Selkie S/S 23 You Are Stunning
From Tiktok To The Runway
Regency Renaissance Era meets comfort of Selkie
Photo Credit provided by Selkie
Photo Credit provided by Selkie
I pulled out my phone for directions, running off the subway to the Selkie show venue, only to notice a few others dressed in gorgeous gowns walking around me. It’s hard to miss a Selkie outfit — so I put my phone away and followed the crowd. Almost everyone around me was dressed head to toe in Selkie, I gave my little “soooo where are you going?” as we all obviously walked towards 99 Scott in Brooklyn for the show. And let me tell you — never have I ever attended a show where majority of the audience wore the brand. It was unreal. Everyone truly pulled out their favorite dresses just for the occasion and it was phenomenal to see the power of Selkie. There was an electrifying aura of femininity in the air. True to Selkie’s nature of designing with the female gaze in mind, the crowd of puff dresses and voluminous ruffles gave everything and more.
Mind you, this was all before the show had even started.
Attendees dressed in Selkie — via @fashionablykea
Attendees dressed in Selkie — via @ariannabaq
“Never one to blend into a crowd, Kimberley Gordon brings her signature princess gowns, ridiculous ruffles and pretty pastels to the runway once again. ”
Attendee @montselewin wearing the newest collection + me
Kimberly Gordon, founder of Selkie, truly set a transcending stage. The Selkie S/S 2023 show somehow managed to combine the industrial-ness of Brooklyn with Selkie girliness. As sheer pink fabric was hung from the windows, light filtered into the concrete box, creating almost a fog, which only added to the whimsicalness of the collection. If you noticed unicorn horns on the models, it’s because Gordon was “inspired by the cult classic story, The Last Unicorn” a movie that depicts an army of unicorns who “unite for an explosion of color as we celebrate the odd girl out”.
“Inspired by cult classic story, The Last Unicorn, Spring 2023 Selkie reimagines the tale with a more is more approach, plucking nostalgic memories from the turn of the millenium and splashing them across an army of extravagant unicorns, who’ve hidden themselves inside these human bodies for too long. Lost lonely rebels unite for an explosion of color as we celebrate the odd girl out.”
Selkie was truly born with the puff dress we’ve all seen and love on Tiktok and because the brand is so intrinsically feminine and divine, it is hard to replicate its approach. From ruffles to bows to the colors and patterns, the S/S 2023 collection feels like Selkie in its truest form. The floral patterns and pastel colors, like strawberry milk ruffles, brought extra romance to the collection. In a very regency-era meets comfort core kinda way, even the bags were quite literally pillow-like with royal patterns and a gold chain (also I now need a pillow bag in my life).
The runway show was proof that Selkie is by far one of the most size-inclusive shows this season. The audience loved it, as many around me cheered loudly for their plus-sized stunning gals. I respect Gordon’s dedication to pushing Selkie’s inclusivity aspect, while also being the brand we all seem to need right now. After the recent years of the pandemic lockdown and sweatpants era, trends started to shift towards the sparkly dresses and high heels, but there is something nostalgic Selkie brings to the table — our childhood memories of dress-up.
When did it stop being normal to wear our Disney-like princess dresses in public?
I remember feeling so confident in them and I love how Selkie is (in a way) normalizing that again. There is something fun and beautiful about being confident in a gorgeous puffy dress and feeling unapologetically feminine. I could see it in the audience as everyone sat in their dresses (some with butterflies in their hair); they were unapologetically divine, cheering and clapping for the models, fully involved with the show — it is a true testament to the influence of Selkie’s cult.
Each collection tells a story and presents a dreamy world through its imagery — Selkie