'Authenticity is rebellion': What we learned from this year in fashion

From the runway to the retail rack, what can we learn about ourselves from what we wore this past year?

Commotion host Elamin Abdelmahmoud looks back at the good, the bad and the ugly of 2023's trends with fashion writers Gianluca Russo, Olivia Petter and Bee Quammie.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, where the panel discuss the trends and the people that defined this year's fashion, listen and follow the Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud podcast, on your favourite podcast player.

LISTEN | Today's episode on YouTube:

Elamin: I'll tell you what I'm relieved by, Bee. The fact that we're all living our lives on Instagram means we all have to look put together all the time when we take our photos. I don't think it's a coincidence that I'm seeing all these wild fashion trends, all these notions of play that are like, "I don't know if this outfit makes sense, but that's maybe the thing that actually makes sense about it."? I don't think it's a coincidence that we're seeing that at the same time as we're seeing people use filters on Instagram a little bit less than they used to. The idea is that we maybe went through too much of a manicured period of time, and we're now rebelling against that. What does that rebellion look like for you?

Bee: Yeah, I think the rebellion is really just getting back to authenticity. And it's so funny that authenticity is rebellion. But like you said, with the overuse of filters and the idea that you have to have this curated presence and then that presence on social media has to translate when you step outside of your house…. Now we're getting to a moment of authenticity where it's at a tipping point, where I think all of that curation has really been saturated and people are really just trying to claim a space for themselves, and claim an identity for themselves, and using fashion to do that as well. 

Elamin: They are wildin' out, Bee. They are wildin', and I love that for them. Olivia, I think the premise is that fashion reflects life. It's not a perfect mirror of sorts, but maybe it's a kaleidoscope, or maybe it's a bit of a disco ball, right? But what do our clothes tell us about where we are this year?

Olivia: I think one of the trends is that we've seen a lot more of each other's bodies with our fashion this year. And I think that comes back to the spending so many months kind of sequestered away in our homes during lockdowns. And by seeing more bodies, I mean we're seeing a lot of sheer dresses and sheer tops and sheer skirts. There's a lot more exposure of our bodies, which I think speaks to how we want to showcase ourselves a bit more after having been sheltered away for so long. I think it's also about body confidence and body positivity, and encouraging people of all shapes and sizes to dress like that, not just very small models on the runway. We're seeing that way of dressing everywhere, which I think is really positive and a good step.

Elamin: Gianluca, I've got to say, even given everything Olivia just said, I don't see the underwear as outerwear trend filtering down to the masses in the year ahead. If there is one runway trend from the past year that you expect to see filtering down, what is it going to be?

Gianluca: It's a good question. I agree with that; I don't see the underwear kind of trickling down, but I do see the inspiration behind it trickling down…. I think next year is going to be a lot more about celebrating the body and showing it more in these ways. I almost feel like we'll see sheer, but we'll see different kinds of textures or different structures of garments — things that almost allow you to play with the body, and highlight different parts of the body that you might not have otherwise done, right? People often wear crop tops or showing your midriff, things like that; I feel like now we'll see things that allow you to emphasize or hide other parts of the body. Whether it's shoulders or parts of your legs, things like that, I think we're in a kind of body reckoning era.

For a long time during the pandemic, it was very difficult to live, especially in a body that was not this thin ideal that we see in fashion. But I think a lot of people had to come to terms with their body image and deal with all these kinds of issues and conversations through the pandemic. I think now what we're seeing is people reconnecting to their body, and in order to do that, they're using fashion to either show parts that they want to show more, to elevate parts, to kind of play with their figure. And so I think that'll be the big thing that we'll see over the next year: reconnection of the body through fashion.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Jess Low.