Men’s – Cowboys. Louis Vuitton AW24

January 17, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Two seasons might be two early to call, but as they say, first impression is the right one. Pharrell Williams’ direction at Louis Vuitton feels like watching a very self-satisfied kid play around with new, shiny toys. Or rather, as in case of the LVMH machine, huge resources. For his first fashion show for the brand, the musician decided to turn Paris into his sandpit. Why not make Pont Neuf (and eventually paralyze Parisian traffic for a day) a runway venue? Then, for his sophomore season, Pharrell picks a new theme: now he wants to play with cowboys! There’s no need for a further review of the autumn-winter 2024 outing at this point. The clothes – or rather overstyled outfits, some better, some worse – speak straightforwardly for themselves. Cowboys. Horses. So Ken.

I might have never been a number one fan of Virgil Abloh’s work for Louis Vuitton, but he had concepts and ideas, sometimes very risky and envelope-pushing ones, flipping this brand upside down. Pharrell is orchestrating (or at least is a face of it) a big, big marketing ploy, with no much consistency, coherence or sense. Will it turn out that well in the long run? Time will tell. I might never understand it. And I’m fine with that.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Men’s – Perfetto. Zegna AW24

January 16, 2024January 17, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Zegna‘s autumn-winter 2024 collection is probably my favorite of the entire Milan Fashion Week. It’s just perfetto. Collectively made in a beyond color palette of butter, burnt orange, asphalt and the inkiest of blues, Alessandro Sartori‘s latest line-up was about the greatest coats – from a sweeping raglan sleeved number to a padded cashmere coat with an almost suede-like hand, I’m drooling over each of them. “I wanted everything in natural materials: washed cashmere, treated cashmere, quilted cashmere, beaver cashmere and upcycled cashmere,” explained the designer. These cashmere knits look heavenly on the screen, so I just can’t imagine how good are they IRL. Sartori’s standout idea this season were the work jackets and outer shirts – all cut with patch pockets, wide sleeves and generous proportions. The designer offered many looks with detachable collars, or collar choices, in either rawhide or stiff felt, giving a sharp finish to the jawline. And his trousers are simply the best of the sartorial power of “Made in Italy” (did you get my Ed’s Dispatch newsletter on “Italianity”?).

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Men’s – Prim And Perverse. JW Anderson AW24

January 15, 2024January 17, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Jonathan Anderson said in his autumn-winter 2024 preview: “Eyes Wide Shut is one of my favorite films, and I actually think it’s a great Christmas film.” It was, however, two viewings last summer that led to this JW Anderson collection. “I’ve never made anything about a film before,” said Anderson. “This is also the sexiest we’ve ever gone – as far as I can go.” Fashion world has a great affection for this Stanley Kubrick fim. Lately, Puppets & Puppets had an entire collection dedicated to this spicy romance-thriller. In case of Anderson, the result was a diverse design range, spanning from prim to perverse: both in menswear and women’s pre-fall, at moments in a Prada-ist manner (fun fact: in the 2000s, the Irish designer used to work around Prada at Brown Thomas in Dublin; there he met Manuela Pavesi, Miuccia’s right-hand, where she consulted the brand’s merchandising). For the collection’s hero print, Anderson contacted Christiane, Kubrick’s widow, regarding her paintings that the director used in his films (including A Clockwork Orange and Eyes Wide Shut). These paintings were what spanned the triptych knit jersey dresses: other pieces featured a portrait of a family cat, a pot plant with a barcode still on its tub, and a car interior. Said Anderson: “I thought what was interesting is the psychology of this idea of bringing someone from the background to the foreground.” This was about as literal as Anderson got. The collection contained neither Christmas trees nor masks – although Nicole Kidman was on the soundtrack, delivering the near-to-last line of dialogue – however a palpable spirit of twisted bourgeois eroticism ran through the darkened runway as fil rouge. Red, with all its implications, headlined in an oversized velvet evening jacket for men. The jacket’s womenswear counterpoint was a red velvet jumpsuit with one disordered, asymmetrically cut leg that seemed at the intersection of sleepwear and evening wear. Anderson’s own recurring predilection for shorts was satisfied afresh via some wonderful rib knit pieces – sometimes partnered with cardigans, sometimes not – from whose edges oozed suggestive, unsettlingly domestic whorls of satin. Dressing his female and male models in tights over panties gave a less figure-skating aspect to the trophy underwear trend.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Men’s – Synthetic Environments. Prada AW24

January 15, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

“In this moment you can’t avoid talking about subjects that are relevant. For instance, nature.” As Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons jointly explained, the thinking behind their Prada autumn-winter 2024 menswear collection was intimately entangled with the notion of our natural environment – how we are insulated from it, and how to go back to it. Simons addeded: “Most people’s screensavers are nature but then at the end we sit in this very synthetic human made environment.” A menacing tension felt palpable once the models, dressed as corporate commuters, walked on the raised glass floor with a stream running through a meadow beneath. The patches of highland greens contrasted with the synthetic green of the wool caps worn on the runway. The collection itself consisted of ultimate classics of menswear, as Simons listed for “the businessman, the working man, the thinking man.” Most wore ties. The Prada twist was touches that subverted these safe spaces of identity, enticing the wearer to surround himself with nature. Narrow-fit raincoats, tweed chore jackets, three-button gray topcoats, and gold buttoned naval outerwear all offered a route outdoors. This was a Prada outing that offered safeness and quintessence, clothes-wise.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Men’s – In Search Of A Spark. Gucci AW24

January 13, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Sabato De Sarno‘s vision for Gucci is taking shape of a formula. His debut womenswear collection was a product-centric, straightforward parade of unoffensive clothes; the ad campaigns operate on blank backgrounds and offer no visual risks; and his first menswear collection for the brand is also moving in that generic, business-is-business direction. Except for one kinky, taken-out-of-the-Tom-Ford-book look where the model wore nothing but a pair of tailored pants, a tie-leash and a pair of leather gloves, this Gucci outing left you with no bold impression. Maybe because most of the looks were the same as in De Sarno’s September debut – like the opening over-sized coat, or the navy v-neck knit with embellished collar, or the color palette consisting of pops of cherry red? It’s actually quite surprising the designer has such confidence in these couple of looks that he’s already mirroring them. It’s probably to early to call, but De Sarno’s Gucci feels like mash-up of your favorite Italian brands: a bit Prada there, bit of Valentino here (where the designer worked before his Gucci appointment). The only signifiers that make it Gucci are the monogram logo, placed on belts and backpacks, and bag re-issues. Don’t get me wrong: those are really good clothes, there’s nothing wrong about all these timeless pea-coats and loafers. But I don’t think De Sarno is giving us enough reasons to be invested in his new Gucci. The designer gives big statements on “artisanship“, “Italianity“, “beauty“, even “good taste“. But as he says himself, “I don’t have a narrative for my collections at the moment”. That shows.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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