Body-Celebratory. Xuly.Bët SS24

December 5, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Lamine Badian Kouyaté’s well-known wizardry with pantyhose dates to the 1990s. For spring-summer 2024, the designer revived the signature red-stitched nylon tops with which he first made his name. Cut into a sleeved bandeau that can be worn Flashdance style, or pieced into a minidress with elongated sleeves, these stretchy Xuly.Bët wonders had a second-skin fit that goes with Kouyaté’s body-conscious and body-celebratory dressing. Their flexibility also spoke more broadly to the designer’s generous and innovative approach to fashion, which is influenced by his experiences with second hand clothes in Mali, and can now also be framed within current discussions about sustainability. Also back in action were Kouyaté’s sporty jackets and tops made using upcycled American football jerseys. Some looks were styled with vintage basketball shorts, whose bagginess provided a nice contrast to the tight fits of leggings and micro minis. The gold-on-denim pieces – some modeled by the designer’s son – were part of a collaboration between Xuly.Bët and artist Smaïl Kanouté. Kouyaté used Kanouté prints on pieces worn in a performance of “Yasuke (The Black Samurai),” which is about bringing together diverse traditions, choreographed by Kanouté. Kouyaté still believes in the power of fashion to evoke joy; he also thinks it can be used as a platform for change.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Go With The Flow. Maryam Nassir Zadeh SS24

November 30, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Spontaneous” is a word that well describes Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s design practice. The spring-summer 2024 „Rush” lookbook is a result – not by choice, but by circumstance – of total spontaneity, as it was styled and documented during one afternoon in Paris. „The exhilarating exercise was taken as an activity of being in the moment surrendering to circumstance and making the most an afternoon with people you love around a medium you love, clothing”, said the New York-based designer of the go-with-the-flow process. Following your guts and instincts is the best possible advice anyone in fashion should take close to heart, and while sadly not many follow it, Nassir Zadeh proves that its utterly true. The collection, paired down in fabrics and styles, is a sincere return to the designer’s core and past styles, as well as a reiteration of her favorite summer clothes. But there were also novelties that will be enjoyed by the brand’s loyal fanbase. One of the heroes of this lineup is a wrap that can be worn as a skirt or a dress that was inspired by a cover-up Zadeh’s mother wore in the ’90s. It’s essentially an easy-peasy scarf-topped skirt that you self-tie. It’s vacation-ready but also has that lived-in Lower East Side cool with which Zadeh’s work has become so synonymous. “What I’ve been trying to achieve for so long is this sensibility which I look for a lot… when a garment has spirit in it and it has lightness and delicacy in the way that it’s made.” Love.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Persist. Renaissance Renaissance SS24

November 13, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Renaissance Renaissance persists and thrives. Currently based between Paris and Beirut, Cynthia Merhej, the Lebanese designer, has recently come out the other side of a period of reviewing, revising, and refining. She has sought out suppliers and factories in Lebanon to assist her mother with production; reworked all her patterns and fine-tuned the fit of her existing garments; scrutinized her best-received designs to date and rejuvenated them. And she has found the time to develop shoes: sleek leather ballet slippers with sporty rubber soles, made at a family-owned factory in Lebanon, and embellished with silk bows she hand makes in her mother’s atelier. Merhej’s spring collection was beautifully put together, styled for the lookbook by Claudia Sinclair. “I wanted everything to be able to be layered over everything else,” the designer explained. “And I wanted to make everything really wearable, so that even our signature tulle skirts didn’t look too pouf-y and princessy, but could be worn every day, maybe even over jeans.” The highlights: neat little military-style, technical-twill blazers that segue into delicate tulle trims; a dove grey, bubble-hemmed mini dress in a sportswear taffeta that can be layered over knits or worn against the body; gathered tulle skirts, shirts and dresses that form a clever contrast with beautifully cut cotton shirts; layered cotton day-dresses with charming little bows and fastenings; cropped cardigans with slashed backs and trailing tulle ribbons embroidered with lines of poetry by the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish. “I just loved how they were able to talk about these very difficult subjects, sometimes violent, in a very soft, beautiful way.” For spring, Merhej had envisioned a protesting woman, walking on the street with white banners flying behind her. “I wanted to mix the idea of something that feels a bit more crisp and structured with a lot of softness, lightness and fragility,” she said. “I felt like I had to be a warrior, I had to keep going, and at the same time I felt inside like I was gonna crack!” She’s right to pour her vulnerability into her clothes.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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(Heart)Warming. Barrie AW23

October 29, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

There’s nothing as (heart)warming as cashmere knitwear. Barrie, one of Scotland’s oldest knitwear manufacturer and since 2012 a Chanel Métiers d’Art house, elevates that credo like no other brand. Conceived by artistic director Augustin Dol-Maillot, Barrie collections bring together creativity, heritage and the most thorough attention to detail. For autumn-winter 2023, the brand looks at the painterly Scottish landscapes for inspiration, as scenic as the regional weather can be challenging. Classic earthy shades are clashed with bright tones and pops of colour (that red used in the knee-socks and bonnets!) and a hint of sparkle are the key elements of the current season. The warmth of colours and textures applied in the knits provide a wardrobe for both, a Parisienne with her well-worn vintage 2.55 handbag, and an avid mushroom hunter who just loves a stylish forest gear.

Mark your calendars, as Barrie is dropping its capsule collection co-designed with Sofia Coppola on the 2nd of November… I’ve seen its preview, it’s really something to add to your festive wish-list! Here’s Margaret Qualley teasing the collection:

Attitude. Celine SS24

October 22, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Some things don’t change, like Hedi Slimane‘s Celine. Not many designers keep on pushing their (very skinny) agenda so stubbornly. The spring-summer 2024 collection, presented off-schedule as a short film, showcases the Tomboy line-up at La Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris. One of the city’s oldest cultural institutions, it serves as a library that houses the French royal collections since the end of the Middle Ages. But the Celine girls aren’t here to study – rather, they are on their way to another indie sleaze-coded party. Set to Too Much Love by LCD Soundsystem, the collection opens with a model reading a leatherbound book stamped with the gold Celine logo. Clad in a skinny black suit, the ensemble is a reminder of what Slimane does best – sharp androgynous tailoring. Then, a matching leopard print jacket and mini anchored segue to cutoffs and a leather jacket, both paired with tough boots are prime examples of this as is a pair of plaid boxers, worn with fuzzy-lined suede boots. It’s California by way of Paris, especially when you factor in the track suits and caps. The combination has proved to be irresistible to the brand’s clients (I know, I’m shocked too…). For evening, Slimane offers long dresses worn with blazers and knee high boots, as well as mini dresses in sparkly gold and liquid-y silver. It’s hard to seek any fashion novelty at Hedi’s Celine. This designer’s force of persuasion lies in attitude, styling, and his endless glorification – even fetishization – of youth.