Children's Clothing Trends for 2023

Fashion trends come and go and are often repeated many years later. Style will always be subjective and personal to each of us, but trends can help to guide us and give us inspiration when choosing new clothing. This is also the case for children’s clothing. 

Parents want their little ones to look stylish but also to remain comfortable and wear something that reflects their personalities - finding inspiration and trend ideas from popular designers and brands is a great way to build your child’s wardrobe.

Using research and expert opinions, the Kathryn’s team have looked back on popular trends that we saw in 2022 and shared what we can expect to see as the next big trends in 2023.

The sporty style is back

Throughout 2022 we saw many popular styles return such as the sporty look and the classic contemporary style. Certain patterns became popular again, such as nature-related prints and the timeless stripe. These trends will most likely carry through into 2023, especially the sporty/leisure style, which is already currently used a lot in many popular designer's new collections.

Simon Large, Ecommerce Manager at childrenswear provider Kathryns said: 'Stella McCartney, as always, is trending and will be a huge hit for 2023, everyone still wants that sporty-leisure look.'

The sporty style can be both practical and comfortable, and is perfect for children in all seasons this year. Stella McCartney is a great designer to look at for inspiration with this style, as many of their new season pieces involve colourful tracksuits and fun sweatshirts.

Colour will rule 2023

Colour plays an important role in the children’s clothing industry, as it's a way for children to express themselves. It is also an easy way to get them involved with choosing what they want to wear, providing them with a sense of independence. Colour was very popular in fashion in 2022, with vibrant colours making a comeback in summer, and autumn bringing in a lot of 70’s tones, including dark greens and burgundies. Popular colours for children’s clothing last year included blue tones and of course, the ever-so-popular pale green.

Going into 2023, we will see digital colour trends such as bright yellows and teals heading into the Spring/Summer season - this trend will be a reflection of the digital age of games and toys. For the Autumn/Winter season, we expect that we will still see burnt oranges and mustard tones - these colours evoke a bright warming and energetic vibe to your child’s wardrobe, whilst being authentic to the season.

Metallic colours will also continue being trendy in 2023 along with pale, neutral colours for more calming transitional pieces throughout the year and between seasons.

Simon commented: 'Pastel colours are back again and can be seen in the Kenzo Boys collection.'

Pastel colours are great for all seasons for your child, they are also easy to pair together to create a fun and youthful look both for boys and girls. The Kenzo Boys collection for 2023 has a range of green tones and pale blues with fun animal designs that also keep with the trendy sporty/leisure style. 

Trending designers to watch out for

Whether you opt to buy your children branded clothes or not, it is easy to take inspiration from what trending designers are releasing for the new year. In 2022, we saw the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Stella McCartney and Burberry trending in both children and adult fashion. Some of these designers have already released new collections for Spring/Summer 23. 

When looking at these collections, we notice the following aspects:

• We can see sports, cars and film-related designs in the new Dolce & Gabbana kids collections for 2023. The girls' collection has a lot of floral patterns, ready for the warmer months. 
• Kenzo is another designer that has released a floral theme collection for 2023, with a lot of 3D application styles. This tells us that big floral patterns will be a huge trend for 2023.
• Gucci’s latest children's collection includes a lot of denim and pastel tones, as well as preppy styles coming back around.

Simon added: 'Missoni Kids launches this season and we have already seen a huge demand for this, so we expect it to be a very successful launch for Summer 23 season.' 

The Missoni Kids new collection has already seen chevron patterns and stripes - great for the Spring/Summer months!

Overall, our research and expert opinions indicate an exciting year ahead for children’s fashion, with colourful prints becoming even more popular and sporty styles remaining trendy. Judging by current collections that have been released, it appears that there are some fun and vibrant styles returning for 2023. 

Whether you enjoy buying from designer brands or not, there are some great new collections to take ideas from that will surely inspire any parent looking to update their child’s wardrobe with some exciting pieces.