Calm Down

December 28, 2014December 28, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dries Van Noten is man, that knows what women want, and that’s not so common nowadays. His collections are always so clear, so feminine and beautiful… for SS11, for example, we had a blast of hand-painted florals; for AW12, Dries brought oriental mood to his chic silhouettes; for SS15, he made the models (and clothes) calm down and sit down on a hand-made carpet from Buenos Aires. Known for great styling skills, he was the first to make a woolen sweater, striped shirt and feather-appliqued midi skirt look so good. Forgetting about being shiny on the New Year eve- maybe one of those outfits will inspire you?

Tokyo. Dior Pre-Fall’15

December 13, 2014December 13, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Raf Simons seems to have two personalities- one at his namesake label for men, where he doesn’t care about the rules; another at Dior, where he definitely obeys the bosses. Last season (SS15), in my opinion was trash. I truly couldn’t understand it. It felt like Simons explained it only by “oh, look, it’s like this, but look at those couture embroideries”… yawn. Come on, who cares about embroideries, if the clothes are so boring? Thankfully, Dior thought of something new for the house, which was smart. The pre-fall 2015 which was presented few days ago was organised in Tokyo- the place were Dior has it’s boutiques on nearly every street. Commercially, this is genius for the house. But for fashion? Raf Simons had his model walk zigzags in a huge sumo wrestling arena, inspired by the scenes of Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner movie. With fuses of futuristic influences (that badly reminded me of Paco Rabanne gold years) like silver sequined turtlenecks, jacquard motifs and wax cotton coats, Simons brought a lifey twist into his Dior timeline. And what’s interesting although the fact the show was in Tokyo, Japan, we didn’t notice even one kimono, manga print or anything of Japanese stereotypical fashion. Definitely, Raf looked at Japanese woman of the future- stomper boots, wide trousers and clean lines with neon elements. Plus, corn-rows and super kawaii eye-brows. Personally, I have no offend to Raf Simons- sometimes, he is just not on the point. However, this dynamic show proved one thing: not only that Raf has better and worse days in his life, but also that Tokyo is an amazing, energetic city of fashion.

Just to be in the Japan mood- here are some amazing vintage posters from Wafu Works…

So French. Chloe Pre-Fall’15

December 9, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

For pre-fall, Chloe’s Clare Waight Keller felt the attitude of freedom, continuing SS15’s main theme. Somewhere between David Bowie and Kate Bush scene craziness and Jane Birkin’s fashion for bow shirts, Clare outstood herself. This collection was basically a master-piece. Pony hair A-skirts, python leather bags, brown palette capes, tweed blazers and “whatever” trousers are just few of my favourites. The models, kept in very Parisian styling, looked casual but stylish and strong. And then very sexy butterfly wings —and that sensuality operated throughout the collection as a whole. Chloé is usually associated with a kind of virginal, flirty look, but Waight Keller chucked it this time—some of these clothes were intensely womanly, others rather boyish, and a good deal of them were borderline feral. So, whether Clare thought of androgynous Bowie or feminine Birkin- this clash works on me.

Salzburg. Chanel Pre-Fall’15

December 2, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

The strongly anticipated Chanel metiers d’art collection for Pre-Fall 2015 is reavealed. In the heart of Schloss Leopoldskron, one of the most magnificient and historical places in Austria, the show was presented, keeping it between the border lines of Salzburg’s legacy and Karl Lagerfeld buzz. As you might guess, there were lots of embroideries, knits and embellishments which are not only typical for this region of Europe, but also for the metiers d’art tradition. First of all, Salzburg is the place where Coco Chanel found her first inspiration for the iconic little black jacket- just by seeing the lobby boy’s “outfit”. So, no wonder why we saw a lot of it here, in new colours and versions. Worn with sweat-pants (yes, in Austria), super opulent bags, feather trimmed hats and brogues, the clothes felt nostaligic with a fresh perspectve. Victorian turtlnecks and floral motives where here, too. Plus, the clothes for men reminded me more of waiters in Bavarian restaurant rather than Salzburg princes… Truly, I thought the collection will be much worse. But it wasn’t. It had a nice sense of humour, warm venue (not some kind of super-market) which was the Schloss library chamber. For a while I observed more deeply Karl Lagerfeld’s moves at Chanel and the outcome is- his Pre-Falls are better, than all the other collections. After Mumbai, Moscow, Edinbourgh, Dallas, Salzburg feels really fine- all of them are showing what metiers d’art is. And now, it’s time for Cracow in my opinion. The city’s charm would look great at Chanel’s next Pre-Fall…

Vetements

November 4, 2014August 19, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Demna Gvasalia, the alum of Maison Martin Margiela, presented his second season of Vetements, a new, eponymous label. And the collection he and his mates produced for their first-ever show made a solid case for spontaneous style. A game with volumes lenghts was the big thing. This elusive, slightly eerie mood of Margiela was also all around the clothes… here is my favourite look from the SS15 show. I don’t know why, but these sleeves and shoes and the non-chalant belt really hit me during the Parisian fashion week.