5 Things To Know About Molly Goddard’s Happy-Making SS23 Collection
By Alice Newbold
Back in Seymour Leisure Centre for a third season, Molly Goddard is enjoying having a spot that feels like hers for a while. The high ceilings and light streaming through the windows certainly made for an apt setting for a daytime London Fashion Week show she hoped would go “bang, bang, bang… and feel kind of relentless”. From the bold new accessories to the romantic finale, here’s everything you need to know about Molly Goddard’s spring/summer 2023 show.
SS23 is an ode to making
Self-deprecating to a fault, Goddard is not one to wax lyrical about the layered inspirations behind her work. She’s a doer, preferring the process of creating to ruminating on what makes a good press release. For spring/summer 2023, Molly is keeping her artistic references to herself and sharing her love of making. An edit of dresses riffing on toiles – “they’re perfectly finished dresses, but I just think they look amazing in calico” – looked understated in Goddard’s world, while the topsy turvy pieces, such as gowns made from jersey material, also looked “so right, when they should be wrong.”
“Jumbled up” never looked so good
Goddard thrives on finding new ways of creating volume and structure for her signature silhouettes, and is now in a happy-making rhythm of clashing prints and colours too. “There’s a messiness to this season, which I really like,” says the creative, whose brief to the sound engineers was to make something “a bit jumbled up and not too slick”. Mission accomplished. Guests lining the hanger-like space bopped in their seats and, as always, left feeling buoyed by all that bouncy, attitude-laden tulle.
Cowboy boots are on the agenda
Molly Goddard shoes always contrast the clothes and become a talking point in their own right. How does one top a skyscraper platform Ugg collab? Two words: Cowboy boots. “They are a great way to add more colour,” asserts Goddard, who sees fashion palette potential in everything. The perfect companion for those yeehaw knee-highs? The densely-frilled velvet bags that look suitably eccentric next to Goddard’s personal favourite piece: the ’50s-style collared cardis, which looked particularly great on the guys.
The show closed with three special bridal dresses
“I think I’m old-school in my approach to doing shows and I’ve always loved the classic bridal end,” says Molly, whose wedding dress finale was anything but traditional. Three bridal looks closed the show on a high and naturally swept social media. The last gigantic fantasy creation took seven days to make and almost filled the atelier, which was lined with paper to protect the frothy fabric. “We kind of made it as we went along as it was hard to gauge how big it was,” explains Goddard, adding: “It’s pretty big.”
The wedding wear is rooted in Molly’s feel-good mission
Goddard’s bridalwear business is not about her bottom line, but the joy associated with making someone feel their very best on their big day. Molly’s brides are not trussed up to the nines in Spanx, but at ease – and dance floor-ready – in dresses that command attention without being remotely fussy to wear. “The point of it all is to have a really great time,” says Goddard, whose new work signals celebration – much like everything she has ever done. From the retina-searing neon separates to the dreamy white wedding gowns, Molly Goddard partywear still makes London hearts soar.
