January means awards season is upon us, with a series of glitzy red carpet events starting with the Golden Globes on January 10.
This is followed by the Grammy Awards (February 5), Bafta (February 19) and the biggest event of the season – the Oscars on March 12.
With style stars like Cate Blanchett, Viola Davis, Margot Robbie, Anya Taylor-Joy and Brad Pitt already garnering attention at the awards, we’re set for a stellar line-up of red carpets – and these are the trends stylists predict will be big this year seasons…
“Looking back at fashion month, we can see some obvious runway trends that will hit the red carpets and big events in 2023,” says Francesca Salih, stylist and founder of personal style and shopping platform Style Grid (stylegrid.com).
One of those trends was fringes, and Salih said: “Seen on the runways for Proenza Schouler, Jil Sander, Alexander McQueen and Bottega Veneta, fringes are having a moment.”
Tassels can be adapted to a celebrity’s personal style – they can opt for a full look (perhaps taking inspiration from the roaring twenties) or choose subtle accents on dresses or suits. Either way, fringes bring some fun and movement to the red carpet.
“We saw draped dresses inspired by the ancient Greeks on the catwalks for Saint Laurent and Loewe,” explains Salih.
So this red carpet season, she says, “We can expect to see celebrities channeling their inner Aphrodite in glamorous gowns, with trendy, sexy details like belly button cutouts and thigh splits.”
We’ve seen rumblings of this trend in late 2022 – notably in the Rodarte outfit Florence Pugh wore to the British Independent Film Awards in early December. With a pale pink slip dress, lace trim and tulle fabric, Pugh’s look brought boudoir to the red carpet.
Expect to see more of this as we head into awards season, with Salih saying: “Soft silks, delicate lace embellishments, romantic ruffles and barely-there flashes of leather – bedroom wear is coming out.”
For celebrity stylist Ryan Kay (instagram.com/ryankaystyles), “You can’t go wrong with a suit on the red carpet.” But what might sharp cuts look like in 2023?
Seventies styles have been dominating fashion for a few years – thanks to Gucci and Harry Styles – so Kay says: “Maybe the eighties are coming, because right now it’s the seventies – that disco, wide lapels, flares, just seventies fashion – [so] maybe we’re moving into the eighties.”
He suggests that subtle cues could become popular, such as “wide spikes on women’s trousers or lapels, higher shoulder or [being] more adventurous with colors”.
It could also mean chic hooded dresses in bold colors becoming big news on the red carpet – inspired by Azzedine Alaïa’s eighties designs (famously worn by Grace Jones).
The last few years have seen a growing trend of celebrities wearing vintage clothing on the red carpet – notable examples from 2022 include Ariana DeBose in a John Galliano dress for the Westworld season four premiere and Olivia Rodrigo wearing Jean Paul Gaultier to the MTV Movie Awards.
While the trend may be growing in popularity—as celebs trade their eco-credentials and knowledge of fashion history—for stylist Danielle Whiteman, it’s a tough one to pull off.
“It’s quite difficult to find vintage dresses,” she says. “Especially [as] they [tend to be] small sizes, because the sizes at that time were so different from today’s.”
Instead, she predicts we’ll see a lot more celebrities wearing the clothes on the red carpet again, sending a positive message about sustainability. In November 2022, Cate Blanchett wore a dramatic white Alexander McQueen dress with a black blazer to the Governors Awards – a look she previously styled for the 2020 Venice Film Festival.
“It was quite a strong dress, and to wear something like that again – it’s quite piercing – it’s a big statement,” says Whiteman, a member of the SmileDirectClub Trust Council, which aims to boost the nation’s confidence levels.
“That might be something we’re looking at [in 2023].”
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