Toxic Paradise. AV Robertson SS17

September 19, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

“It’s like paradise gone bad,” said Amie Robertson after her second runway collection, supported by Fashion East. “An ‘other’, magical land where the flowers that sprout are toxic and taking over. The silver metallic PVC also gives it a space-like element, like being on another planet.” Embroidery and embellishments are A.V. Robertson‘s signatures – that’s why it’s intriguing to see how the London-based designer evolves creatively in those two, painstaking fields. Inspired with 50s horror films like Forbidden Planet, the collection focuses on a vision of a tropical paradise kept in a toxic, dark aura. The season’s look – a transparent, turtleneck blouse with a slit, midi-skirt – is ultra-feminine, while the embellished alien-like florals give it a sci-fi twist. A slip-dress also went through Robertson’s botanic makeover, all in fish-net mesh and fluorescent crystals.

Men’s – Voyager. Gucci SS17

June 22, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Shocking green carpet with a huge red snake – that was the first thing Gucci’s guests saw, minutes before the spring-summer 2017 show started. But they didn’t have a long break from Gucci extravaganza, though. Just a few weeks after the spectacular anglomania splendour in London, Alessandro Michele, brand’s creative director, presented a show for men which was into this season’s motif, so travelling. Like Prada, Michele challenged himself to make his collection not a literal rip-off of oriental kimonos, but something more eclectic and meaningful. In fact, his “travel” is something totally different. “I hate to travel,” he said backstage, confusing everyone. Still, he loves travelling from aesthetics to aesthetic, mentally, not physically. “You can travel in different ways,” mused Michele. “With a book, you can travel. If I change the tapestry of my chair, I sit and I travel.” To an extend, it’s true – with a whole lot of tapestry, embroidery and embellishment, his menswear collection was a diversified version of a voyager’s wardrobe. Leather bombers with colourful dragon heads, rich, velvet coats, satin kimono jacket, Asian patterns featuring Donald Duck – like a treasure chest of cheesy souvenirs from around the world. Essentials, like biker jackets or turtlenecks, were pimped up with florals and marine stripes, while the classical horse-bit loafers were styled with fish-net tights (nothing surprises me anymore during men’s fashion month, honestly). As eclectic as it could be – that’s Alessandro’s world.

New Girl in The Hood. AV Robertson AW16

February 20, 2016September 19, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Do you remember those exquisite, playful embroideries from Marc Jacobs’ spring summer 2016 collection? They were designed by his design assistant, Amie Robertson, whose speciality is embroidery. The blond designer from the Northern part of England has stormed the first day of London Fashion week, supported by the New York-based designer and Katie Grand, the editor-in-chief of Love Magazine. Although she’s a pretty new girl in London’s fashion week schedule, her debutant fashion show was walked by such supers as Edie Campbell, Molly Bair and Anna Cleveland – moreover, seeing her rare talent in a full line-up showed how skillful she is in sequins and artisanal craft. The autumn-winter 2016 collection is based on multi-coloured, pin-stripe pencil skirts, tops and leg-exposing dresses. Noting, that all of that is ornamented with delicate embellishments, which resemble flowers. Hand-made, sequin flowers, which are time-consuming in their process, but look so modern on these wearable silhouettes. Surely, the A.V. Robertson girl will make an entrance in one of these masterpieces.

#2015 – Alessandro Michele

December 8, 2015December 8, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

The year of 2015 was a strong nod to the beauty of Italian craftsmanship, and it’s all thanks to Alessandro Michele. At the beginning of the year, nobody has suspected the designer will revamp Gucci from an Euro-sleek wardrobe of Tom Ford and Frida Gianini into a poetic journey with such success. Michele’s feminine silhouettes, pussy bow shirts and Dionysus bags are the world-wide best-sellers – and I am a great fun of his romantic Gucci girl.

AW15 – Once upon a time, Alessandro Michele entered the house and everybody was like “who is this guy?” His first collection for Gucci perfectly highlighted his style. Michele gave us Wes Anderson-like aristocratic grannies, romantic poets and lots of other things that Frida Gianini has never introduced to the label. The sheer lace tops are totally opposite to the “woman of success” blazers Frida used to show off so oftenly. The entire attitude changed and even the advertisemnt campaign’s (now elusively photographed by Glen Luchford, not enhanced-filter of Mert & Alas) mood evolved into something more chilled-out, relaxed and… surprisingly, appealing.

Resort’16 – The pre-summer Gucci show was not only a surprise due to its appearance in New York. It was intriguing. The word “eclectic” came up constantly, when Michele was talking about the collection backstage. He also talked of “love” fuelling the collection, which incidentally appeared on a sweater in French –”aveugle par l’amour”. So hippie and optimistic, which is what Michele’s vibe is all about. “I’m inspired by a lot of things – from the street, antiques, vintage wardrobes. It’s impossible to explain the exact point of inspiration. It’s about being free to love, free to express, free to show who you are through the way you dress,” said Michele. “Luxury means that you show the way you dress with eccentricity. It’s almost like a new kind of jetset – instead of roaming around the world, you’re roaming with your clothes.” As you see, even the approach to luxury, which is up to now an essence of the brand, has changed.

But coming back to the venue. Gucci chose an inustrial, gallery space in New York’s Chelsea, furnished with Persian rugs. As a remix of orchestral soundtracks started up, the garage doors to the gallery were raised up and the models walked in from the street, looking flawless and so realistic. And the street is certainly where Michele sees his eclectic cast existing. No wonder why the clothes might (or even should) remind you of Williamsburg’s thrift shops and Milanese flea markets, where the clothes are all about kitschy embroidery and cheesy patterns. But in case of Alessandro Michele and his mesmerising Gucci affair, it was all about hand-made embellishments (the snakes!), gold glitter on the shoes, soft lace and imperial Astrakhan jackets.

SS16 Men – “Detournement is the art of taking some parts of the past and using them in the present with a contemporary approach and away from their original contest” is what Alessandro Michele of Gucci said before his SS16 show for men. “I love to work with the past to translate the future,” explained Michele, and although his designs are certainly rooted in Gucci’s heritage (those horse-bit loafers, the green and red equestrian stripes, bee motifs and famous GG logos) they update the house’s codes in a way that’s unrecognisable, thanks to his desire of not wanting “to stay a prisoner inside of the brand.” There are many retro references, with suede jackets and wide collars adapted from classic silhouettes of the 70s, but there is, as Michele puts it, no room for nostalgia – his focus is on youth. “They really are the future – when someone asks me what the future is? The future is now, between us, between young people,” he says. Also, the dynamic, new creative director of Gucci has a truly amazing point of view on beauty for men fashion. “My idea of masculinity is beauty,” Michele said backstage. “If you want to be beauty you can be beauty how you want; it doesn’t mean that you are not a man or woman.” This statement is strongly visible in this collection – hand-made embroideries, royal textiles, tudoresque rings and that Italian “dolce vita” attitude towards life is felt all over these clothes. As it is in Italian fashion philosophy (thank you, Miuccia Prada) to have female models in a menswear collection, the mesmerizing robes and silk scarves were jaw-dropping for both genders. And even though, many of these clothes feel like out of this era, they are all looking far into the future. It is a great pleasure to have a peek at all that artisanal beauty and reflect on it in the same, poetic way. Maybe because Michele himself is a great poet?

SS16 – Breaking down Gucci‘s recent spring-summer 2016 collection is like reinterpreting every painting in a museum. Each look is totally different. And each has its own woman and story behind it. For his first, womenswear summer season, Michele made embroidery his first privilege. Hundreds of embroidered, tiny sequins created cartoonish trompe l’oeil bows, frills and collars. One look with a bra and skirt was entirely constructed in this style – and if you are an observant person, you could notice adorable lady-bugs embellished on ties and parrots over-laying lace shirts. There is no better way to experience the craftsmanship of Alessandro’s vision as to see the newly renovated Gucci boutique on Via Montenapoleone. Here, you can touch the clothes from both autumn-winter 2015 and resort 2016 collections – each piece is absolutely different. A hand-embroidered bird on mink-coat lining; velvet flowers decorate the head-pieces; surely, “the devil is in the details”. I totally agree with that in terms of Michele’s Gucci, and Italian fashion in overall.

Moreover, the designer of Gucci tipped his toes in Italian fashion history for this season – there were references to early Missoni’s lurex zig-zags and the bold 70’s of Italy. Michele said he had been thinking about the Renaissance and the 70s specifically – both great eras for Italy in their own ways. Although this very bright collection was all about femininity (the ruffled dresses, the flower pussy-bows), it had a lot to do with punk. Biker jackets (of course, embroidered with roses), spiked killer-heels and sharp and mini-skirts were there too, during the fashion show. Gucci by Alessandro Michele is generally called “vintage” or “nostalgic“. But the designer totally disagrees with these two words. “It’s a big trip! Of course I am interested in personal style and quirkiness. There are things here that look vintage, but don’t really exist as vintage—it’s the illusion of it. I’m not nostalgic! I’d like to shake it up again.” You can love or hate the new Gucci. Spring-summer 2016 might look too bold, if you look at the collection through the thumbnails – however, one thing’s sure for both of the sides. The attention paid to the detail was missed for a long time in ready-to-wear seasons, just like the real splendour and beauty of Italian craftsmanship. And Alessandro Michele is pioneering it once again in 2015. And in 2016 as well!

Italian Hands at Gucci

October 21, 2015July 27, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Alessandro Michele redefines what’s Italian chic at Gucci. His Resort 2016, which is available in the chosen flagship stores, is a balance of eclecticism and traditional craftsmanship – the topic, that was neglected for several years in the fashion industry. And even though you might not appreciate the slightly kitsch impression that the collection leaves in its overall, you should admit – in detail, these clothes are treasures. Wherever you look, there is a tiny hand-embroidered swallow or a romantic floral embellishment. Or, it’s hard not to notice that each ring is made out of different, gold-pleated elements and precious stones. The head-pieces made out of Astrakhan fur are decorated with silk flowers, that from a metre-long distance look like real peonies. The effect of Gucci’s major revamp is concentrated on the details, that give the clothes an eccentric twist, a poetical mood – and I am still trying to figure out, how such major power-house as Gucci tackled the problem of making the brand feel like a niche label, of which main aim is not only the commercial strength, but also bringing back the beauty of fashion – importance of Italian craftsmanship.