Dua Lipa is a fashion fixture on the Grammys red carpet every single year, and I have no doubt that she’ll bring her A game for the awards this Sunday. I’m waiting with bated breath to see what she’ll choose to wear, but in the meantime, let’s chat a bit about her off-duty style because it’s also worth noting.
Photographed in Los Angeles with Masters of the Air star Callum Turner, Lipa wore the ideal jeans-and-flats outfit for a daytime date. Specifically, she wore a black-and-white Chanel tank top, Celine jeans, a Bottega Veneta Gemelli Medium Bag ($4100), and Alaïa Mesh and Patent-Leather Ballet Flats ($1024). That’s certainly a lot of luxury brands, but the overall look is something you can easily re-create on a non-designer budget. Scroll down to see what Dua Lipa wears for a date with Callum Turner and shop the look for yourself.
As if her Saturday Night Live promo images weren’t chic enough—with especially note-worthy inclusions being an Alessandra Rich catsuit made entirely of lace and a Khaite bodysuit styled with just tights and a giant feather coat—this week’s host Dakota Johnson showed up to the after party in the most perfect sheer, hand-beaded vintage Alaïa gown, like, ever.
The dress, which was designed by the late founder of the house Azzedine Alaïa and included in his spring/summer 1996 collection, was sourced by Johnson’s longtime stylist Kate Young from Vintage Grace, a New York City–based designer-vintage business founded by Chandler Guttersen in 2021. It features short sleeves and sequin embellishments throughout, making it completely sheer and perfect for the occasion. On top, the Madame Web actress wore a feather Saint Laurent jacket, adding simple black pumps and a Jimmy Choo handbag to finish off the look.
Scroll down to see the full ensemble and shop sheer dresses just like Johnson’s.
As a fashion editor, there is something so fun and satisfying about seeing a trend start to percolate and then, over the course of some seasons, really start to take hold. Such is the case with the growing mesh-flats trend. For some time, The Row was the leader in the space with its highly coveted Mesh Sock Flats. The cool, minimal flats have been spotted on many in the fashion crowd.
One of the many perks of the see-through style becoming more and more popular is that a lot more options are available at every price point. Another is that mesh flats go great with everything from dresses to jeans. Keep scrolling to see 33 of the most stylish mesh flats to shop now in a variety of styles (embellished, slingback, mules, and more), plus some outfit inspiration on how to wear them. I highly recommend that you act quickly when you spot a pair you love since these styles have been selling out fast.
Every season, I find myself faced with the problem of not having enough room in my closet for both the clothes that already reside there and the ones I hope to welcome inside. Blame it on New York City closet sizes, but I always have to get rid of something if I want to add anything else. There’s no getting around it. This fall, the items on my wish list are primarily dresses, especially after all the coat- and boot-related financial damage I did last winter. But with so many tempting dress trends on the fall/winter 2023 runways, I have no choice but to ditch some items in order to make space for more.
Since I’m a Libra who cannot make a decision about anything, I feel eternally grateful for my co-workers, all of whom have stunning taste and were happy to give me some insight on the fall dress trends they’re ready to donate and the ones they’ll be investing in instead. They shared, and I listened. Scroll down to find out which six are getting the boot this autumn as well as the six that we’re welcoming with open arms.
Some brands are big on Instagram. Others dominate in niche fashion circles. And then there are the ones that kill on the celebrity street style scene. As someone who browses photo agencies on the daily, searching for new, chic celeb outfits to write about on Who What Wear, I pretty much see every item that’s worn by Hollywood’s and NYC’s most famous dressers, from Jennifer Lawrence and Zoë Kravitz to Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber.
Though you’re bound to see every brand under the sun at least once if you truly dig into the celebrity outfit archives, 99% of the time, the people who get the most attention on the streets are wearing items from a small handful of brands. Kravitz, Bieber, and Laura Harrier, as friends of the house of Saint Laurent, almost always have at least one thing on them that was made by the French label. Lawrence and Jenner have become mega-fans of The Row, donning minimal garments and footwear from Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen’s luxury brand on the regular. Sofia Richie Grainge, despite being a Chanel girl, is often spotted wearing pieces from Khaite. For proof, scroll down, where you’ll find all six of the brands that celebs love to get photographed on the streets in most.
From its viral fishnet flats to its celeb-packed spring 2024 show (which was casually set on a footbridge overlooking the Seine in Paris), there’s no question that Alaïa is the brand on the tip of the entire fashion industry’s tongue right now. Founded in Paris in the late 1970s by Tunisian couturier Azzedine Alaïa, the house is most known for its clingy, form-fitting silhouettes—the designer was nicknamed in the media the “King of Cling” during his heyday in the ’80s and ’90s—and laser-cut accessories, from corset belts to handbags.
Today, a new designer sits at the helm of the brand, creative director Peter Mulier, but while his unique design style is certainly apparent, Alaïa’s enormous legacy remains fully in tact, with his signature cling and cuts continuing to act as symbols of the house. And with the return of ’80s trends like cuff bracelets, nipped-in waists, sculptural shapes, and more, a perfect storm’s been brewing for Alaïa’s biggest moment yet.
Unfortunately, as much as I’d like to line the racks of my closet with hooded body-cons and netted footwear, doing so isn’t always realistic when you’re shopping on a budget. That’s why I went ahead and rounded up 31 under-$150 pieces that’ll get you the Alaïa look for less from Nordstrom and Zara.
Despite their name, ready-to-wear collections aren’t always wearable. A lot of the time, designers use their biannual runway shows to craft a viral moment or buzzy selection as opposed to pieces that a majority of people will be keen on buying and wearing on a regular basis. So it says a lot about a piece and/or trend when my fellow editors and I either consider purchasing or actually purchase something that’s runway inspired.
Because of the significance of a shopping event such as this one, I decided that I’d ask my team to tell me about the fall/winter trends that they genuinely have their eyes on for the season ahead, as fall 2023 is approaching fast. To clarify, these aren’t just areas that they enjoyed. They’re wardrobe genres that have a 99% chance of entering the closets of the Who What Wear edit team. Basically, I’m giving you a view into the future. You’re welcome.
Scroll down to find out which seven trends from the fall/winter 2023 shows will be coming home with us in the next few months.
I’m not going to lie. Sometimes, it can be difficult to stay up-to-date with the latest It shoe styles thanks to how many are dropping and subsequently selling out at any given moment. Every week, a new pair of sneakers, boots, sandals, or flats appear on the market just to immediately go viral on Instagram and TikTok, run out of stock, and disappear into footwear purgatory. That being said, one pair of buzzy shoes has found a way to break the cycle by refusing to lose momentum despite weeks of being impossible to buy: Alaïa’s fishnet Mary Jane flats.
Spotted on every influential Instagram feed in the fashion world, the naked flats have quickly become one of the most-wanted and hard-to-find items of the year. But as photos from this week prove, Jennifer Lawrence didn’t have any trouble getting her hands on a pair. On Wednesday, the actress was spotted walking around New York City in the black-and-silver flats, which retail for $850. With them, she kept things pretty casual, adding a baggy white T-shirt, similarly slouchy jeans, a crossbody bag from The Row, sunglasses, and a baseball cap. In other words, she wore my ideal summer outfit with the flats that everyone on my social feeds is talking about.
Though controversial—after all, see-through mesh footwear isn’t for the faint of heart—Alaïa’s fishnet Mary Janes remain one of the year’s coolest buys. That is if you can find a pair in stock. See how J.Law wore hers and shop similar styles until a fresh lot of sizes appears on Maison-Alaia.com.
Designers have attempted to make ’80s fashion happen on countless occasions to no avail, or at least not to the level of success that both the ’90s and the early aughts have experienced in recent years. It wasn’t until last October—when Anthony Vaccarello’s spring/summer 2023 runway collection for Saint Laurent debuted—that the possibility of a revival with significant bearing began to gain traction. His fall collection gave the final push.
Strong shoulders, power suiting, and aviator jackets dominated the French label’s fall offering, sending viewers through the space-time continuum back to the era of Madonna music videos, Jane Fonda workouts, and Top Gun, the original. But of all the pieces displayed on the runway, the ones that truly solidified the return of ’80s fashion were the oversize oblong cuff bracelets that adorned nearly every model’s wrist at the show.
Ever since, it’s felt as if all of the chicest, most eye-catching outfits on my Instagram feed feature that one accessory—an ’80s-esque cuff bracelet or bangle in shiny gold or silver. Saint Laurent’s designs from spring are a common pick, but they’re certainly not the only ones finding success. Small jewelry brands such as Agmes and Alexis Bittar have introduced styles of their own, as have fast-fashion brands like Mango and Zara. Most iconic are the various versions of the Bone Cuff, designed by Elsa Peretti in the ’70s for Tiffany & Co., that have been returning in flux and experiencing a surge in popularity on secondhand designer retail sites like The RealReal.
Suffice it to say, all signs are pointing toward an ’80s revival of epic proportions, and the chicest way to get involved is with one of the 30 cuffs below.
What were your first thoughts when you read the script for Cocaine Bear?
I fell in love with the characters. I’m an actor first, so I always read for the character journey and who they are. They were really quirky and in over their heads, and nobody knew what to do with the bear, and I just thought it seemed like such a fun romp. So it was really the tone that stuck out to me right away. It felt like a Coen brothers movie or a Quentin Tarantino movie, but with a bear. I don’t know how else to explain it.
What attracts you to a project as a director vs. an actor?
I can do an acting job in a couple of months. A directing gig… I’ve been working on the film for… It will be nearly three years. So when it comes to directing, I have to commit my entire life to the project. I have to commit not just time and energy, but so much of my focus has to go into it. So it has to be a story that I am just dying to tell. And I feel that way about most of my acting work as well. I like acting. It’s way more fun and way less pressure than directing. So I have an easier time saying yes to acting gigs than I do directing. Directing requires my whole life to come to a standstill, so it’s gotta be something that I feel can really stand out and entertain a crowd. I have made three films now, and I just want to keep adding to the legacy of what I can put out into the world.
Cocaine Bear is an outrageously fun story. What was important to you in bringing it to life?
Well, the bear is number one. I have been quoted as saying this felt like it could be a career-ender, that it could be risky for me, but what I meant by that is there is a bear at the heart of this story that I have no control over. I can bring actors to set, and I can pick a great location, and I can have an amazing crew, but I really had to trust Wētā to build a bear that was so credible that you would never be taken out of the movie by it. I’m so proud of the work that came out of that, and I love our bear. But that’s what scared me the most about making the film.
A baguette bag, a boxy tote, a rectangular crossbody — these are and will remain classics for a reason. But we’re seeing a trend toward the surprising and unconventional when it comes to accessories (and their shapes).
In 2022, searches for Prada’s triangle bag were up 81% YOY on ShopStyle, making it one of the platform’s “closet all-stars” of the year; crescent shoulder bags were also highlighted as one of the “stand-out silhouettes” of the past 12 months.
This was also made abundantly clear off the internet, in street style: Across fashion weeks, people couldn’t get enough of these unexpected shapes, as well as other novelty accessories, from JW Anderson’s mini cap clutches, to MSGM’s T-shirt totes, to Thom Browne’s classic Hector bag. And designers keep feeding the demand with their new collections (see: the Spring 2023 accessories carbo-load at New York Fashion Week).
Speaking of Jonathan Anderson, the designer had the internet in a tizzy with his brand’s pigeon clutch, introduced as part of the Fall 2022 menswear collection. A few months later, when Sarah Jessica Parker was photographed with it on the set of “And Just Like That…”, interest in the 3-D bag increased 488% on Lyst, the platform revealed in its Year in Fashion report for 2022.
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The beauty of these novelty-shape bags is that you can go as subtle or as irreverent as you want: You could swap your go-to carry-all for a minimal triangular tote or commit to eccentricity with a heart clutch or wavy-bottomed crossbody. Have some fun with your accessorizing in 2023 and shop our favorite unconventional bag shapes in the galleries below.
When Rihanna’s Good Girl Gone Bad album dropped, no black corset or edgy bob cut was safe. Rihanna’s transformation from a fresh-faced girl next door to an It-girl siren felt like a dramatic shift out of nowhere and the whole world took notice. Right about now, there’s a similar moment happening in fashion. While LBDs and stilettos have always been a regular part of the It-girl style diet, looking at the crowd of designers who have put their full weight behind underwear-exposing pieces, and skin-tight bodysuits, it feels like a very defined shift towards the risqué side of things. There’s no buzzy, collective name for it, but with the influx of see-through statement dresses and sky-high revenge heels, I’ve taken to calling it the Bad Girl fashion era.
Just looking at the warm reception of Saint Laurent and Alaia’s spring-summer 2023 offerings, it’s pretty evident that showing skin is in. While the Bad Girl aesthetic is multi-faceted, the general approach is to stick with skin-exposing cutouts or underwear-revealing garments in shades of black. For those daring enough to take on the trend, I’ve compiled a list of 7 amazing outfits to reference to get the seductive mood right. Keep clicking for the best in show of Bad Girl fashion.
On an otherwise conventional Friday morning during Paris Fashion Week in late September, with flotillas of black cars arriving at salubrious venues scattered across the city, a showroom in the 16th arrondissement was about to host a different kind of coveted ticketed event: a trip back in time — specifically, to the vaunted Phoebe Philoera at Celine (a.k.a. Céline).
“People went nuts for these pieces,” says Sofia Bernardin, co-founder of Re-See, which hosted the weekend-long archive sale dedicated to the Philo years at the French heritage brand at its newly-opened Paris showroom. “There are definitely brands that follow trends, and there are brands that focus on longevity and timelessness — that’s what Phoebe Philo did.”
In order to make the event possible, the Paris-based online luxury consignment platform collaborated with Martina Lohoff, the founder of Old Céline Archive, an Instagram page that handpicks and sells pieces from the British designer’s tenure at the house. Lohoff — who lives and works in Germany — contributed 100 items from her personal collection; Re-See sourced around 100 more from other vendors across the globe. Pieces from some of the most epoch-defining shows were up for grabs for collectors and fans (a few hundred customers), with prices ranging from €500 to €1,900.
The Yves Klein body print dress from Céline Spring 2017 collection by Phoebe Philo, re-sold by Re-See.
Photo: Courtesy of Re-See
Bernardin, a former advertising executive at American Vogue, founded Re-See with Sabrina Marshall, who used to be the fashion editor at Self Service, in 2013. The business was born from conversations between the two Paris-based Americans about the collections they missed out on when they were young fashion assistants with meager salaries. Celine is just one of a number of luxury brands it stocks on its site.
“What if there was a place where you could find all of those iconic moments in fashion without having to sift through hours of junk on eBay?,” asks Bernardin over Zoom from her office in Paris. (Absent from the call: Marshall, who was at a client meeting.) “A place that was really curated and brought back all of these moments in one.”
Initially, Re-See sourced its inventory from contacts in Paris, as well as the founders’ native cities, New York (Bernardin) and Los Angeles (Marshall). Word of the project quickly spread through the industry, which enabled connections with various editors, stylists, designers and collectors in each corner of the globe. Today, Re-See counts 20 employees in its Paris office, and works with a team of ambassadors stationed in key cities like New York, Zurich, Seoul and Tokyo — ranging from women in their 20s to septuagenarian former VIP client managers at luxury boutiques, who activate their networks to produce an extensive catalog of fashion, accessories and fine jewelry, ranging from 1930s silk gowns to 1970s Celine to 2017 Balenciaga.
Unlike on other platforms where vendors will upload photos of products, sell and package them themselves, Re-See streamlines the process by visiting clients’ houses and helping clean their closets or making it easy to send pieces directly to the Paris showroom, where they’re inspected before being photographed for the site. Each piece undergoes a restoration from the Re-See team, breathing new life into old garments and ensuring they hold their original value to the highest degree possible.
Bernardin and Marshall wanted to distinguish Re-See in a growing resale market that includes players like Depop, Vestiaire Collective, Grailed and The RealReal by creating an ultra-luxury, fashion-forward resale environment with inspiring and authenticated inventory — a place where you can not just shop past collections, but also come back and learn about them. The point isn’t to get a discounted item, necessarily (though it’s possible), but to find the ones that got away.
“When we worked in fashion editorial, you had to have the latest collections as they dropped in store,” Bernardin says. “When the season ended and the moment was over, you couldn’t be seen wearing them anymore. There’s something so wrong about that because when you have these amazing, iconic pieces, you should be able to wear them for years.”
Earlier this year, WWD reported that while the volume of transactions is smaller at Re-See than its competitors, its average basket is higher than the industry norm, rising to just under €1,300 in the first half of 2022. Its bestselling brands are Hermès, Chanel, Celine, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga; its top markets are the U.S., France and the UK.
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Bernardin emphasizes how Re-See witnessed “a huge change in momentum” during the Covid-19 pandemic, as consumer mentality around resale completely changed. People who never really considered buying secondhand before felt like they wanted to positively contribute to the environment through their consumption habits. On the other hand, people who never thought about selling their wares were spurred on by a Marie Kondo-esqe desire to purge unnecessary and unwanted belongings, and began exploring resale during global lockdowns.
“Any taboo was washed away,” Bernardin says. “It catapulted us into a whole new universe of resale.”
“For us, it’s not just about selling someone’s secondhand clothes,” Bernardin says. “It’s about inspiring people to want to shop better.”
Re-See is having some “interesting dialogues” with brands who are considering entering the space, according to Bernardin, but she remains tight-lipped with regards to names. This month, though, it announced a partnership with Alaïa — one of its top performers since its launch — on an exclusive sale of curated pieces from its archive.
In a statement, Alaïa’s CEO Myriam Serrano said the collaboration with Re-See is a “significant initiative to put circularity into action.”
Even with backers eyeing up potential investment, Bernardin is forthright about her and Marshall’s intentions: Since day one, they have refused capital from investors and brands that they felt weren’t a good fit. (In September 2022, Re-See launched a funding round as it eyes global expansion.)
“We love forming these partnerships with these people that are as passionate about fashion and these moments in fashion as we are,” she says, with reference to collaborators like Alexander Fury, with whom Re-See hosted an event in Paris in July showcasing his extraordinary haute couture collection.
With a stateside outpost in the works, Bernardin reflects upon the last nine years and the slow and steady ascendance of Re-See.
“Luxury is a brick-by-brick approach,” she says. “And the most important thing is to have a point of view. We want to be the Chanel or Hermès of resale, and that takes time.”
The iconic designer once told a good friend he only had about three pieces by the French couturier — but after Alaïa’s death in 2017, that friend, renowned curator and director of the Fondation Azzedine Alaïa Olivier Saillard, discovered there were actually over 900.
Unless you were alive between the 1940s and 1980s, it’s unlikely you’ve seen a Madame Grès original in person. While images of them exist in the archives of advertisements and Vogue, the garments themselves have been collected and preserved less. Alaïa’s dedication to collecting them, then, contributes massively to the preservation of fashion history.
“The Art of Draping” — presented in Atlanta, GA in collaboration with Fondation Azzedine Alaïa — engulfs visitors in beauty and wonder. It also tells a story of a deep connection across time and space for two great designers.
The show-stopping velvet cutout dress
Photo: Courtesy of SCAD
Towering at the entrance are four black dresses that stretch to the floor with a regal sprit. Draped fabrics around the neck flow behind like a cape. A low-cut gown flaunts the lower back, while an asymmetrical cap-sleeve style flows down with the grace of a waterfall.
Walking deeper into the exhibit, you face an outpour of draped beauty. Richly textured red velvet traces a mannequin’s silhouette before skimming the floor as if to tease it. Crinkled gowns in pale yellow command one corner of the room, while sage-green garments capture viewers in another. A most striking black velvet cutout dress outlines the upper bodice with sensual-yet-simple cutouts. As if curving into a whirlpool anchored by the chest, one marigold-orange style’s intricate lines create a voluminous collar fit for a queen.
Each Madame Grès design possesses the power to lure any onlooker with its meticulous details, as if a siren’s soul was captured in clothing.
Born Germaine Émilie Krebs in 1903, Madame Grès grew up wanting to be a sculptor, but her parents didn’t allow it. As she developed her skills in fashion design, she kept her desire to sculpt close, using fabrics to mold the feminine body. Her designs were minimalist and timeless, lending her garments the nickname of “goddess gowns.”
With a style and design language so strong, Madame Grès’ clothes were indistinguishably hers. She became a leading French couturier from the 1930s through the 1980s; Alaïa rose to prominence during the same period, almost receiving a passed baton of couture.
Bright and shining from the corner of the room, this trio of gowns flaunts the talent of Madame Grès across varying silhouettes.
Photo: Courtesy of SCAD
“She was obsessed with timelessness — I think [Alaïa] was also looking for timelessness inside the work of Madame Grès, in order to understand how you could be timeless,” Saillard says.
Madame Grès used lots of black and white, for example; when it came to ornamentation, she focused on draping the body rather than using prints and embroidery. Alaïa was similarly artful, his work known for timelessly celebrating the body with a foundation of sensuality. (He was even called the “king of cling” in the 1980s, with Uschka Pittroff once saying that wearing his clothes was “like being in a man’s passionate embrace.”) Alaïa sculpted the body like Madame Grès, but leaned into a broader range of techniques.
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His ardent collecting of Madame Grès garments (and her photos) is evidence of his curiosity and reverence for her style, which also inspired Cristobal Balenciaga.
Like Madame Grès, Alaïa was enthralled with fashion design from a lens of sculpture. Like her, his career spanned half a century, impressing a legacy of beauty and creativity. In line with her rebellious spirit, Alaïa was unafraid to call out the fashion industry’s habit of overproduction and consumption, instead following his own fashion calendar.
“It was a question of line: Azzedine was absolutely obsessed with doing clothes without any visible seams,” Sailard says, noting that both wanted to be sculptors. “The essence of Azzedine is the body.”
Olivier Saillard curated the exhibit from more than 900 pieces discovered across Alaïa’s extensive collections.
Courtesy of Savannah College of Arts Design
“Doing an exhibition is to choose the first dress,” Saillard says. “The very first moment of an exhibition is very important.”
Curating an exhibition from over 900 pieces is no easy task, especially when working with the collections of a lost friend. Alaïa’s apartments throughout Paris would be so filled with items, Saillard remembers, there were rooms one couldn’t enter.
“It became a privilege to discover the collection, but it was also very sad,” he says. “There’s a moment to collect — and Alaïa collected a lot — and now, it’s a moment for me to preserve, to show. But in fact, there’s an ambiguity between the joy. I have to show them without him.”
Lud models a dress by Alix, Madame Grès’ first alias under which she opened a French couture house.
Photo: Courtsey of the Horst P. Horst Estate and The Art Design Project Gallery
“The Art of Draping” follows up the SCAD FASH Museum of Fashion + Film’s many rich offerings, which have included exhibits on and by Christian Siriano, Ruth E. Carter, Carolina Herrera, Pierre Cardin and Guo Pei. This latest project traces synchrony and hints at the undercurrent which connected two great designers across space and time.
“I have to confess. When you see the history of fashion through the great architects — like Balenciaga, Vionnet, Grès, Azzadine, Comme des Garçons — it’s another thing,” Saillard says. “I really think fashion could win something by going back to the clothes, not to the image.”
As Virgil Abloh broke fashion ground applying his architectural philosophies to fashion, Madame Grès crossed disciplines in a similar way to masterfully infuse garments with her sculptor’s touch. As the exhibit illustrates, Alaïa reveled in it, following in her footsteps.
“The Art of Draping” is on view at the SCAD Fash Museum of Fashion + Film in Atlanta, GA through June 30, 2023.
Disclosure: SCAD paid for Fashionista’s travel and accommodations to visit the exhibit.
