Raf Simons Departures Dior

October 23, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

When this information hit us all yesterday in the evening, there was a “what has just happened” moment. Raf Simons, both spontaneously and officially, said good-bye to Dior, the Parisian mega-house. Simons has revitalised and modernised the brand throughout the three-year tenure, after John Galliano was fired due to his public, anti-semitic affair. The reason of this sudden change is not that surprising, though – Raf Simons leads his own, eponymous label for men and he has always called his journey at Dior as a “temporary, but beautiful adventure, which really lets him discover the feminine part of fashion“. Observing Simons since his first, haute couture collection in 2012, it was clear from the very first moment that the brand will go through a major refreshment – minimal silhouettes, simple forms and mind-blowing, floral show settings accompanied Raf from the beginning. I can’t say that I am super sad about Raf leaving the brand – I must admit, that some of the collections felt monotonous and exhausting (just like his last, spring-summer 2016 show which was presented three weeks ago). However, up to now I am impressed with his Monaco-based resort 2016, historically influenced autumn-winter 2015 couture and abstract spring-summer 2013 – all of them seem to look far into the future of woman’s wardrobe. Certainly, the time spent by Raf Simons at Dior ultimately defined those three years of fashion – “conceptual design” and “futuristic femininity” fit this period well.

The thing is, the new designer of Dior will be named soon – and I hope, that LVMH won’t elect a designer, who will simply not match the codes of Dior. There are some rumours, that the luxury concern can give Alexander Wang a fair chance to take this place – but please, remind yourself the hard times that Wang spent at Balenciaga – his fashion bored everyone and depressed the owners of the brands due to low ready-to-wear incomes. So guys, leave Wang alone. Also, there are high chances for Phoebe Philo and Riccardo Tisci (her contract will soon end at Celine, while his at Givenchy). I see Philo at Dior, but she matches Celine so perfectly… and Tisci will make Dior a 500-euro-t-shirt brand. Personally, I would give a chance to somebody totally unknown – like Gucci did with Alessandro Michele. Sometimes, the most unexpected choice gives the best results. And coming back to Simons, I am happy for him and his decision – I wish him even more successes in expanding his own, eccentric brand!

Haute Couture AW12

SS13

Haute Couture SS13

AW13

Haute Couture AW13

Resort 2015

SS14

Haute Couture AW14

SS16

Haute Couture AW15

Resort 2016

Haute Couture SS15

Pre-Fall 2015

Haute Couture AW14

Haute Couture SS15

Haute Couture AW15

Raf Simons, the conceptual, Belgian fashion designer.

Provoking Girl. Miu Miu SS16

October 14, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

I can’t believe myself – it’s the last post about the SS16 fashion month! And even though I am kind of sad that the spring-summer 2016 season came to an end, it feels like a perfect time to chill and look back at all the fashion moments that took place in September and at the beginning of October. The marathon of New York, London, Milan and Paris delivered so many gorgeous, amusing, shocking and effy collections, that it’s the perfect time to take a short break and reflect. However, there is never too much of Miu Miu – Miuccia Prada absolutely astonished me this time. The new collection is a bit confusing, but very appealing. The ugliness of the ballerina shoes with Comme des Garcons-like belt buckles and vichy checks are a loud nod to the beauty of ballet and its bad sides. Miuccia gave as some tulle skirts, too, keeping Miu Miu’s spirit girlie, but with a twist. The ruffled, organza aprons in courgette purple, mint green and cherry red looked provoking, when worn with the loosely fit pencil skirts. A Miu Miu collection is not a Miu Miu collection without eclectic wallpaper prints and fur stoles, which appeared to be worn extravagantly around the chest. I also loved the fur “tails” which dangled under the leather jackets and layered shirts. Feminine edginess wins the label this season, saying sweetly “I wear what I want, so don’t bother me“. A great collection that ends another nutritious season!

Cyber Luxury. Louis Vuitton SS16

October 13, 2015October 13, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Spring-summer 2016 season at Louis Vuitton is his best to date. Nicolas Ghesquiere really did show his refreshing stance at the maison – cyber luxury is the best term that reflects the mix of exclusive logo prints and pink-haired model wearing highly hype (whatever this means nowadays) clothes. Nicolas definitely had Japan on his mind this time – the Harajuku girls with manga-inpired robot tiaras and platform sandals make this collection sharp, but with a slight bit of kawaii flavour coming straightly from Tokyo. However, the collection had something more ethnical, too – note the lovely hand-stitched embroideries on suede biker jackets below. Or the feather details on mesh tank-tops and badass gloves. This how you do ethno, Valentino – keep it discreet, but appropriate. But what really hit me this time, is the amazing talent of fusing fashion history that the designer is known for – the Victorian blouses with leather vests and medieval inspired gowns have never, ever looked so modern as in Nicolas’ vision. These shirts, dresses, motorcycle leggings and, yes, jumpsuits (!) are highly in need. Also, I am drooling over these leather, pleated totes – the beauty of these accessories makes them conceptual objects, rather than just “bags”.

Ghesquiere, and his model casting director, Ashley Brokaw, have the most diverse set of girls during Paris Fashion Week. Louis Vuitton is a world-wide known brand, and it should be praised for having afro, bald, mullet and even pink-haired models (so Grimes, Nicolas’ muse and favourite musician of the moment!). Thanks to Nicolas Ghesquiere, Louis Vuitton became a label, that is more than clothes and a vast range of accessories – now, Louis Vuitton is an open-minded, lifestyle project. Bravo!

Cultural Appropriation. Valentino SS16

October 12, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

The main inspiration behind Valentino‘s SS16 collection was the “wild Africa”. The house, however, sparked the cultural appropriation topic following their show. “Primitive, tribal, spiritual, yet regal”, the collection was a “journey to the beginning of time & the essential of primitive nature” as the show note said. Indeed, the collection was truly beautiful, and I appreciated it because I love ethnical fashion. Associated with the continent the collection included bone necklaces, Kikuyu textiles, raffia, belts made from African beads, embellishments, fancy embroidering, feathers and fringing. But Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli missed the point at some level – the collection was presented on a majority of white models. And this just reflects one more time the major problem in fashion industry – lack of diversity. Hopefully, the brand did not have any racist intentions – but for the next time, cast more models of colour!

Sleazy and Smarmy. Saint Laurent SS16

October 11, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

This, what Hedi Slimane is doing at Saint Laurent is rude. Simply impolite. After seeing the spring-summer 2016 collection, I wonder what other designers think. They surely feel an unbearable frustration. Keeping up with fashion industry, season-to-season, is hard. And when they compare their hard work with Hedi’s, they just retire for a ten-day escape to the country-side. Hedi Slimane is praised for nothing – or at least, for his truly effortless fashion which doesn’t need much of thinking. Saint Laurent’s fashion became as shallow as Moschino by Jeremy Scott, or even to a bigger extend.

So, the SS16 collection is an explosion of smarmy eroticism – sheer slip-dresses, trashy fish-net tops and kitsch, gold sandals look tasteless and definitely not as expensive as they are. There is no big deal that the feather boa was made by the Parisian couture assistants, if it looks like a stolen prop from an opera. The tiaras don’t need any comment. And “free the nipple” moments were meant to be so “accidental”, that the overall effect felt pretentious and artificial. The solemn faces of models (and Agyness Deyn) just helped Hedi Slimane say out loud – “I am the designer at YSL and I really don’t care“. If everybody, except a few of critics and consciously thinking clients, adore this collection, then where is fashion heading off to? Hopefully not to a pair of basic jeans and an effing tank top.