Fashion

Sumptuous. Max Mara Resort 2025

| Design & Culture by Ed

Of all resort shows presented in farfetched destinations this season, it was the seemingly least fussy of them all that truly made an astounding impression. Ian Griffiths is lately doing wonders at Max Mara, but this collection presented in Venice is his best yet. “It’s a magical place”, said the British designer, “at the crossroad between the East and the West. It’s where luxury was born, Marco Polo was a trading genius who seven centuries ago introduced Western culture to the opulence of the Far East through the Silk Road.” The show was held at Palazzo Ducale, a gothic masterpiece so dreamy that John Ruskin, in his book The Stones of Venice, described it as “the central building of the world.” Models paraded at dusk in the external loggia, against the backdrop of San Marco square. The collection hinted at the Venitian flair for opulence and extravagance in the most sumptuous ways. Silk-tasseled belts cinched voluptuous, sweeping cashmere coats at the waist, caftans and billowing dusters had a breezy presence, and capes were enveloping like tabarri, the traditional cloaks worn by Venitian gentlemen in the 18th century. The silhouette was kept long and lean, or short and leggy; as always with Max Mara, decoration was used sparsely, yet the offering had a more elaborate feel than usual. Then, the finale looks: a billowy cape, a round-shaped cocoon, a layered asymmetrical halter dress, and a dramatic opera coat fit for a Fortuny muse were surmounted by towering matching turbans, courtesy of Stephen Jones. Sensational!

Here are a couple of my favourite Max Mara pieces you can shop now…

ED’s DISPATCH:


Max Mara Carpi Tasseled Leather-trimmed Cotton-poplin Blouse



Max Mara Garda Belted Athered Stretch-jersey Midi Dress



Max Mara Ritmo Pleated Wool Mini Skirt



Max Mara Yole Striped Linen Midi Shirt Dress



Max Mara Carbone Wrap-effect Camel Hair Maxi Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

NET-A-PORTER Limited

Bourgeois Chic. Chloé Resort 2025

| Design & Culture by Ed

Resort 2025 is the third collection we see from Chemena Kamali at Chloé, and so far we know for a fact that she really has a knack for revisiting and refreshing the maison‘s codes, from Gaby Aghion’s liberating femininity to Stella McCartney and Phoebe Philo’s early 2000s frivolity. For spring, Kamali is taking a closer look at bourgeois chic from Karl Lagerfeld’s era. “There are all these stories to explore that haven’t really been told yet that are part of our history,” she said. This time her mood-board was covered with images of “the Art Deco years of Karl in the 1970s. He furnished the entire apartment he lived in, in Saint Germain, as this Deco masterpiece – everything was in black and gold, and white, cream and gold, and he used to lend it to Vogue and others for shoots. Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton, David Bailey, and Deborah Turbeville all shot there.” The billowing, floating volumes, off-the shoulder dresses, balloon-sleeved blouses, and square-necked smocks in diaphanous coin-dot lamé and swirling, pleated metallic florals swiftly teleport you to these days. But there’s also a breath of contemporary air. The boxer-ballet shoe hybrid wedged sneakers Chloé is launching this season (similar walked in a couple of Hannah McGibbon’s runways). “I wanted something that was soft, feminine, comfortable,” Kamali summed up. “And they had to be real. All the women in the office have been test-wearing them.” Collaged from a myriad soft pastel colors in hi-top and low versions, they look like a Chloé hit in the making. Also worth noting: the reissuing of Square Camera handbag with chain handle from Philo’s winter 2003 collection. Whoever still has it in their wardrobe, lucky you!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

NET-A-PORTER Limited

Villa Malaparte. Jacquemus AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

Another season, another postcard show by Jacquemus presented in a very Jacquemus-esque location. We’ve had lavender fields in the south of Provence, we went to a beach in Hawaii and visited Fondation Maeght near the idyllic Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Yesterday, the French designer flew his muses and friends to Capri and drove them to the flame-red Villa Malaparte to be exact. Designed by Adalberto Libera for Curzio Malaparte, starring in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Le Mépris” and once photographed by Karl Lagerfeld for a coffee-table book, this place is charged with history and a certain art-centric aura. Did Simon Porte Jacquemus do this place justice via his new season clothes? The designer has a tendency to scout highly-photogenic locations and create a masterful marketing ploy around it that certainly fuels an instant selling boost of his brand. If that strategy didn’t do commercial wonders, he wouldn’t repeat it each season. But the actual clothes tend to meander and stumble, being largely disconnected from the location except for a couple of architectural, yet flat-looking silhouettes, and the fluffy coat-dress that visually reassembled the bathrobe Brigitte Bardot wore in the aforementioned Godard film. I also didn’t feel Capri-ness in this collection. Everything looked quite stiff, even over-calculated, lacking a sense of sprezzatura. While menswear had daring moments – like tops derived from sailor’s smocks or really good looking pants with sharp pleats – womenswear was rather uninspiring and repetitive, focusing on flowing sack-dresses and hourglass silhouette that made the models look too covered-up. One can’t not respect what Jacquemus built: a successful, independent brand that’s based on a childhood dream. But I wish the designer was more of a designer when it comes to his fashion. 

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

NET-A-PORTER Limited