A Woman’s Touch. Fendi AW26 Couture

| Design & Culture by Ed

Nobody wants to have that conversation, but Maria Grazia Chiuri’s first haute couture collection for Fendi was very good. Of course, there were fillers – she just has to include those client-pleasers: the unassuming A-line, unwaisted silhouettes that tend to fall at mid-calf or ankle length. But then, at her Rome show at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, there were genuine stunners, like an ivory cloak that looked like lace from a distance, only to reveal intricate flowers crafted from fur, leather, and fabric up close. Or the opening caftan, pieced together in black-and-white chevron stripes and modeled after a dress worn a century ago by Emilie Flöge. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Cocky! Jean Paul Gaultier AW26 Couture

| Design & Culture by Ed

What I love most about Duran Lantink‘s debut haute couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier is that it doesn’t seek approval. It’s unapologetically cocky- and fashion has become strangely afraid of cockiness lately. More importantly, it makes you believe that Lantink might just be the designer to reinvent the wheel – or at the very least, come up with a piece of clothing you’ve genuinely never seen before. He’s certainly on that path.

The weirdness and abstractness of his couture prove he’s no longer just the guy fascinated by Rei Kawakubo’s lumps and bumps, churning out inflated silhouettes (although he refines them here into something even more otherworldly – and delightfully bouncy). His understanding of silhouette and texture extends far beyond that, allowing him to experiment with remarkable confidence.

Looking at the collection, you stop wondering whether it fits within the Jean Paul Gaultier universe. Somehow, the internally corseted, sideways-melted body carapace worn by Leon Dame, feather-covered tubes knotted into a dress, or those enormous ball gowns wrapped in Versailles brocade all feel unmistakably enfant terrible. I suspect Gaultier himself wanted a successor who wouldn’t treat the archives as sacred scripture, but would think wildly outside the box – and reinvent. Reinvention has always been the designer’s ethos, and Duran understands that instinctively.

This couture season has been a rather safe one, with a few highs and plenty of middling moments along the way. Then Lantink’s Jean Paul Gaultier came along, changed the trajectory, and spiced things up. More than anything, it left me eager to see what else emerges from that brilliantly fearless mind.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Instinct For Restraint. Armani Privé AW26 Couture

| Design & Culture by Ed

Sometimes all you want from a haute couture collection is a goddamn great evening dress. Armani Privé, under the helm of Silvana Armani, delivers exactly that. Of course, Mr. Armani’s niece won’t escape living in the maestro’s shadow. There’s a peculiarly Italian curse surrounding family-run fashion houses: the successor always seems destined to struggle against the legacy of their blood predecessor. Just look at Versace, Missoni, or Etro. Wild rumours are already swirling about who might become the next creative director(s) to steer the Armani empire. But, much like Leo Dell’Orco‘s excellent recent menswear collection proved, why change something that already works?

Some of Silvana’s instincts do feel slightly dated, but that seems more like a styling issue than a design one. Give her someone like Suzanne Koller to shake things up, and the conversation could be very different. Once again, Armani Privé excels where it matters most: the dresses. A sequence of sculptural evening gowns, their fluid lines offset by architectural necklines, delivered a genuine frisson of drama. The restraint and confidence of these silhouettes are virtually beyond criticism. And Silvana clearly has a taste for something with a little more swagger. Just look at the velvet-skirted look with its sheer leopard bodice. It’s easily one of the finest looks of this haute couture season.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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