It's time to talk about spring trends for 2023! Spanning four cities, over 350 designer showcases, and more celebrity-model moments than you can shake a roll of body tape at, ask anyone in attendance, and they'll tell you that fashion month was back at its biggest and brightest for spring/summer 2023. Having pivoted from perching on the front row to sitting in front of our laptops (cup of tea in hand) for the past few seasons, we expected some designers to entirely forgo the frivolity of "real-life" fashion shows in favor of the digital experience. This, however, was not the case; in fact, not a single virtual invitation landed in my inbox. Instead, with a 45% increase in shows compared to autumn/winter, designers appeared to come to the collective agreement that being together will always be better. And, my, did they make it worth washing our hair and putting on our best outfits for. 

As we've established, physically attending shows certainly has its charms, and we're grateful that the jubilant omnipresence and full-blown spectacle had, for the most part, returned to fashion month. Still, it would be remiss of us not to mention perhaps the most desired guest at any runway: the smartphone. We hate to break it to you, but fashion editors aren't time travelers. Silliness aside, the reality is we can only be in one place at any given time, and with the sheer volume of shows in different vicinities—heck, different cities—it's impossible to be present at every single one. Cue social media, namely Instagram and TikTok, which gives us more access to the action than any backstage pass ever could and enables us to see every noteworthy second unfold as it happens. And spring/summer 2023 proved to be curated with viral moments in mind.

"The season was dominated by the competition between designers to achieve the best audience engagement through the biggest viral flash," says Libby Page, all-around fashion expert and market director at Net-a-Porter. "Coperni was extremely imaginative with the sprayed-on dress worn by Bella Hadid for closing the show. Paris Hilton at Versace and Cher at Balmain demonstrated the power and influence celebrity endorsements have over the brand's popularity." However, it wasn't just A-list sashays that made for excellent viewing; the sets and spaces in which the shows themselves were held were just as integral to the aesthetic as the clothes and, indeed, the celebrity talent.