…thom browne…
women’s ss 2023 runway collection

well, now that i have you…
i might as well let you know why you’re here…

as you know, thom likes to tell a story…
it’s going to be a long story…
and you know he loooves his long stories…

so said charming, in a duchess silk satin chesterfield dressing gown with cables and foliage in gold bullion and silk satin stitch embroidery.

just a little hint… i’m going to be a prince… the rest, you’ll have to sit back and enjoy…

at the stroke of midnight, in the grand foyer of the palais garnier, a seven-foot-tall sparkling shoe sits alone.

twenty grand silk taffeta opera coats take center stage in a fluttering flurry. tiered, gathered, and pleated—emblazoned with varsity numbers and tipped with grosgrain silk. in saddle shoes that match the gowns, it is a procession in hundreds of color combinations.

oh… if only the shoe belonged to one of us…

the crowd disperses leaving only one. a mystery in white tulle… she wisps toward the shoe.

maybe… it could be me…

in half-draped silk taffeta polka dot dresses and rocker wedge saddle shoes, her stepmother and stepsisters stomp…stomp…stomp in, wearing broad-shoul- dered oxford tailoring and birdcage veils. corseted in a tuxedo trompe l’oeil crop jacket, their cat lucifer prances past in a satin mini skirt and silk duchess jacket festooned with satin ribbon yarn-ball embroidery.

the group of twenty returns, now revealing truly american oxford fabrics.
elongated, oversized, and cropped tailoring, detailed with carefully arranged intarsia polka dots, in preppy, child-like color combinations.

intarsia polka dots…
only in thom browne’s world…

the lining is silk twill, in complementary polka dot patterns…that are not always so complementary.
dropped waists, cropped shirts, and high-waisted underpinnings meet elegant proportions, roped shoulders, and platform saddle shoes. beneath the tailoring, smocked tulle bodysuits add mystery to the body and fantasy to the world.

five spry little mice in flared, off-the-shoulder mini dresses punctuated by embroidered bows, tread lightly in taffeta mary jane flats and pompom fascinators. wel- come the fairy godmother and her wand-wielding cortège, in pleated poodle skirts, with silk taffeta bodysuits and hand-knit jackets with tulle, taffeta, and satin ribbons.

in her carriage, a pink tulle cadillac, Cindy returns. stepping into the shoe, she is the belle of the ball— wearing a white pleated opera coat trimmed with gold bullion embroidery, topped with roped shoulders and finished with navy satin tails.
moments later, she emerges…transformed into the most true version of herself.

in thom browne’s world…
all girls and all boys fit inside the shoe…