GmbH Fall 2023 collection is a study in atonal glamour that explores the transformative power of fashion. Oversized bows, stoles, and streamers adorn the collection, giving it a couture edge that is both unexpected and exciting. The designers, Alexander Huseby and Serhat Isik, drew inspiration from the haute couture of the 1950s, as well as the ballroom and drag cultures that have reclaimed it in recent years. The result is a confident and cohesive collection that challenges the duo’s comfort zone and delivers unexpected twists on classic silhouettes.
While the collection’s themes are complex, the designers insist that it’s not intended to be overtly political. Instead, they wanted to focus on clothes, exploring shape and volume in ways that are both daring and elegant. For Huseby and Isik, this collection represents a way of finding freedom with fashion, a chance to shift their focus from personal history and trauma to fashion history. This shift is evident in the collection’s bold and playful approach, which is a far cry from the dark and smoky setting of their Paris performance.
The collection features many signature silhouettes, such as the short coat dress, which has been transformed with streamers that can be tied tight to bind the corset or allowed to fly free with a train-like sweep. But it’s the unexpected takes on menswear that really stand out. The off-the-shoulder bow tops in velvet or with big bows are a bold departure from traditional menswear, and the pairing of a bow top with trousers that have a jogger kind of ease is both unexpected and inspired.
Huseby and Isik have been recontextualizing womenswear tropes in menswear since the beginning, but it hits different within the couture framework of this collection. The pair’s favored body-con looks are back, but what’s more interesting is the pairing of the bow top with the jogger trousers, or the patchworked jacket with an A-line skirt. These silhouettes allow the fabric to move around and with the body, rather than acting as a second skin. The effect is transformative, highlighting the power of fashion to reshape our bodies and our identities.
In the end, the collection is about more than just clothes. It’s about the power of fashion to transform us, to give us a sense of freedom and possibility that we might not otherwise have. As Madonna once said, “strike a pose, there’s nothing to it.” With GmbH’s Fall 2023 collection, that sentiment feels especially relevant. The collection is a reminder that fashion is more than just a way of covering our bodies, it’s a way of expressing our truest selves, of stepping into the person we want to be.
You maybe interest to read:
GmbH Spring/Summer 2023 – Paris Fashion Week
Antonio Marras Fall/Winter 2023 – Milan Fashion Week
MOWALOLA Fall/Winter 2023 – London Fashion Week
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