An A to Z of trends for 2023
Culture, lifestyle and fashion trends for 2023 – all the events you shouldn't miss, organised in alphabetical order
A for Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei is to take over the London Design Museum with major installations this April.
The Chinese artist and human rights activist’s mega artworks have been a powerful tool for social change — you may remember the millions of porcelain sunflower seeds covering the entire floor of Tate Modern's Turbine Hall in 2010. The work was intended to comment on the mass-production and consumerism in contemporary society.
We hear that this year, the centrepiece will be hundreds of thousands of objects collected by Ai Weiwei and displayed in expansive ‘fields’.
Read more ...B for Barbie the movie
One of the most mystifying movie releases of the year is Barbie, which follows a Mattel doll excluded from Barbieland for not being perfect enough.
If that sounds slightly sickening to you, you might be surprised to hear that the script has been co-written by glam indie couple Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Noah Baumbach (Marriage Story), and that Gerwig directed the movie, although she admitted herself that it could be a potential career breaker.
Add to that a spectacular cast – Margot Robbie and a peroxide blond Ryan Gosling – and you wonder what could possibly go wrong?
Read more ...C for Chat GPT
The artificial intelligence programme is all the rage at the moment, with one million people signing up to the beta platform every five hours and investors fighting to get their share in the future unicorn.
Ask anything and Chat GPT will create an accurate answer – although be aware that its knowledge cut-off date is 2021.
Scarily addictive and very likely to change our lives in the year to come.
Read more ...D for Dune 2
Timothée Chalamet will face Austin Butler (who plays the sinister Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen) in Denis Villeneuve's second opus of Dune. Florence Pugh, Léa Seydoux, and Christopher Walken will also take part. And let’s not forget Zendaya!
Add to the mix Hans Zimmer's score and stunning landscapes, and we know we're in for a spectacular treat.
We'll send you a reminder to book your IMAX screen seat.
Read more ...E for Elevated Indie Sleaze
This year we will look rebellious yet luxurious. 2023 fashion trends oscillate between quiet chic and subversive looks.
The perfect combination of those two extremes is Elevated Indie Sleaze (Sleaze is a Gen Z term to describe anything grunge).
Puzzled? Check our styling tips.
Photo: Isak Berglund Mattson-Marn, courtesy of Our Legacy
Read more ...F for fashion fluidity
With Hashtags on TikTok such as #femboy, garnering more than three billion global views as of the end of October 2022, the fluidity between masculine and feminine is now well established. And it does impact our wardrobe.
Last year saw us dress in outfits borrowed from the other sex — suits and bombers for women, skirts and heels for men. This year it is also about design that can fit different types of bodies, with stretchy fabric and adjustable shapes.
G for Glyndebourne
Summer vibes, hats, Pimms and green meadows… This summer at Glyndebourne sees the return of Peter Hall's magical reading of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Don’t miss it and prepare to be spellbound.
Public booking opens in March.
H for Hanya Yanagihara's play at the Harold Pinter Theatre
Hanya Yangihara's cult book A Little Life is getting a stage adaptation with star theatre director Ivo van Hove in charge and James Norton as the lead.
Yanagihara’s novel is known for its beautiful portrayal of friendship, but also for its relentless peddling of dark themes including child abuse, rape and self-harm. Van Hove, meanwhile, is famous for his experimental, brooding works.
One of the most anticipated theatre adaptations of the year.
I for Ikea’s first collab with Sabine Marcelis
This first collaboration between Ikea and Dutch designer Sabine Marcelis is widely anticipated. It marks an important change in Ikea's approach to design. Marcelis is known for her acrylic furniture pieces that play with light and reflection. Her work has been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world and she has also designed with renowned brands such as Louis Vuitton.
The collection is called the VARMBLIXT and will highlight sculptural lighting objects. It will launch on Wednesday 1 February.
J for Joia – a hot new restaurant
Michelin-starred Portuguese chef Henrique Sa Pessoa is opening his first London restaurant, Joia, in Battersea.
A celebrity chef in Portugal (he is a MasterChef judge there) Sa Pessoa is known for his modern and creative approach to traditional Portuguese cuisine. The restaurant will be housed inside the luxurious art’otel and will also boast a separate bar specialising in vermouths, and Spanish and Portuguese wines.
K for Hilma af Klint
An exhibition of work by Swedish painter Hilma af Klint (1862–1944) is always a major event. Her huge, trippy canvases in pastel pinks, burnt oranges and dusty blues have been compared to the abstract works of Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian.
She in fact started working on abstract paintings decades before them, through her own singular artistic process. Ignored by the critics, her work took the world by storm in 1986 when finally exhibited publicly.
Tate Modern will exhibit her work alongside Piet Mondrian's. The exhibition will open in April.
Read more ...L for Lightroom
Lightroom is the new immersive art venue which promises to host ‘spectacular artist-led shows’ for the years to come.
For its grand opening in February, it will feature a large-scale exhibition of David Hockney (the artist's lifelong fascination with the possibilities of new media is well-known) who is said to have worked closely with the creative team to take the audience on a personal journey through his art.
We hope to be spellbound!
M for Magenta
Viva Magenta has been chosen by Pantone as the colour of the year. 'Viva Magenta is brave and fearless, a pulsating colour whose exuberance promotes a joyous and optimistic celebration, writing a new narrative,' says Pantone. Exactly what we need right now.
N for Naoise Dolan
Sally Rooney’s sparkier and more playful contemporary Irish writer Naoise Dolan made a splash in 2020 with Exciting Times. Her anticipated second novel, The Happy Couple, which envisages the run-up to a wedding, is expected to be as deviously clever as it is entertaining.
The book will be published in May 2023.
Photo @Naoise Dolan Instagram
O for Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan
Despite sometimes wavering in overall quality, Christopher Nolan movies are always events. For his latest title, the filmmaker is said to have practically recreated an atomic bomb test.
Oppenheimer is based on the Pulitzer-winning book by Kai Bird and Martin J Sherwin, and traces the life of Manhattan Project scientist J Robert Oppenheimer played by Cillian Murphy, a key figure in the invention of the atom bomb.
The film will be released in July.
P for Phoebes
Everyone was anticipating Phoebe Philo's grand return to fashion last year. And then nothing happened. But fashion insiders – including the fashion editor of The New York Times Vanessa Friedman, are confident that Philo's brand will see the light this year.
Meanwhile, Phoebe Waller-Bridge is back on the big screen, as Indiana Jones's goddaughter. According to Empire, the actor was offered the role by producer Kathleen Kennedy. 'Kathy was in London and asked to have dinner with me, and casually mentioned this,' recalls Waller-Bridge. 'I immediately ordered 10 bottles of wine. Then it was the fastest I’ve ever read a script; I came out of a sort of haze afterwards. I just couldn’t believe how much fun I had and how moved I was by it. And then I had a Zoom and screamed, "Yes!" at them all.'
Q for Himalayan Quest
Dreaming of getting away from it all? Check out the Himalayas' ultimate 2023 new hotel destinations opening this year: The 6 Senses Punacka in Buthan and Shinta Mani in Mustang.
R for the Return of 90s Rom-coms
For those of us who grew up with 90s rom-coms of the likes of When Harry met Sally and Four Weddings and a Funeral, the past 10 years have been a bit of a vacuum.
Well, it seems that the 90s staple is back and with some major big names: Your Place or Mine stars Reese Witherspoon and Ashton Kutcher, while What’s Love Got to Do with It? boasts Lily James and Shazad Latif.
Romcoms for the 50+? It is certainly becoming a trend if one can judge the success of Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson in Marry Me. And we can't wait to see the return of rom-com queen Meg Ryan, reunited with David Duchovny in What Happens Later.
S for Snatched skin
Snatched skin is a non-invasive cosmetic exfoliating treatment that is said to improve skin texture and tone, and is becoming the new obsession of the beauty world. We hear that the EmFace treatment is particularly convincing.
Hello sculptural face, goodbye sagging!
T for soft-shade Tailoring
We've previously mentioned shared wardrobes between men and women. Well, tailoring is actually the big takeaway trend of the 2023 pre-fall collections – perhaps revealing our need for post-pandemic order and structure.
This year suits can be pulled together with matching jackets and trousers, skirts or shorts, and in pale and relaxed fabrics that elongate the silhouette.
U for Underwhelming
You may be aware of celebrity Julia Fox, the artist-cum-It-girl who came to fame after briefly dating Kanye West. Fox’s talent for attracting media attention is second to none and her latest achievement is showing off her 'underwhelming' Manhattan apartment in a TikTok video. More interesting, though, is the millions of TikTokkers who liked Fox's video.
Similarly, Mary Kondo has announced to the world in an interview with The Washington Post that she has 'kind of given up' on keeping her house tidy to spend more time with her children. Could the immaculate guru be becoming more real too?
If a more authentic portrayal of your day-to-day life is up your street, download the app BeReal. Now is the time to show who you really are and how you really live, and say goodbye to unrealistic Instagram picture-perfect looks and interiors.
Photo: Julia Fox's apartment, courtesy of Julia Fox's TikTok
V for Verdoora
Our new obsession: a delicious Italian meal delivered to our door thanks to the just-launched food delivery platform Verdoora.
Almost ready to eat – you just need to do the nice bit – Verdoora’s pasta, focaccia, soups and salsas are so good and fresh it feels they have just been cooked by an Italian nonna. Healthy, delicious, with fabulous sourcing, they're a must-try.
W for West African cuisine
West African restaurants are taking London by storm. From Michelin-starred Ikoyi to Tatale and Akoko, the cuisine is delighting the food-obsessed.
If you haven't managed to book a table in one of those minimalist, über-trendy spots, then now is the time. Get ready to feast on plantain, jollof rice and yassa chicken…
X for MaXi
The maxi trend is reaching its peak with the fashion set but also in the design world. You may have already succumbed to the appeal of ultra-wide and long trousers, and oversized blazers. This year it is also about floor-grazing skirts and maxi coats.
Meanwhile, maximalist interiors with plush fabrics and busy prints convey our need for luxe and comfort.
Y for Yellow
Could yellow be the official Gen Z colour? According to marketers and brand creators, yellow is to Gen Z what pink used to be for millennials.
Vibrant and heralding positivity, 'the colour represents hopefulness and optimism, two feelings that young people are desperate for in a precarious reality,' say interior designer Martin Kessleman inThe Guardian.
And illustrating that is the new COS x Yeboah collab due out in February.
Z for Zadie Smith's new novel
Zadie Smith’s first historical fiction novel, The Fraud, is due out in September. The story takes place between Jamaica and Victorian Britain. It is based on a real-life trial and reflects on imposture, hypocrisy and self-deception. We can't wait to curl up with it come autumn.