Marc Jacobs’ Platforms

April 13, 2016April 9, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Platform boots by Master John, 1973

Autumn-winter 2016 season was all about the height, as the designers had their heads in the clouds, from Demna Gvasalia’s Balenciaga platforms to Maison Margiela‘s stompers. But it was Marc Jacobs, who has stunned everybody with his soft-goth, high-drama collection, and the unbelievably high platforms. Presented in black, pastel purple, velvet pink and white, they already seem to be the cult piece of the season. Marc proved that he is the showman of New York, saying that he was inspired with the exaggerated glamour of drag-queens. But there was something of Winona Ryder’s character in Beetlejuice, and a dark-lolita attitude. Although it was Vivienne Westwood, who made platform boots legit back in the days, Jacobs also makes a sharp cut. Or rather, a STEP.

This Girl. Maryam Nassir Zadeh AW16

March 26, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Maryam Nassir Zadeh is New York’s favourite among stylish, sophisticated and down-to-earth women. Her boutique, with aesthetically curated brands, and her eponymous, namesake label, are known for an affordable, yet profound approach towards fashion you want to wear everyday. For autumn-winter 2016, Maryam is expanding her line, by continuing the denim obsession – a cool, off-beat pencil skirt, as well as patched 501-style pairs of jeans are about to storm the streets. The Woody Allen women, surrounded with calm neutrals, meets a lifey acid green shade of the pussy-cat bow dress; there is also the strong fur game, from cute teddy-bear jacket to a more “investment” coat in a deep, blue colour. When those clothes are going to arrive to the Lower East Side store, a lot of them will sell quick – for now, we can just try to recreate these looks thanks to Zadeh’s masterful styling tips…

Photography by Ana Kraš, aka @teget

Cool Goth. Marc Jacobs AW16

February 19, 2016February 19, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marc Jacobs, thank you for saving the New York Fashion Week from boredom oppression – all those “safe” and “layered” collections make me yawn, even though there are a few exceptions. The collection Marc Jacobs presented yesterday in the evening was just… jaw-dropping. Although the all-white, minimal venue of the collection felt unexpectedly too simple, comparing to all those extravagant settings Marc envisioned throughout the years, it was a perfect backdrop for the clothes. And the clothes were bomb, in one word.

Autumn-winter 2016 was all about gothic culture in fashion, mixed with an aristocratic, soigne mannered dames and grunge, off-duty slouchiness. Chokers, velve platform shoes (a la the ones Vivienne Westwood pulled off in the last decade) and all those extravagant embroideries on cardigans and dresses… then, the queens of darkness came out (Molly Bair slayed the runway – even Lady Gaga couldn’t keep up with her) in their voluminous, black ball-gowns with astrakhan capes. Laser cut floral PVC skirts and crotchet collars styled with elongated college sweatshirts had this striking contrast of old-school and the vintage tendency. The effect? Over-the-top, as usual at Marc Jacobs, but this season it was even more outstanding.

In fact, it’s a nonsense to list all of the season’s inspirations behind Jacob’s winter outing, because there were too many of them – from Winona Ryder in Beetlejuice to Gene Simmons’ Kiss band costumes, it’s visible that somebody still has balls in the industry to present playful fashion and not so easily selling ready-to-wear pieces. Bravo, Marc. You utterly win my heart – and graciously mess up with the system – of all the NYFW’s labels and designers that have presented their “fashion shows” this week.

San Francisco. Rodarte AW16

February 18, 2016February 18, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

San Francisco is more than hippie flowers, even though we have literally seen real orchidees as earrings and crowns on the models’ heads during the Rodarte show. Kate and Laura Mulleavy looked back at their collage roots, reinterpreting the city of their youth in the most original way ever, leaving the well-known stereotypes behind. The sisters had a seat at Caffe Trieste, where Francis Ford Coppola wrote the script for The Godfather; that venue, and the whole mood of old San Francsico inspired the collection’s nods to art nouveau. It all started with a few, black leather looks. And then, it was all about the ethereal whites, as if the Rodarte bride had her spectacular escape from a too cheesy wedding. But don’t get me wrong – these weren’t JUST white, wedding dresses. The veils were made of white fish net, the leather chokers and black lipstick gave a cool-goth look – this girl wasn’t looking for “love at first sight”, but for fun…

Knits Please. Ryan Roche AW16

February 17, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

With her autumn-winter 2016, Ryan Roche proves that her label is not only about the best quality knitwear – it also thinks about other wardrobe essentials. But still, the quintessence of the brand is the signature, cable knit cardigan in pale pink colour. It’s here, as every season, and it doesn’t stop to look like the best sweater in the entire world. Although I haven’t seen any of Roche’s designs in life, I bet their woolly texture should be super soft. With a soft spot for cashmere, specifically, the designer delivered a look-book filled with cozy, knitted (of course) maxi-skirts. Moreover, the collection featured a burgundy dress – smells with Victorian era in here – made entirely thanks to the old-school, granny crotchet technique. It’s a smart, yet short escape from Roche’s minimal aesthetics. It’s distinctly visible that the New York-based designer does her best to move away from her knitted comfort zone, by introducing some graceful, lace pants and peach-pink fur jackets. Concluding, your next winter wardrobe is sincerely supplied with Ryan Roche’s AW16 collection, I guess.