Home Duties. Julie Kegels SS27

September 28, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Julie Kegels has just won this year’s LVMH Prize and today opened Paris Fashion Week. The business is growing, the brand is evolving, and with that comes a whole new set of duties for the Belgian designer – home duties, that is. At its core, Kegels’ label has always had a distinctly domestic feeling. She loves exploring intimacy, often through the things that surround us and the way we live. Her woman is constantly caught between rushing and taking it slow. The lace-trimmed negligee is simultaneously done and undone; sheer underskirts are dusted with powder (who hasn’t had a make-up malfunction?), while she remains perpetually ready to leave, jewels already in place.

There is also Kegels’ very Belgian affection for trompe l’oeil and optical illusion. The tights have dropped crotches, the trousers seem to be slipping down, and dresses are abruptly cut in unexpected – and increasingly risky – places. This season, some are quite literally slashed as if by a serial killer. It is this kind of perplexing oddness that makes Julie Kegels’ work so intriguing: it constantly plays with what we think we are seeing, refusing to settle comfortably into any one category or definition.

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

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Humanity. Bottega Veneta SS27

September 28, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

After the overall feeling of robotic coldness and algorithmic calculation that ruled this Milan Fashion Week, Louise Trotter’s emphasis on tactility at Bottega Veneta is hard not to fall for. It’s a reminder that we’re still human after all. The clashes of textures, techniques and colours are zesty and intelligent; this is a wardrobe – and a set of ideas for dressing – for people who, at the end of the day, love culture.

The only thing I wish Trotter would reconsider is the voluminous silhouette she feels so comfortable with. Sometimes the baggy dresses and tailoring come across as unresolved. Not that they’re slouchy – but it would be refreshing to see the designer shed some of the layers and come closer to the body.

ED’s DISPATCH:

Bottega Veneta Foulard Intrecciato Leather Belt

Bottega Veneta Nodo Small Intrecciato Suede-trimmed Leather Pouch

Bottega Veneta Gondola Studded Intrecciato Leather Clogs

Bottega Veneta Embellished Wool-blend Blazer

Bottega Veneta Striped Wool-blend Pants

Unfinished Thought. Ferragamo SS27

September 26, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Maximilan Davis’s Ferragamo tenure has its ups and downs. This season, it’s unfortunately the latter. The collection read like an unfinished thought. The Anthony Vaccarello-ness of it all – vinyl coats and pencil skirts, see-through jerseys, that kind of modern-day Saint Laurent “power dressing” that in general feels very yesterday – is super confusing, noting that Davis usually has good ideas of his own. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:

Ferragamo Molly Embellished Suede Pumps

Ferragamo Draped Satin- And Lace-paneled Silk-chiffon Midi Dress

Ferragamo Hug Leather Shoulder Bag

Ferragamo Layered Wool-blend Blouse

Ferragamo Layered Knitted Midi Skirt

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

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Conservative Turn. Gucci SS27

September 26, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

When Demna was announced as Gucci’s new creative director, the industry collectively assumed that a renaissance was coming. After all, this was the designer who had changed the way fashion looked over the past decade – turning hoodies into statements, oversize into a norm, and luxury itself into something to be questioned, parodied and reinvented.

Yet recreating that alchemy is not easy. In Milan, Demna presented his latest Gucci collection inside a replica of the brand’s flagship store, supposedly returning to the house’s roots. There were attempts at Tom Ford-era sex, echoes of Frida Giannini in the jet-set tailoring and equestrian moments, and none of Alessandro Michele’s warmth. What remained was something colder, more calculated – and strangely nostalgic for 2009, when fashion was very white and very thin. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:

Gucci Silk-satin Mini Skirt

Gucci Cropped Silk Jacket

Gucci Castello Patent-leather Sandals

Gucci Jackie 1961 Leather-trimmed Printed Coated-canvas Shoulder Bag

Gucci Silk-satin Blazer

Twenties. Alberta Ferretti SS27

September 26, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Roaring Twenties in 2026? Groundbreaking. But in the case of Lorenzo Serafini’s latest Alberta Ferretti collection, this really is a deal-breaker. His collection was just so sincerely beautiful. Léon Bakst and the Ballets Russes were obviously on the moodboard, but in Serafini’s hands, the references didn’t end up looking Yves Saint Laurent, but purely Ferretti: romantic, with a hint of wanderlust, and completely unpretentious.

The breeziness of the low-waist gowns, the simple elegance of languid kimonos. Serafini wanted each of the clothes to weigh less than 20 grams, so that on the body everything floated and fluttered. I also loved how some of the looks felt very Romeo Gigli, the Italian designer at his 1980s heyday who himself looked to the 1920s for inspiration. The tie-dyed shawls, pleated trousers and satin cummerbunds evoked that particularly sweet era of Italian fashion.