Best Fashion 2023
The best-of-2023 guides - handbags, jeans, shoes, websites, media and shopping
Why is 2023 different from last year - and is it more important to fashion consumers? Fashion, the ever-evolving expression of style and creativity, dances to a dynamic rhythm, shifting and transforming with each passing year. This section helps consumers navigate that change in six guides: the best handbags, the best jeans, the best shoes, the best apparel websites, the best fashion media and the best fashion shopping of 2023.
Three of the guides are about things you wear - bags, denim and footwear, each explained piece by piece and brand by brand. Three are about how fashion reaches you - the websites worth bookmarking, the media companies that shape the conversation, and the department stores and boutiques worth your time. Together they record both what people reached for in 2023 and where they learned about it.
The Best of 2023 Guides
Six Guides to One Year
Each guide in this section answers a different question. The handbag guide weighs luxury against mass-market bags, walks through six bag types from the tote to the clutch, compares ten materials, and profiles twelve popular brands, with photographs of a Chloé crossbody and a Loewe Puzzle bag. The jeans guide starts with a definition - what separates jeans from pants in general - then rosters ten denim brands favored by influencers and ten retailers that sell designer jeans.
The shoe guide names ten trend styles for the year, from chunky sneakers to square-toe heels, photographs five individual shoes, and lists the best stores for women's and men's shoes separately. The websites guide picks ten apparel industry websites, the media guide explains the forms fashion media takes and the companies behind them, and the shopping guide tours ten department stores around the world before explaining what makes a boutique different.
Why Fashion Changes Every Year
Fashion is intricately linked to the cultures and societies in which it thrives: social, political and economic changes alter how people dress, and designers draw inspiration from art, music, film and current events. Seasons push change too - light, breezy fabrics dominate in summer while cozy knits and layers take center stage in winter, so functional, weather-appropriate clothing introduces new styles and materials every few months.
Creative visionaries matter as well: renowned designers and style influencers set directions on runways and red carpets that the wider market follows. Against that, the quest for individuality pulls the other way - people want to stand out, so designers cater to niche audiences and subcultures and micro-trends multiply. Rapid global communication speeds everything up, because trends now spread across the globe through social media, fashion websites and online influencers, while economic downturns push shoppers toward practical, timeless pieces and growing sustainability awareness pushes designers toward eco-friendly practices and materials.
The Designers in the Conversation
The influential-designer conversation for the year mixes long-established American names with newer talent. Ralph Lauren stands for classic, preppy style; Calvin Klein for minimalism and clean aesthetics; Tom Ford for sophistication and modernity; Marc Jacobs for his own label and his Louis Vuitton work; Donna Karan for Donna Karan New York and DKNY; and Michael Kors for luxury sportswear and accessories. Kate and Laura Mulleavy of Rodarte bring ethereal, artistic design, Alexander Wang an edgy modern hand, and Diane von Furstenberg the wrap dress.
Alongside them sit the emerging designers - newer names building recognition through originality, small-scale production, accessible pricing and experimentation with materials and sustainable practices, marketing themselves through social media and digital platforms long before they have the exposure of an established house. The wider best of fashion for consumers collection gathers these year sections together.
A Historical Record of 2023
These pages are kept as a historical 2023 record. The products, store lineups and website rankings describe that year: prices and availability have changed, several featured pieces were seasonal, and media platforms have shifted since. The brand, store and publication links are the place to check what each one offers today.
For the previous year's picks, the best fashion of 2022 section covers dresses, handbags, jeans, shoes, reading, shopping and social media. Start with whichever 2023 guide matches what you are looking for, and the rest of the section is one click away.
Notice how the section's shape changed between the two years: dresses and social media stepped back, while websites and media - the machinery that delivers fashion - stepped forward as subjects in their own right. That shift is itself a 2023 fashion fact, and the guides below document it.
Common Questions
What categories does the best-of-2023 section cover?
Six guides: handbags, jeans, shoes, apparel websites, fashion media and fashion shopping. The handbag guide profiles twelve popular brands, the jeans guide ten influencer denim brands, and the shoe guide ten trend styles plus five photographed shoes.
Why does fashion change so much from year to year?
Culture and society, the seasons, creative designers and influencers, the quest for individuality, rapid global communication, and economic and environmental factors all push trends to turn over - downturns revive classic styles while sustainability awareness favors eco-friendly materials.
Who counts as an emerging designer?
A relatively new designer gaining recognition: often a recent fashion-school graduate or self-taught founder, producing in small quantities, experimenting with materials and techniques, pricing more accessibly than luxury houses, and building an audience through social media.