DIVA takes a look back at some of the biggest collections which shook up the fashion world this year
BY CAMILLE BAVERA, IMAGE BY COACH
Every year, the world seemingly gets a little bit more inclusive. This two steps forward one step one-step-back mentality covers a wide range of industries, but some are a little more together than others.
Fashion and beauty are two standalone industries responsible for making people feel good, feel the good kind of bad, and put their true selves on display. It can be beautiful, ugly, controversial, or in most cases, somewhere in the middle. Brands and fashion houses try to land a message of inclusivity in an increasingly inclusive playing field, but this is often short-lived or falls flat.
Let’s look back instead at the brands and creative directors who’ve unlocked the formula to permanent, positive changes in an industry known for its staunch standards when it comes to bodies and orientation.
DIESEL: Pleasure Island Campaign
DIESEL might be one of 2023’s champions when it comes to inclusivity, as almost every one of their campaigns was both eye-catching and meaningful, with lots of colour-popping and serves from the models.
DIESEL created a brand new world for their Spring 2023 campaign, a place where “all desires, kinks and indulgences are welcome, whilst all judgmental attitudes are not.” They called it Pleasure Island, and the campaign photos were brightly coloured, with fish under the sea, and girlies in the club limo vibes. But more importantly, it paid homage to a changing world and brought kinky subcultures to centre stage.
Not to mention they just did it again for the holidays! It’s looking like a very merry XXXMas from designer Glenn Martens.
Parade: The Betsey Johnson Collaboration
Parade came onto the underwear – not lingerie – scene in 2019, and was designed to make underwear affordable and accessible for everyone. Since their inception they’ve continued to build their business model around inclusivity, be that size or gender.
Their new Betsey Johnson campaign, which launched just last week, took special notice of our bodies and identities in an attempt to be more inclusive. The brand has been increasingly successful after launching its first pair of 5XL underpants in January 2023.
Esther Bancel: Spring/Summer 2023
The designer launched a new, gender and net-neutral clothing line that mashes up tailoring, soft punk, and “fluidity in the stiffness”. The pieces are of the utmost quality and are only made-to-order. Bancel is intent on remaining a very slow-fashion house to be as sustainable as possible.
Maison Kitsune: Spring/Summer 2023
The Japanese-French house of fashion took their collection to new places for their Spring/Summer season this year with their Explore Everywhere campaign. The collection was staged in three places – an imagined utopic planet, a city of their own creation, and the open air.
But no matter where they went, they dreamed of inclusivity, and the brand wrote their own rules for how things were going to go this season. According to the Maison, the models were “immersed in the suspended reality of an otherworldly dreamscape, they are dressed in designs which adapt to and mirror their liberated ease.” It really shows togetherness can be easy.
Syro
The femme-focused shoewear label that’s reinventing what high heels mean and who can wear them. The name is derived from the Greek goddess anasyromenos, which according to Syro, represents a female figure exposing a phallus – as seen on the bottom of every shoe…..
It’s the label you might not know, but in 2024, really really should.
Coach: Spring 2023
Lil Nas X taught Coach a lesson in self-exploration and strong brand identity this past Spring. How to love things openly. How to do reworked, well-loved pieces. How to be on-theme with pink, “kinky” leather pieces. How to curate a beautiful show and lineup with gender inclusivity when it came to casting models. Here’s Coach Spring 2023. That’s what we want!
Remesalt
Remesalt, like Esther Bancel, is not only queer-centric, but slow-fashion-focused, and keeps mother earth at the heart of what they do. They choose to see fashion not as something to be purchased in an endless, but as artwork, specially crafted for one unique person. They feel represented by the garment, and respect that by shopping wisely and taking care of it. Remesalt incorporates all of these emotions as well as brand identities in their 2023 images.
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