First there is darkness and then there is light. This was the continuum upon which Roksanda Ilinčić’s fall 2023 collection was built, evoking degrees of emotional dressing that stretched from sobriety to levity, and from clothes rooted in the everyday to the avant-garde. These were shaped by her contemporaries: Ilinčić looked to post-war Japanese artist Atsuko Tanaka while designing the collection and invited British poet Arch Hades to perform a reading at the show, reflecting an interest in the cross-pollination of women in the arts and how their essence may be embodied in her clothing.
Set at the storied Claridges Hotel in London’s Mayfair, the collection opened with a series of black evening looks streaked with thick red lines—perhaps resembling a rose or a blaze?—foreshadowing the designer’s colourful palette. For fall 2023, she toyed with juxtaposition: showing oversized and broad-shouldered blazers with scarves, slung cape-like, across the shoulder or paired with draped skirts that skimmed the ankle, their fluidity contrasting single-breasted jackets architected in stiff wool. If this was a projection of the tensions between strength and softness women commonly wrestle with, the latter came out on top, buttressing, of course, the reality that the most effective displays of confidence and power are often revealed in moments of calm.
These are where the collection shined. An asymmetrical gown in cobalt blue and wine looked ready to be plucked from the runway to the red carpet. Ditto a coral pink bias-cut silk dress that travelled down the body, water-like, in one flowing motion.
Then, the collection veered towards the abstract. Evening dresses in highlighter brights were inflated with curvilinear shapes that appeared to defy gravity—showcasing an apparent throughline in the works of Central Saint Martins alumni, including Harris Reed and Jordan Dalah, who repeatedly experiment with and manipulate shape. These buoyed the collection and emboldened women to take an animated risk when getting ready for the evening. There is always tomorrow to change your mind—and your mood—again.
