Barbiecore pink had a good run. Since dominating Valentino’s fall 2022 show, the hot shade of pink went on to sweep the fashion industry, with a boost from the hit movie “Barbie” in July and massive support from celebrities, including Kim Kardashian and first lady Jill Biden. Now, the pink trend is bleeding red ink.
The first red alert was given during the fall 2023 ready-to-wear shows between February and March. Valentino’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccoli, the one who started the pink wave, featured 14 looks in vibrant red shades in his collection. David Koma, Courrèges, Bottega Veneta, Ferragamo and Fendi also brought fiery looks to their fashion shows, making it clear that red was coming.
Shortly after, celebrities started popping in red for their public engagements. Bella Hadid donned a crimson Amy Shehab dress at the Stanton Social Prime grand opening in March. That same month, Cara Delevingne brought red hot drama in an Elie Saab dress to the Oscars red carpet 2023.
In May, Kylie Minogue went viral with an all-red look in her “Padam Padam” music video. Emma Roberts sported a red Ralph Lauren set at the brand’s intimate dinner in July. In August, Hailey Bieber went all-red in Vivienne Westwood for her “Good Morning America” interview.
Meanwhile, TikTok confirmed red as the color of the year. During the summer, “tomato girl style” inspired creators to dress up as if they were living on an eternal summer vacation in Italy, always wearing at least one red piece. With the changes of the season, the “red fall trend” umbrella garnered over 592 million views in total on the social media platform, followed by the “pop of red outfit” trend with 178 million views.
Embracing the red craze, Zendaya posed for Instagram wearing a red dress from Bottega Veneta’s fall 2023 collection on Sept. 10. The publication quickly accumulated over 5.5 million likes. At the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards on Sept. 12, Selena Gomez took the red carpet by storm with her red Oscar de la Renta dress.
For the first task since being appointed as creative director of Gucci, Sabato De Sarno jumped into the red sea and filled his debut spring 2024 collection with red, suggesting that the trend is only just beginning.
While searches for red outfits continue on social media, WWD lists standout red looks from 2023 for inspiration.
