Power dressing will always be paramount in a Sergio Hudson fashion show. Back in February, ahead of his Spring Summer 2022 show, he said, “When I see women, I see them at their finest, and I want to dress them to meet that moment.” This Spring Summer 2023 collection, or “Collection 10,” was no deviation from that sentiment.
In true Sergio style, he leaned into striking patterns and dominant silhouettes. The vibrant, “mod” hues were washed across an array of mega-shouldered power suits, cropped felt coats, mini-dresses, and convertible two-piece sets. “I want her to feel how I see her in my head, which is powerful, strong, able to conquer the world, able to rule the world, able to create the world,” Hudson says of the Sergio Hudson woman. “That’s what women are, and that’s what they do. So I want them to feel like that when they see my clothes when they wear my clothes. When they look in the mirror in my clothes, I want to be something that can assist them in pushing themselves forward.”
Hudson comes from the school of Mugler, Versace, Ferre, Alaïa, and Montana–but it was someone else from that era of extravagance that served as the inspiration for the latest collection.
The designer cites live performances of the late Prince as a major source of inspiration (the singer was known to incorporate polka dots into his stage costumes, much like what’s been shown in this collection), adapting his essence for the Sergio Hudson woman.
“It was like a shift for him into the early 90s, where he kind of made that new jack swing type sound shift, and it was my main inspiration for the collection–how he had the women looking in those in those videos and how he created this world. That was like an alternate universe I really wanted to create that in the room at the show. So I hope that came off like that.”
Channeling 90s “grown-woman” glamour a la Waiting to Exhale, hair on the runway was towering and voluminous, teased and coiffed, which solidified his vision even more. Hudson enlisted many familiar faces like industry veterans Veronica Webb and Chanel Iman and models of the moment, Winnie Harlow and Maria Borges, who strutted down the catwalk in the brand’s signature giraffe print.
What’s next for the designer? It’s #TeamNoSleep over at the House of Hudson:
“We’re in production right now because the collection that you guys saw Saturday night will be in the stores by late November. So it’s just on to the next. Period.”