Nothingcore, the non-aesthetic that in 2023 will free us from all aesthetics (maybe)

Perhaps the moment has finally arrived, perhaps 2023 will restore – provided that one has actually deprived himself of it – the freedom to dress everyone a bit as one pleases. In fact, the year that has just entered could be dominated by a non-aesthetic: the nothingcore. Which won’t be yet another (macro) container of (micro) trends. Rather, the total absence of any diktat.

On the small screen, there are already those who should start right away: take this as an example Portia, one of the protagonists of the Netflix TV series the White lotus. Costume designer Alex Bovaird explained to The Guardian that her style is not recognizable so much for her personality as for the quantity of moods (all aesthetics with suffixes in -core) that she alternates between one look and another. “Sometimes she cares what she wears, other times she doesn’t,” the costume designer told the British newspaper.

Completely the opposite of Wednesday Addams, one might think: the looks of the extraordinary Jenna Ortega, actress who plays her (macabre) role in the acclaimed Netflix TV series, are consistent with her person from start to finish: black and white, stop. With annex revamp of the Dark Academia aesthetic, which is certainly not exempt from the ruthless attack of the nothingcore.

If Portia and Wednesday are just two very recent examples, it shouldn’t be forgotten that he had thought about it before them Bridgerton to launch (and relaunch, also with the second season) the #regencycore aesthetic. Now, waiting for the third season, a reflection is already starting: will corsets and candy colors still inspire? Or have the looks inspired by the English Regency age already tired? They should be answering millennials and Gen Z, on the other hand, they are the ones who have made in-core aesthetics the strongholds of micro-trends on TikTok.

Whether it’s #regencycore, #barbiecore, #balletcore, #fetishcore, #gorpcore, #nostalgiacore or so on and so forth, the problem with aesthetics is just that: they get tired too quickly. They are born (and die) on social media, but above all they are the mirror of their own gears. In a feed hungry for likes and comments, where photos and reels are produced one after the other, you don’t have time to post a piece of content that you already think about the next one. The pawn is obviously the wardrobe with its many looks to shoot. Where fashion trends should be timeless – in the name of sustainability and a capsule wardrobe with few but good pieces – in the end there is often a succession of clothes, shoes and accessories that feed the interests of the fast fashion giants. Satisfying the pounding algorithm of social media and creating content in line with the aesthetics of the moment becomes a priority: how can we do it if not by relying on low-cost brands that offer anything for every aesthetic?

Wednesday Addams must-haves and the great return of the dark aesthetic that we no longer want to do without

The looks worn by actress Jenna Ortega to play the cult heroine in the new Netflix TV series write a new anthology of gothic style. Between leather jackets, bodycon suits, striped sweaters… and the precious work of costume designer Colleen Atwood

Luckily, however, they still exist – because they still exist, right? – trends that respect the natural life cycle of fashion collections. Apart from the see-now-buy-now phenomenon (which again in relation to sustainability has not been so convincing), the pace of ready-to-wear imposes a pre-established wait, from season to season. You watch a fashion show, take stock of what it will wear in the coming months and, only when the collection is finally available in stores, will that trend give vent. Who knows what the nothingcore but don’t be tired of this too: an appeal launched by the newspaper Hypebeast calls to stop the whole vicious circle.

«The nothingcore it’s not a traditional -core, indeed it’s not even a -core. It’s a call to action to put any -core aside,” the source writes. The basic idea is to go back to giving priority to one’s identity, putting it at the center without exchanging it for a sweetened version of oneself coming from social media. Then he’s not right Emily in Pariswith her mix & match looks that know about everything if not just her and only her?

Spring-Summer 2023 fashion trends: the 14 we can’t do without

How will we dress in the next warm season? We’re starting to wonder right now, in the middle of winter. And it doesn’t surprise us, because now that the temperatures are colder, it’s natural that we want to dream while thinking about the wardrobe of the future. We already reveal how it will be, in 14 trends to follow