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All this talk of uniform dressing and ready-to-wear that is, well, readily wearable for the day-to-day is a moot point in the universe of Isabel Marant. While everyone else may be playing catch up, the irreplaceable French designer has done exactly that since her namesake brand’s inception: centralising her point of view around the varied goings on of everywomen and creating design solutions to take them from point A to B that simply work.
On her mind this season? Disorder and desire—states of mind and life that so often go hand in hand. For fall 2023, these manifested in a palette of heat-inducing hues: the yellow of a midday sun; the wine red of revenge or a heart that’s been conquered; and silver, via sweaters in tinsel-like fabrics and paillettes, evoking, at least in my mind, the activation of a spark. Next, she tweaked and tinkered with her evergreen recipe for success: sending down speckled mini-dresses ruched at the waist paired with knee-high boots and looser, long-sleeved versions in leather styled with turtlenecks underneath; square-shouldered blazers with low-waist baggy jeans and shearling coats and vests cut just so to stoke curious minds (or envious ones) compiling their winter shopping carts.
That these looks were modelled by her favourite supers didn’t hurt either. Aymeline Valade, Malgosia Bela and Kasia Struss (to name a few) each took turns on the runway, personifying the easy-breezy attitude that practically spills out from Marant’s clothes. Mark Holgate said it best in his Vogue.com review: “[Marant effortlessly achieves] the kind of louche, sexy but always spiritedly casual look that focuses on allowing the woman wearing her clothes to express herself and her physicality.” The fact that she is able to pull this off season after season—and have fans clawing at silhouettes that have been seen before and will resurface again—is testament to her enduring designs, each a foolproof formula.
Even via quieter shapes and shades (see Marant’s take on the beige trench coat, cropped at the thigh, or asymmetrical knit skirts in eggshell and one big-yes denim jumpsuit), the theme of the collection resonates loudly. One wants to shed their skin and slip into said jumpsuit for the day, then slink into a sheer long-sleeve dress for evening, entirely transparent but for a black bodysuit underneath and covered in beads.
