Paris

Commedia Dell’Arte. Nina Ricci Resort 2018

| Design & Culture by Ed

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Guillaume Henry is getting better and better with every season at Nina Ricci. The labels’ autumn-winter 2017 collection presented a few months ago was, for me, one of the season’s biggest highlights. Today, we’re seeing the resort 2018 look-book, which is equally exciting. The colours! The silhouettes! The creative director’s main reference was commedia dell’arte – it’s a one-of-a-kind, Nina Ricci take on Harlequin, Pierrot and Columbine. “It’s in my blood to be bourgeois; it’s just a matter of being fun about it,” Henry explained. Indeed – canary-yellow fur coat and bumpy mini-dress, exaggerated volume of shoulders, fluffy pompoms on flats and huge collars bring aristocratic, even theatrical drama. What’s even more impressive about this collection is the way how Guillaume handled the theme. Those Harlequin-inspired shirts and coats don’t look ridiculous, but unbelievably refined. Also, greet the pistachio-green Tambour, a bag resembling a miniature drum. Genius.

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Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Evolving. Koché Resort 2018

| Design & Culture by Ed

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Although emerging designers prefer to stay away from pre-collections, Kristelle Kocher took the ambitious path. Ladies and Gentlemen, here’s the first ever resort collection coming from the Paris-based Koché. We’ve all got used to the label’s remote show venues (like vast public spaces of the French capital or Folies Bergères) that helped Kristelle build and envision her label’s street identity. Kocher’s pre-collection proves that Koché has its design codes that continue to evolve. The idea of streetwear with haute human touch is here for good. But it’s not about your average hoodies, oh no. Expect intricately embellished, yet loose (track)suits; fleecy sweaters made of different gauge yarns; feminine feather inserts and boas clashed with athletic jackets. The look-book is filled with white, black and electric shades of blue and coral red – you can choose toned or daring, according to your mood.

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Collage by Edward Kanarecki (backdrop: ‘Raindrops’ installation by Urs Fischer).

Her World. Céline Pre-Fall 2017

| Design & Culture by Ed

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To be honest, it’s hard to flip from Gucci’s resort 2018 Italian glamo-mania to Céline‘s world of minimal silhouettes and modern woman-dressing. But I feel much more comfortable in case of the latter – in Phoebe Philo‘s world. For her pre-fall 2017 collection (presented as usual, just before the clothes hit the stores), the brand’s creative director does what she does best. Empowering shirts and all-day dresses; incredible, probably the  most perfectly tailored coats in fur and leather; pleated midi-skirts with feminine, leg-exposing cuts. Thick, plaid shirt appeared to be the most unexpected piece in the entire collection – somehow, though checks became forgotten, they will surely comeback for autumn in not so average, laid-back version. Although the colour palette is quite earthy, Philo splashed some colour through geometric patterns on the knits and blouson. It all looks like made in heaven. In Céline heaven!

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

Routine Absurds. Balenciaga Pre-Fall’17

| Design & Culture by Ed

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Demna Gvasalia had spandex boots on his Balenciaga runway. He did gargantuan, big bazaar bags. The Georgian designer has even proved us that corporate dressing is not just for Angela Merkel and her wardrobe. With his every hit (and they get edgier and edgier with every season), the clothes you would rather burn than call ‘fashion’ become somewhat sudden objects of desire. Pre-fall 2017 collection is the best prove for that, as all of Gvasalia’s biggest moments at the house are refreshed and reminded. And they look fire. Every single piece. Even a scarf tied under the chin (we live in 2017, so it’s a ‘babushka hood’…) in intense fuchsia looks brilliant. A nod to Gvasalia’s Soviet origins? Probably. But feels so contemporary, even if you know it’s NOT.

Daily routine has its trashy, cringey, cheesy, but beautiful absurds. Just some food for brain.

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Collage by Edward Kanarecki; styling by Lotta Volkova; photography by Harley Weir.