 

This trend spans from the casual layering of silk separates to dresses and capes. The sheer fabrics in pastel colours serve to bring a delicate vibrancy in concert with the seasonal transition from woollen wear. Victoria Beckham embraced sheer with dresses of varying hemlines and seam embellishments. Additionally, some of her dresses meshed solid and patterned transparent fabric for a rich textured look. Blumarine draped sheer fabrics in muted colours with ruching and fabric flower adornments in dresses with asymmetric hems, whilst Miu Miu incorporated sequins on pale pastel separates. Ridley’s Lilian dress in silk chiffon is not only bang on trend, but the silhouette flatters every body type and the high neck and covered buttons add a subtle elegance and diversity of wear.

Sheer fabrics were the most obvious trend of the Spring 2023 catwalk shows. Alexander McQueen opted for bright statement colours as in the citrine transparent midaxi above left, whilst Victoria Beckham layered lavender in degrees of sheerness for an ethereal effect (right). Below, Miu Miu added sparkle in transparent separates and (bottom right) Blumarine draped sheer silk with ruching and floral embellishments. (Below) here at Ridley we've introduced a number of beautiful sheer fabrics into this spring collection, shown here in the new Lillian dress

 

2. First Blush

Of the selected colours for the season, the standout is soft pink hues. As Charlie Teather of Glamour explained, ‘2022’s obsession with all things fuchsia makes way for a softer, pastel take on pink.’ From peachy pink to crystal rose, the muted pinks were ubiquitous on the catwalk.

“Soft, feminine pink has really made a comeback and for good reason, it's a colour affiliated with love, nurturing, and self-care - all of which are much needed in this post-pandemic world,” says celebrity stylist Miranda Holder.

Standouts at the show were Chloe’s pleated separates in a soft peachy pink and Acne’s soft pink evening dress with piping on blocking and unconventional seams. Victoria Beckham’s barely pink midi dresses were both delicate and refined and Stella McCartney followed the trend in the form of a nearly candy-floss pink jumpsuit. While a subtle spectrum of soft pinks runs through this season’s Ridley collection, the Lyra shirt dress for early Spring in dusty pink needle cord is an on-trend utility piece that adapts this pretty trend into comfortable and versatile daywear, working perfectly with trainers, or heels.

 

Think Pink: Victoria Beckham's barely pink midaxi (left) featured subtle draping techniques like ruching, Chloe (middle) wowed us with peachy pinks with pleating and sheer layering. Acne Studio (right), graced the catwalk with soft pink evening dresses replete with blocking and piping. The new Ridley London spring collection contains an array of Pastel colours in a variety of shades as shown here (from left to right) our needlecord Lyra dress in Dusky pink, the cropped Lizzie jacket in satin paired here with an Olivia blouse in the pink lemon blossom print, and the new Louisa shirt dress in the petal pink Christelle tree cotton Liberty print

 

3. Mood Indigo

Yes, you can wear denim on denim and prepare to see a lot of it. The key to working denim on denim is to choose items of similar washes but different silhouettes (one fitted, one baggy). Devotees of western blue will have their sartorial dreams come true with the season’s makeover of Y2K. Low-waisted, studded, distressed and sand washed, the catwalks were awash with denim. 

"Few things are more perennially classic than denim. This season, designers up the ante on their fascination with classic blue jeans as they tapped a decidedly '90s oversized, slouched, deconstructed mood, and doubled down on their enthusiasm for the trend by offering multiple denim-on-denim full looks that felt simultaneously nostalgic yet directional for next spring," says the editor-in-chief at LuisaViaRoma, Kate Davidson Hudson.

Most of the collections featured denim in oversized jackets, dresses, midi skirts and maxis. Jeans in two tones, puddle hems and barrel hems along with cargos prevailed. Givenchy mixed acid wash denim with traditional in a deliberately distressed midi skirt while Blue Marine studded an oversized jean jacket worn over a denim mini skirt. Altuzara’s denim maxi skirt featured multiple floating cords and Chloe showed a studded denim opera coat over a denim crop top with studded jeans in a barrel hem. Ridley’s Spring collection features denim pieces, including our new Louisa shirt dress which highlights feminine details for balance in ruffles on the collar, down the front bust seam and with covered buttons down the front.

As Henrik Lische wrote for Vogue ‘The Takeaway? If you buy one thing for Spring, make it something denim.’

 

Denim was an integral part of every collection with Altuzara's denim maxi skirt (top left), Bella Hadid in Givenchy's denim mid skirt (top right), denim on denim from Chloe (bottom left) and Blumarine (bottom right). (below) our new Ridley London Louisa shirt dress in on-trend denim and a Carmen maxi skirt paired with a needlecord blazer and carina blouse

Flower Power

A floral dress for spring is always a safe bet, but this year’s florals are supercharged and graphic. Prints are bolder with high-octane head-to-toe contrasting backgrounds and superficial adornments for a 3D effect. The catwalk saw a plethora of floral appliques to enhance printed designs as well as voluminous floral embellishments to a theatrical effect. 

As Charlie Teather of Glamour put it, ‘She may have slandered them in 2006, but even Miranda Priestly would find these florals ‘groundbreaking.’

Dior showed printed skirts in a mashup of ditzy prints, whilst Chanel went bold with maxi skirts in abstract floral prints for a splash of colour and visual movement. Ralph Lauren showed an homage to 1950s chintz in midi dresses accessorised with western attire. Of particular note, was Gian Batista Valli’s beautiful large lily print evening dress, which looked as though it was hand-painted. Ridley London’s Spring collection features a number of on-trend bold new florals as well as slightly softer graphic floral prints. Absolutely on trend is the bold botanical print in citrine linen for this season’s Deborah maxi skirt. Tropical florals with shading against a black background force the petals to pop in a three-dimensional like orchestration of vibrancy.

Florals from ditzy prints to bold tropicals and floral embellishments dominated the catwalk. Dior debuted a mash-up of ditzy florals in separates, (left), Ralph Lauren showed chintz florals in midi dresses (middle), and Chanel went graphical in abstract florals on maxi skirts. (below) bold florals are a big feature of the Ridley London collection this spring as shown here by the Deborah maxi skirt in the citrine Iris Liberty print and the statement Virginia maxi dress in the bold Marian print.

 

5. Blank Slate

Nothing says Spring better than wearing white. Symbolising renewal, purity and hope, white and its various shades is a mood lifter. This trend is inspired by Y2K and the transition of minimalist fashion from black to white after 9/11. Creativity abounds as some designers decided to embrace the moment by creating avant-garde variations of the classic white shirt.

It seems this season is upping the ante when it comes to wearing whites, forging newfound design methods and experimenting with untraditional fabrics for the season,’ explains Rebecca Rhys-Evans, branded content editor at Who What Wear UK.

Noteworthy was Akris’s white pleated midi dress, Coperni’s off-the-shoulder white midi dress and Ralph Lauren’s tiered midi with floral detail. Zimmerman showed beautiful maxi dresses with knotting and knit bauble detailing. In a similar vein to that of Lauren and Zimmerman, Ridley features a white lace midaxi dress with  high neck and tiered hem. As the delicate lace peaks through the cuffs, neckline escaping the hemline, the dress has a feminine - almost ethereal feel for transition to warmer days.

The stand-out looks in white included: Bella Hadid in Caperno (top left). Ralph Lauren showed a tiered, floral textured midi dress with ruffled v-neck (top right), Akris debuted the look with a crisp, white midi dress (bottom left), and Zimmerman featured white in knotted bauble pieces. (Below) our statement made to measure Lyra dress in luxurious white ivory lace is the perfect embodiment of the new trend 

On the Fringe

If it has fringe on it, resurrect it from your cedar closet. Fringing is back in a big way. From tasselled hemlines to all-over fringing, it was everywhere on the catwalk. We saw it on dresses, jackets as well as accessories.

‘Fringing, of course, is nothing new, but the familiar design accent goes big next season. And we mean very big. From fringed ‘cuffs’ that begin at your elbow to entirely fringed dresses, fringed clutch bags and, hey, why not *actual* fringes… Whatever it is, if it's fringed, next season, we're into it,’ writes Charlie Teather for Glamour.

We were excited by the drama fringe brought to the catwalk with Alexander McQueen taking it to the extreme in a cobalt blue fully fringed midi dress which elicited an audible gasp from the audience. Valentino showed a gorgeous amber, tailored coat with fringing on the end seem enclosure and Jason Wu brought glamour to the catwalk with a gold shimmering fringed midi dress. Ridley’s elegant, cropped tweed jackets are edged in fringe, adding additional texture to a classic utilitarian design. Over dresses and maxi skirts, we see layering with fringed pieces as the best angle for working this trend. 

Dennis Basso (left) showed fringe in evening wear. Chanel incorporated it into suiting (middle) and Jill Sander's opera coat was drenched in fringe. Below an example of how the fringing trend has been integrated our new Ridley London collection for spring as shown here in our new crop jacket which sits perfectly over a printed floral silk dress 

Ridley London's new Spring collection of made to measure statement dresses, skirts, tops, jackets and knitwear is available to purchase online and in Ridley's Barnes store. Celebrate your individuality this season with a unique piece that's  individually crafted to flatter from your choice of any of our stunning new printed floral or solid silks or cottons. Or call us to arrange a virtual fitting: 

Ridley London, 82 Church Road, Barnes, London SW13 0DQ T: 01730 823097