Blessed Again

May 27, 2014May 28, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

You never know what to think of the fantastic world created by the New Yorker named Thom Browne. Every collection is like a blessing… or irony that is a continuation of Browne’s American Horror Story never-ending episode. The fall 2014 collection started with 20’s vintage lamé that felt very Fellini-esque and a bit spiritual at the same time! Through out the collection, there was a feeling that Mr. Thom thought of Vatican splendour completed with hyper-rounded shapes and a gold splash used in make-up, gowns and coats. The extravagance of the church also re-arranged his old-time signatures: tweet jackets were not kept in classical grey, but brushed with silver; the shoulders that are usually transmutated by Thom, felt even more out of this world. Who knows what spirits surrounded the clothes- but surely, this ecclesiastical collection meant something more for the designer.

CFDA: Alexander Wang, Rag & Bone & The Row

May 24, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Every year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America publishes a journal to accompany the organization’s annual awards ceremony. For the first time, the images from that publication—featuring ensembles from all of the designers including accessories, womenswear and menswear nominees that came from W Magazine. Here are the next three, so Alexander Wang, Rag & Bone and The Row. Photos by Willy Vanderperre and Lea Colombo.

Alexander Wang is the man who does great accessories according to CFDA. He is the nominee for ACCESSORIES and WOMENSWEAR award of the year! And, well, looking at these boots, I am not amazed with the selection. His AW14 clothes are above.

Rag & Bone by Marcus Wainwright and David Neville is the nominee of MENSWEAR award – they do best, but really best apparel / workwear for men. And I am their victim. I love the attitude that Rag & Bone boys bring to the men fashion… Their AW14 clothes are above.

Olsen sisters are the nominees of ACCESORIES award with their luxurious label The Row. Their bags are classical and made from best quality leather: calfskin, crocodile or python are The Row’s essentials. Their AW14 pieces are above.

Pre – Essentials

May 22, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Altuzarra – mules, checks and bandana is a lot of a frenchie!

The Pre-Fall 2014 pieces are fastly appearing in the stores, so why not have a look at the new trends closer (ok, we think summer now, but fashion industry is going to tell and what)? The pre-collections are always the ones that stay longer on the shopping racks and are the things you are going to wear the whole season – the AW14 is rather for the show… in my opinion, the thing to invest this time is a turtleneck knit or a chic bandana. Both look gorgeous with a over-sized, geometrical coat or an A skirt. Also, nothing fails like mules or heels with fur: they are everywhere and I love it! Also, voluminous sweaters look so last season with jeans- why not wear a lace skirt a la Jason Wu? Surely this time, the designers presented very mature looks, but I think they don’t give you age (just look at the The Row look-book). It just the matter of how you will wear it!

Ellery – perfect coat with perfect shoes means perfect outfit. Tie that turle round your neck, too!

Atto – A line skirt, tutleneck and comfortable pumps.

Jason Wu – Girly but mature, so an embroidered skirt and a knitted, wool sweater.

Reed Krakoff – a lovely work made for busy days. Love the pony on Reed’s sweatshirt!

zdjęcie 2-kopia

The Row – masculine chic at it’s best.

Calvin Klein – Francisco Coasta thought of lazy evenings, so that’s why he offers warm, cozy wool dresses and jumpers that seem to be perfect for a stylish nap.

The Row – again, Olsens nailed it: the coat / cape that is a pure perfection. And that bag, of course.

Real Fantasies

May 11, 2014May 11, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Fairies? At Prada? Why, yes: When Miuccia is fed up with being perverse in the anarchic-fierce way, she’ll change tack yet again and go against the grain by being so sweetly unchallenging you (almost) can’t recognize her. So Prada for Spring went late sixties, early seventies, Art Nouveau-ish—tripping off into the kind of tendrilly doodles girls used to scrawl on their bedroom walls after studying their hippie-romantic rock album covers.” Nowadays, the fashion world is all buzzy about seasonless clothes that will forever be trendy. But, I think it’s impossible because fashion is art and art always tends to change it sides. After opening the Dover Street Market in New York, Rei Kawabuko (the designer of Comme des Garcons) is in strong relationship with Miuccia Prada. Creating lovely capsule collections made of unused archive Prada fabrics, the designers already created two collections- the one that was sold for AW13, and the second for SS14. The second one is all about SS 2008, when Miuccia took us to a fairy-tale full of fairies and elfs. I remember how hot it was in the stores when everybody stood in queue for a fairy bag! Thanks to that new flashback that DSM did with Prada, women which bought anything from this season may again wear their pieces, without thinking that they are so, so last season. As you see, fashion is very much like art- you never know, when it suddenly comes back… see the new capsule collection just like Lena’s archival pieces from SS08 (the skirt and the shoes are not it. We still seek the fairy themed dress in her wardrobe!).

Brooklyn Heights. Dior Resort’15

May 8, 2014May 8, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dior and Brooklyn sound strange in one sentence. The baby of Parisian LVMH and a district of New York? Believe that or not, but that’s totally true- Dior showed it’s Resort 2015 collection in Navy Yard Greenhouse, from which a beautiful view of Manhattan’s skyscrapers is seen. In my opinion, the collection (excluding the fact it was presented in Brooklyn) was one of the best that Raf Simons presented to date. The artistic director created a smart, lovely and energetic collection that is a mix of eternal Parisian chic and the new New York style. Simons took up the silk scarf—le carré, as they say in Paris—as the show’s leitmotif. It meant that these clothes were more fluid than the sculpted and molded silhouettes of some of his previous collections for Dior. And, of course, you had an impression you look at art- everything felt artsy and very free-spirited!

About the artist: Lucien Freud is known chiefly for his thickly impastoed portrait and figure paintings, he was widely considered the pre-eminent British artist of his time. His works are noted for their psychological penetration, and for their often discomforting examination of the relationship between artist and model.