From Taylor Swift to Bappenheimer: Shaping the Landscape of 2023's Cultural Trends
The world has reacted to this sense of normality by implementing countermeasures that have boosted ailing creative industries (though the economic recovery has already begun). This is especially good news for the art, fashion, and culture sectors, which have responded creatively to a year marked by war and technological upheaval, reflecting both the society's most pressing challenges and its overlooked aspects.
Who's in Control? Women Rule
Two major drivers of the cultural industry are the tours of two of music's most influential women: Beyoncé and Taylor Swift.
Swift's "The Eras Tour" sent shockwaves around the world, becoming the first to surpass the billion-dollar mark. The tour's success led to U.S. Congress hearings on ticket market competition, prompted changes in the travel industry, and even impacted hotel bookings.
Meanwhile, Beyoncé's "Renaissance" Tour contributed over $4.5 billion to the U.S. economy, according to an analysis by QuestionPro, and sparked accusations from a Danish economist that the star was responsible for Sweden's inflation problems due to her extravagant Stockholm shows, which inflated hotel and restaurant prices.
Creating a Phenomenon: "Bappenheimer"
Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" tapped into female audiences' purchasing power, with women making up two-thirds of cinema-going audiences. Simultaneously, Universal Studios' "Oppenheimer" ignited a studio rivalry (or a mutually beneficial ad campaign) as both films dominated the box office, inspiring a wave of memes and Wit and parodies. The phenomenon transformed both films into massive hits, accumulating over $2.3 billion at the worldwide box office, making "Barbie" the highest-grossing film in Warner Bros.' 100-year history.
The Luxury Fashion Market's Giant Players
Luxury conglomerates exert a significant influence on the $1.6 trillion luxury goods market, expanding their reach in 2023. LVMH, Kering, and Richemont, working together, account for almost 62% of the multi-billion-dollar luxury market, according to the March 2023 Savigny Luxury Index.
This summer, Tapestry, the parent company of Coach and Kate Spade, merged with Capri, the owner of Versace and Michael Kors, in a $8.5 billion deal. Meanwhile, LVMH, home to brands like Louis Vuitton, Givenchy, Christian Dior, and Fendi, became the first European company to surpass a market capitalization of $500 billion in April.
At the other end of the market, independent luxury fashion designers struggle against intense competition and find it challenging to maintain their own brands.
Art Theft and Return
The return of high-value art continues to gather momentum, as museums and collectors face increasing pressure to give back questionably acquired artifacts. The New York Rubin Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art each returned artifacts from a Nepalese monastery dating to the 11th century, as well as from Southeast Asian archaeological sites. The family of billionaire George Lindeman promised to return looted artifacts to Cambodia, while the United States announced its intention to return 77 artifacts to Yemen.
A notable boycott is the British Museum, which faces mounting pressure to return disputed artifacts from its extensive collection. This includes the Parthenon Marbles, which have been at the center of a diplomatic row between the UK and Greece for decades—a dispute that recently intensified when British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (a few days later, English King Charles wore a cufflink bearing the Greek flag). The boycott has also affected the British Museum directly, as it discovered in August that some 2,000 items were missing from its collection (some items were even found on eBay). Restoration work is underway, and the museum is now appealing for the return of its treasures.
Silent Luxury in Turbulent Times
As a large portion of the world struggles with living cost crises brought on by inflation, energy, and food price increases, it's no surprise that 2023 is the year of "quiet luxury." This concept, which suggests that opulence should be subtle rather than showy, reflects itself in a new minimalist aesthetic that requires little overt branding or eye-catching designs to convey status.
HBO's "Succession," which premiered its fourth and final season in May, put the trend of "Stealth Wealth" in the spotlight, depicting wealthy characters favoring basic, high-end items (such as Shiv Roy's overall and Kendall Roy's baseball cap). Gwyneth Paltrow's subdued, yet eye-catching outfits at her ski accident trial generated even more buzz. Prada's upcoming men's collection will be all about "Revisiting the Basics," while renowned designer Phoebe Philo prepares to launch her eponymous label with understated elegance. These concepts are extending beyond fashion, with minimalist watches, accessories, and even hotels now in vogue.
Hollywood Strikes Back
Hollywood is striking for the fourth month this year—longer than any other strike in decades. Actors are demanding fair pay and residuals as streaming services shift away from traditional licensing fees. Little is known about how often content is streamed.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that actors earned an average of $27.73 per hour in 2022, and many actors go without pay for the entire year. Film and TV production was affected, with awards shows being truncated or postponed. These rescheduled events resulted in unusually subdued red carpets, which affected leading makeup artists and stylists, who often rely heavily on awards shows for income.
The strike finally ended in November, with SAG-AFTRA reaching a deal with major studios that will remain in effect until May 2026. The deal includes pay raises, long-term employment guarantees, improved social benefits, licensing fees, and protection against AI usage by studios—a critical concern for actors and writers.
Artificial Intelligence and Creativity
Artificial intelligence (AI) threatens the livelihoods of writers and authors, as well as painters and other creatives. George R.R. Martin, Jodi Picoult, John Grisham, and other authors have signed onto a class-action lawsuit against OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, charging that it uses unauthorized works to train its systems and artificially inflates training data to generate seemingly human responses.
High-profile creatives have found ways to defend themselves against AI-generated content, such as using Glaze, a tool that may encourage AI systems to misunderstand oil paintings as woodcuts, and PhotoGuard, which protects images by making them more difficult to manipulate.
Other industries also face the threat of AI encroachment, such as skin-care companies utilizing AI to evaluate consumer needs and beauty brands using AI to design new formulations.
The NFT Boom Fizzles out
While the dramatic surge and decline of NFT prices was one of the biggest stories of 2022, 2023 has brought even more subdued numbers to NFT Enthusiasts. Some companies and prominent figures faced legal action as the trading volume fell.
In April, NFT investors sued Yuga Labs and other companies, alleging that they deceived investors by inflating the value of the Bored Ape NFT and artificially boosting their prices. (At the time, Yuga Labs dismissed these claims as "absolutely without basis in truth or fact" according to CNN.) Cristiano Ronaldo is also facing a $1 billion lawsuit related to his endorsement of Binance and his NFT sales. Italian authorities have now brought charges against a Switzerland-based fund, which launched an ICO to fund a new cryptocurrency backed by Ronaldo's NFTs.
Despite Bitcoin's recent rise in price, analysts are optimistic that the "NFT Winter" may finally be coming to an end. In November, a notable uptick in transaction volumes gave hope that a rebound or even a return to all-time highs might be on the horizon.
The Crown, Trans Rights, and Chaos at Miss Universe
Regardless of how one views Miss Universe in recent years, this year's competition generated unprecedented attention. Two transgender contestants competed for the first time, following increases in LGBTQ+ inclusivity.
Just days before the final round in El Salvador, JKN Global Group, the company that owns Miss Universe, filed for bankruptcy, plunging organizers into chaos. Despite the turmoil, the Thai production company managed to stage a successful show—complete with "elegant evening gowns" and "strange 'ethnic-themed costumes'" (some of which do not deserve that description).
However, drama ensued when Karen Celebertti, the designer behind Miss Nicaragua's victory, was accused of murder. After Nicaragua's Sheynnis Palacios was crowned Miss Universe, Celebertti was charged with homicide, conspiracy, and treason for allegedly participating in a plot to overthrow the Nicaraguan government (Seraberti denies the charges).
Turbulent Auctions
The 2023 auction season featured several coveted items, but only two reached nine-figure values: Picasso's "Femme a la montre," which sold for over $139 million, and Gustav Klimt's "Last Portrait," which became the most expensive artwork ever sold in Europe, fetching around $108 million at a London auction.
In total, however, auction sales were weak. Christie's reported a 2.2 billion US dollar decline in sales compared to the previous year, and Philips reported a 40% drop in earnings compared to the year-ago period.
Auction houses strive to diversify their offerings, with plans for high-value sneaker and sports memorabilia auctions in 2023. However, their success depends on strong results from traditional fine art auctions, according to ArtSys' latest analysis: The top 100 artworks of 2023 generated a combined $2.4 billion, down from $2.4 billion in 2022 and $4.1 billion in 2021.
Ethical Concerns and Provenance
Auction houses must take provenance into account to maintain their reputation and avoid controversy. In September, Christie's canceled an auction of Heidi Horten's jewelry after Jewish people's rights groups and human rights groups raised concerns about the items' origins.
Unexpected Muell
Bargain hunters can find hidden treasures in thrift shops and secondhand stores. One discovery in the UK even netted an antiquities dealer a substantial windfall: He bought a small green vase for just $3 and later discovered it was a rare Qing Dynasty piece, selling for over $74,000. Another anonymous buyer purchased two Chinese glass jars for just $3.99 at a Richmond thrift store, discovering they were rare Gui, named ceramics from the Shanghai Museum.
Surprising discoveries in the art world occurred through corrected attributions, as well. An artwork that sold for $15,000 at auction was later identified as a Rembrandt and sold for nearly $14 million. Art thieves soon discovered a stolen Van Gogh painting hidden in an IKEA shelf.
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Further Reading
The success of Beyoncé and Taylor Swift's tours has had a significant impact on ticket prices, travel, and the art and culture industries. Their innovative creative approaches and personal programming concepts have helped shape cultural trends and boost audience engagement.
The annual influx of new art, music, and cinema releases reflected the challenges and contradictions faced by society. For instance, the digital age brought about new forms of storytelling, forcing artists to reinvent themselves to stay relevant and engage their followers. The power of AI and the debate surrounding its role in the creative process were also topics of discussion this year.
[1] "Beyoncé and Taylor Swift's Tours Impact Ticket Prices, Travel Business, and Art and Culture World," , December 20, 2023. [2] "The Biggest Stories Impacting the Art and Culture World in 2023," , December 20, 2023. [3] "How Beyoncé and Taylor Swift's Tours Impacted Ticket Prices, Travel, and the Art and Culture World," , December 20, 2023.
