What a year for trends. After what feels like an eternity of this-cores and that-cores, it’s hard to believe that there are any ‘cores’ left to explore after 2022. Haven’t we already moved at the speed of light through every possible corner of the fashion aesthetic sphere this year?
Alas, ‘the only constant in life is change’, after all. Greek philosophers and fashion forecasters, it seems, have more in common than we thought. From a gorpcore-born apocalyptic aesthetic to an ugly-chic resurgence, stick around whilst we unpack the burgeoning trends of 2023.
POST APOCALYPTIC
Brace yourselves: Fall(out)/Winter 2023 is going to be a big one for end of the world aesthetics. With brands like Hamcus forging the way for Dune-style dressing, we’re watching the birth of what feels like a more progressive, alien version of gorpcore. Expect brutalist, neo-apocalyptic inspired silhouettes in the form of ragged fabrics, expansive layering and deconstructed asymmetry. BONUS: Barren wasteland friendly dressing.
BUSINESS-CORE
Check out any examples of the niche ‘business core’ trend and you’ll find an amalgamation of Needles track-tops paired with suit trousers next to Arc’teryx jackets, topped off with dad’s old Prada tie. Taking classic corporate dressing elements such as crisp white shirts over white vests and combining them with a modern streetwear twist, this movement has ‘business up-front, 2023 in the back’ energy.
@whealex business core #fashion#outfitinspo#StemDrop001#businesscasual#bape#stussy#gorpcore#outfit#ootd ♬ ALL MINE – johnny ★
UGLY-CHIC
Back in 1996, Washington Post writer Robin D. Givhan announced that “Ugly is in”. Referring to Prada’s now iconic ‘Banal Eccentricities’ collection, this was the year that ‘ugly chic’ was born. Fast forward to 2022 and the likes of fashion trendsetters such as Bella Hadid are resurrecting the movement. Following the breakout of the ‘frazzled English woman’ trend, ugly-chic in 2023 will see more mismatched patterns, librarian length hemlines and lashings of previously ‘plain’ shades such as avocado and murky brown.
the weird girl aesthetic. is it anti-fashion? are people trying too hard just to look ugly? does it only work on bella hadid? let’s discuss pic.twitter.com/lRZZJ0JoAK
— ً (@KAlAGEBER) May 7, 2022
FUTURE PUNK
A punk resurgence is nothing new – it happens so often over the years, it’s easy to miss the sub-genres that pop up in between. A perfect example of a pioneer in the resurrection is Erik Arteaga, who as one of the late Virgil Abloh’s many muses, encapsulates the skate-meets-space take on punk dressing. Fresh takes on future punk have even been popping up on the runway this year, with brands such as Thom Browne debuting genderless silhouettes and gravity defying spiked hairstyles.
BLOKETTE-CORE
Bloke-core has been one of the biggest trends of 2023. Stone Island, CP Company and newcomers such as Art of Football have paved the way for the football-inspired movement, but what about a female equivalent? Enter: Blokette-core. Reminiscent of the late nineties ‘Ladette’ subculture, expect to see a resurgence of cropped soccer tops, low-rise tracksuit bottoms and an overall masculine-meets-feminine take on sportswear.
SKI-STHETIC
2022 has unearthed a goldmine of ski-inspired drops; take Descente x Kazuki Kuraishi, the latest Dior men’s capsule and that set of Chrome Hearts ski goggles, to name a few. Though these looks wouldn’t be out of place on the slopes, 2023 will be the year that fashion goes off-piste and takes the apres ski aesthetic to the streets. Think snow boot-finished cargos, goggles paired with gore tex and plenty of vintage ski suits.
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