Theory Fall 2023 Ready-to-Wear Collection

At Theory, Jeffrey Kalinsky reprised the runway experience from last season. Once again models walked slowly on the catwalk—at a pace usually reserved for wearers of classic couture gowns—while the creative director stood to the side and narrated their outfits. Last season, The Mamas and the Papas’s “California Dreamin’” opened the collection, and this season it was The Beatles’s “Here Comes the Sun.” Although you couldn’t tell by just glancing at the collection, there was an undercurrent of ’60s inspiration in the monochromatic looks (which included matching tights or leggings in shades of white, grey, black, and red that complimented the looks), the suiting pieces that featured big silver decorative buttons, and the silver leather mary jane wedges and kitten heeled pumps which added some space-age frisson. Also, many of the looks were shown with catsuits. “When I started thinking about this collection, they were the first thing that came into my head,” said Kalinsky. “Show everything on a catsuit, a skirt, a jacket, even pants.”

As usual with a Theory show, the collection was filled with the building blocks of any working woman’s wardrobe, often presented in multiple iterations. Suits were shown in a very choose-your-own-adventure way: there were classically tailored blazers with one or three buttons, oversized jackets borrowed from the men’s department, or mod jackets with silver buttons—one even with short sleeves. (“Is it a jacket? Is it a shirt?” said Kalinsky as the model walked.)

The pants, meanwhile, were cropped, or high-waisted and pleated, or hip-hugging with a slight flare. The latter ones seemed the most modern, especially done in a chocolate brown suede, worn with matching button down shirts unbuttoned to there, in a way that touched upon some of the Y2K tendencies currently making their way through the fashion world. Ditto a look made from red crepe, worn with a matching trench coat. A grey double-faced wool-cashmere parka worn with a matching mini skirt was a new take on the suit, and was also very mod. Elsewhere, short skirt suits with round neck cropped jackets were “designed to kiss exactly right,” and shown in a few iterations: made from a grey checked wool, a chocolate brown suede, and a silk chiffon with all-over sequin embroidery.

Kalinsky declared car coats “an obsession,” and when a version made from recycled nylon, with exactly the right amount of sheen and delicate volume walked down the runway, it was easy to see why.