Paris Fashion Week SS23 Review: Three Color Trends

Paris Fashion Week for Spring/Summer 2023 ended Tuesday, October 4 and the editors, buyers and influencers who flocked to see in-person shows in the French capital got to see quite a few memorable moments. From Bella Hadid in Coperni’s futuristic spray on dress and Kanye West’s entrance at Balenciaga, to the choreographed dance tribute to Issey Miyake and Cher’s appearance at Balmain, the week was filled with special events. In color terms, many collections were immersed in a sea of black. However, three colors/color combinations stood out: perhaps driven by the current ‘Barbiecore’ trend, hot pink resonated. Seasonless dressing has elevated rust tones and many high-end ready-to-wear designers with a previous penchant for monotones, have developed a taste for an icy pale color palette.

Hot Pink

Jun Takahashi of Undercover showed several looks in hot pink. This included a cropped top under a knit cropped cardigan teamed with a silk wrap skirt in two tone hot pink.

At Rick Owens, look 6 included a hot pink stretch mesh mini dress with an asymmetric train under a cropped top with ‘wing’ like shoulders. And at Chloe, for look 31, Gabriela Hearst showed a hot pink one button blazer and matching pants with a black cropped top underneath.

At Dawei, look 8 consisted of two hot pink pieces in transparent chiffon.

Rust

Mame Kurogouci used the traditional Japanese technique of basket-weaving in her collection. Look 12 included an intricately woven vest over a rust colored silk dress.

Anthony Vaccarello of Saint Laurent presented an effortlessly elegant collection. Look 17 consisted of a rust floor length broad shouldered coat shown over a caramel colored one piece bodysuit and broad leather belt. For Akris’s 100 birthday, Albert Kriemler put on a show at the Palais de Tokyo. For look 5 he presented a total look in tones of rust, including a suede bomber jacket, high waisted leather pants and tee shirt. Accessories included a satchel and strappy sandals.

In a nod to the earlier deliveries of the spring season, Rok Hwang of Rokh presented a show-stopping faux fur coat made up of rusty toned panels matched to grey.

Icy Pales

The creative director of Shang Xia, Yang Li showed a number of looks in a mix of pales. This included a split skirt in lemon and a lilac top with pale blue and green obi style belts.

From Thom Browne “An American prom mixed with Cinderella mixed with the Paris Opera.” Among many looks in combinations of pale colors: a layered look in pink, lilac, blue and green was topped off with a broad brimmed picture hat.

Georg Lux’s debut runway show for Leonard included an off-the-shoulder ‘peasant’ dress in a mix of pale blue and green with yellow and peach tones. At Chanel, a tweed jumpsuit in pale yellow over a lilac and pale blue cardigan was shown.