I'm very excited about fashion this upcoming spring season. The chance to wear something other than the same three sweaters? Into it. The ability to wear a cute jacket that isn’t a puffer? Very down. But the one fashion opportunity that has me the most excited? The chance to add a metallic piece or two into my normal warmer-weather rotation. And I’m not alone. Designers like Brandon Maxwell, Gabriela Hearst, and Nensi Dojaka—to name a few!—all included metallic shades on their Spring/Summer 2023 runways.
Call it the new wave of dopamine dressing or chalk it up to the influence of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, but metallics are "in" for this season. And while traditional gold and silver hues are popular, so too are options fashioned in shades of Barbiecore pink, vibrant blue, and green. While metallic, sparkly shades are commonly associated with the winter months and are generally more common on the Fall/Winter runways, stylist Lizzy Rosenberg thinks that their unexpected resurgence as a major trend for the Spring/Summer 2023 season has to do with the parallel popularity of early aughts-inspired fashion.
One of her favorite designers to show pastel was the aforementioned Maxwell—who sent metallic maxi skirts and mini dresses in trending shades such as lavender and baby pink down the runway this spring. “It's really showing a fresh expression of the trend, while registering tribute to notes of ‘90s fashion and 2000s pop culture and style,” she says.
Rosenberg also cited brands like Paco Rabanne as inspirations for the season ahead. The brand has gone viral for their Instagram-friendly range of chainmail skirts and dresses over the last few seasons. For Spring/Summer 2023, however, they channeled their metallic obsession into pairs of silver leather moto boots, fringed maxi skirts, and chrome-ified high-waisted trousers. Creative Director Julien Dossena’s “use of metallics, juxtaposed florals, leather harnesses, latex, combat boots, and babushka [head scarves], was an expression I have not seen done for some time,” she says. While spring florals might not be groundbreaking, styling them with chunky chainmail accessories certainly feels fresh.
If you want to get ahead of the trend, keep scrolling. Ahead, I’ve rounded up a selection of bejeweled dresses, skirts, handbags, and more—basically everything you’ll need to, as Taylor Swift once said, “make the whole place shimmer.”
Metallic Tops
Metallic Bottoms
Metallic Dresses
