Spikey. Area AW22

September 14, 2022September 14, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

The opening look of Area‘s first ever runway collection was quite a message. A cage dress made from bands of Japanese selvedge denim and covered in jumbo spikes around the body, sleeves and neck, was an immediate plea to be left alone, but worn with flat sandals, you could almost imagine the practical implications of wearing such a garment out in the real world – perhaps to take the train by oneself late at night? If it wasn’t obvious that underneath the spikes there was a wearable sporty denim dress, then the second look, a bustier with a sweetheart necklace and a matching miniskirt also made of denim, and featuring the season’s “folded bondage bow,” as it was named it in the show notes, finished spelling it out. At Area there is constant exploration of the liminal space between aggression and rebellion and making beautiful clothes that sell. “For me it’s always been so hard to understand that there’s this separation between stuff that you sell and stuff that you dream of,” designer Piotrek Panszczyk said after the show. “And it’s really about connecting the dots and showing people how they’re related to each other, and why both are really important.” And so if you looked beyond the jumbo spikes and the folded pyramid elements and the fantastic sculptural pieces that are Area’s signature, you’d notice the sporty jersey track pants with multicolor Swarovski details down the side worn with an easy sleeveless tank with a cutout detail at the chest, or the silver velvet jeans worn with a matching bustier. You’d also spot a series of cocktail dresses that were classic in their execution, including a purple mini dress with a pleated detail at the sweetheart neckline (“Purple is this kind of religious color, there’s something very priest-like about it, so we wanted to embrace that and twist it and show it in a different way,” Panszczyk explained). Area also announced a collaboration with Sergio Rossi for this season, who did several pairs of high heeled strappy sandals as well as a pair of flats. This certainly isn’t my favourite Area collection (feels too overworked), but big thumbs up for all the experimenting.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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What’s Hot (14.9.22)

September 14, 2022September 11, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

New Wave. Maryam Nassir Zadeh SS23

September 13, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Jean-Luc Godard, the most iconoclastic of New Wave filmmakers, has sadly passed away today. He invented a resolutely modern, intensely free vision of film-making. Godard’s storylines mixed up time and space, changing the idea of a fixed narrative. He filled cinema with poetry and philosophy. Also, his sense of visual aesthetic, from “Breathless” to “Pierrot Le Fou“, has left an ever-lasting legacy. If there is one designer who conveys that Nouvelle Vague style with ease, even subconciously, it’s the New York-based Maryam Nassir Zadeh. Whenever I see her collections, I have an impression of watching a pack of contemporary New Wave women (and men) materialize IRL.

Zadeh began her show notes with the word “waves”, and she was thinking not only about the azure waters lapping on Mediterranean shores (the designer spent part of the summer on the idyllic Greek island Hydra) but also of time. In 2013 Zadeh first dipped her toe into design with accessories and then moved into clothing – and MNZ quickly created a niche in the downtown scene. “What I’m known for is making timeless, elevated basics,” she said after her spring show, which veered from that formula this season. It was a full-circle moment: Zadeh came back to the Sara D. Roosevelt handball court where she had shown before, located just across the street from her studio; the cast and audience were full of friends. The lineup was infused with the freedom of summer dressing—or undressing—the instinctual improvisation of wearing a towel as a sarong, say. Modesty is not a consideration in the MNZ universe, which is body positive and empowering, and that is an extension of how Zadeh lives her life. On vacation, she said, “I was dressing in ways that were like half naked, half covered.” But that’s only part of the story: “I feel like there’s a fusion of the domestic element of my life [as a working mother], but then there’s sort of a tension between that and being free.” The idea of domesticity came through in a literal way; the designer worked with interior textiles like tablecloths and bath towels. Similarly, the idea of finding “space in between” was evident in such garments as half skirts. How these will translate on a rack would be a question, save for the fact that they might not ever land there. Zadeh explained that many of the materials she used have been in her personal collection for decades. Not wanting to cut them up, she worked around them, allowing the textiles to guide the patterns and some no-sew pieces in ways that she feels will lead her in exciting new directions. Thus her reworkings represented a dialogue with fabric and the sum of her past experiences and relationships. It was the lightest pieces that best captured the ephemerality of memory and emphasized the space that exists between the body and the cloth. A polka-dot dress, for example, was the color of sky in the early morning; a yellow woven men’s shirt was tethered by knit cuffs and collars. Layering heavier materials over lighter ones was another way to emphasize the delicacy of the fabrics. Garters and bras added a whiff of the boudoir to the proceedings. A jersey dress with a beautifully shaped scoop neck in front and back was paired with a bra, which by now has fully come out from under. The idea of apron skirts and tying things on is one that is surfacing in many collections. In some ways this harks back to classical precedents and manipulation of material rather than construction. “I wanted to be natural,” Zadeh said, and there’s nothing more so than the human form, which was the designer’s focus this season. What she calls her reworks are works in progress – as is life.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Wild At Heart. Khaite SS23

September 13, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Khaite is now one of New York’s must-see brands. Celebrities jostle for seats and, editors are eager to buy and wear it. Catherine Holstein knows her audience. “That independent, New York, strong, stealth woman – that is who I’m designing for,” she said backstage of her spring-summer 2023 show. For spring she sent out her dependable mix of sequins and silk fringe, leather and denim. Because she was looking at the 1990s films of David Lynch, Wild at Heart in particular, there was a good amount of python print. Nicolas Cage’s character wears a python jacket in the movie; Holstein stamped the pattern on leather for exaggerated bombers and pencil skirts, and silk charmeuse for a voluminous peasant dress. A little python goes a long way, admittedly. The other novelty here was bubble skirts (a trending item this week). Their horsehair reinforced waistbands sat at the crest of the hip bones below everything from a mesh bustier to a crystal embroidered shirt. The low waistlines gave those outfits a cool attitude – polished but not pretentious. Because Holstein is designing for herself and for women like her, she’s got the attitude aspect nailed, but that’s not to diminish her eye for proportion or the exacting lines of her tailoring. A strong-shouldered, elongated jacket with crystal-studded lapels was a looker. You’ll be seeing it around next autumn with a tie-neck silk blouse and jeans and those little sandals.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Motomami. Dion Lee SS23

September 13, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

The scene at the Dion Lee spring-summer 2023 was like a look book by the New York–based Australian designer come to life. In the space a lineup of influencers, models, and more stood around in full looks by the brand. All tall, slender, and muscular. All very cool. All, of course, very Dion Lee. The label’s offering usually teeters between day and night. Its knits and cargos feel both rave ready and casual enough to wear during the day, while its miniskirts, leather separates, and dresses feel dressed up enough for an evening out – perfect for a day-to-night-to-day lifestyle. But for spring Lee expanded on both ends of the spectrum. His very chic and well-cut tailoring and denim (in a just-right, grayed-out wash) offered a more dressed-up daywear assortment, while his floor-length slinky knit dresses and skirts and metallic fringe separates introduced a true evening selection. Backstage after the show, Lee pointed out that this season he honed his interest in patterns of anatomy. “I like to place things on the body in a way that relates to the structure of our form,” he said in reference to his cutouts and layering. This is something Lee does extremely well. He understands the human shape, particularly the muscular and slender type he prioritizes in casting, and knows precisely what areas of the body to uncover or enhance. His clothes are incredibly sexy; they’re alluring and exact, aggressive but curiously inviting. It would be interesting to see him build around other body types, as one often sees his clothes out in the city, and they tend to adapt well to different shapes. Lee also experimented with moto language over the summer (perhaps a nod to Rosalía’s Motomami – he outfitted her tour). These padded and more industrial fabrications worked surprisingly well with his recurring monstera leaf motif, which now bleeds past tops and dresses into footwear and handbags. He said he looked to establish a relationship between nature and what he sees in his daily city life. The designer also introduced a scuba capsule, the bodysuit of which wouldn’t look out of place in a club – it’s Dion Lee, after all.