Excellent Palette. Rochas SS17

October 1, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

There’s a distinct difference between Alessandro Dell’AcQua‘s Rochas, and his Milan-based No21. While his more youthful brand is about lady-grunge and exciting layering, Alessandro seems to be a mature man at the historic house in Paris. But first, lets praise Molly Goddard for reviving tulle and making it a “thing” in fashion industry. The trend spreads fast, and Dell’AcQua adores it. The first model emerged in a yellow frock, with pink tulle peeking from underneath, wearing knitted gloves in the same colour. Effect? Feminine, flirty and sweet. Colour combination fantasy didn’t end here: the creative director has a sharp eye for colours, and he’s a master of combining the most unobvious shades. In other words, the palette was excellent, from carrot-orange and lemon-yellow, to flesh-pink and forest-green.

After being appointed to his new role in 2013, it’s pretty clear that the Italian designer feels like home at Rochas. It’s intriguing to see how the brand develops under his wings – it’s becoming a favourite of such anti-celebrities as Soko, French indie-rock musician. She appeared in the front row with her boys (all dressed in dresses, accidentally matching the main focus of the collection). Fortunately, Rochas won’t end in the box of brands with “nice” dresses – it’s already far, far away from that point with it’s new off-kilter nature.

Moody. Dries Van Noten SS17

October 1, 2016October 1, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

“We wanted a more brutal way of doing things,” confessed Dries Van Noten after his spring-summer 2017 show in Paris. “We just started to chop up garments and throw flower prints on. Everything contrasting!” Indeed, “contrast” is a fitting term for Dries’ multi-faceted outing of opulent gowns embroidered with layers of jewels and draped in silks. Intricately embellished high-necked blouses with Victorian sleeves were kept in eye-killing shades of yellow and blue, while fish-net elements peeked out from underneath her soft cashmere knits and glamorous evening-gowns. The woman portraited by Van Noten this season has nothing against street-wise: just look at the range of satin bomber jackets. Unlike Marchesa Casati, last seaon‘s muse, it’s not about one specific woman for spring. The designer shares only one tip – whoever she’s, she dresses according to her mood, from the most noir and dramatic looks, to most mesmerising colour combinations. The rest is left for you to intepret.

Chinatown Mules. Y/Project SS17

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Amid the new league of young, fashion talents based in Paris, there’s Jacquemus, Koché, Courrèges boys, and of course Vetements collective. Another one in the hood is Glenn Martens, who is the designer behind Y/Project. While other re-invent heritage, French brands or mess around with underground rave culture, Glenn is somewhere in between reviving Marie Antoinette dresses and developing a 21st century gear for cool women (and men). For spring/summer 2017, the designer nails denim pants, which are very much into elongated silhouettes. Velvet body-con piece or a pony-hair top subvert the term “elegance”, just like unconventional evening wear which focuses on exaggerated, sleeveless parachute dresses. The models wore layers of pearl necklaces, ironically contrasting with the so-in-demand street-wise hoodies. Following the anti-fashion maxim, the uglier the better, Glenn sent out a line of the most trashy mules and stilettos you have ever seen. “They’re from Chinatown,” he said backstage, without an attempt to conceal this fact. I doubt a modern-day princess would immerse herself in those cumbersome clothes – but a Parisian skate-girl, for sure.

Trip And Strip. Saint Laurent SS17

September 29, 2016September 29, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

The debut collection by Anthony Vaccarello for Saint Laurent is behind us, and we’ve got the first image of how the new creative director approaches the brand. We know Anthony’s aesthetic at his namesake label, which is mostly about leather, sexy mini-lengths. Hedi Slimane, Vaccarello’s predecessor, was exactly that during his tenure at Saint Laurent, with his sultry LA rock band attire. It was fairly predictable that some of the looks for Saint Laurent will be nearly undistinguishable from the Belgian/Italian designer’s own line. In other words, the label’s clients, who are less aware of fashion industry twists, won’t note a big change in the brand’s ready-to-wear range. At least, those boyfriend jeans, draped gold lamé dresses and classy le smoking suits were far, far away from Slimane’s frequently despised vulgarity.

The 80’s played a role in Vaccarello’s spring-summer 2017: it’s another brand which continues a venture into the topic of over-sized sleeves-of-mutton this season. Also, a big 1980’s moment appeared in the collection as an abundance of iconic YSL logo, designed by Cassandre back in 1961. It was everywhere, from the logo-shaped heels to zirconia embellished tights. The shoes stole the spotlight of the show, and Instagram adored this fashion moment – but is it that ground-breaking? Stefano Pilati did a very similar thing with accessories, when he was at helm of the brand.

Vaccarello previewed his collection and its “new” mood a few weeks before the presentation, by releasing Inez & Vinoodh’s mini-video starring Anja Rubik. Polish model, who’s privately best friends with the designer, trips and strips along the Seine to the tune of a melancholic song by Michelle Gurevich. Anja really does look like the song’s “Party Girl“, and it’s pretty visible that the cult of a nonchalant, chic Parisienne continues to be alive in the codes of Saint Laurent. Although the debut collection is a bit of a cliché, the pieces briefly convey Yves Saint Laurent’s style in a relevant way. It’s the time that will show Anthony’s strength as a designer of such brand.

La Santons de Provence. Jacquemus SS17

September 28, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Simon Porte Jacquemus, like Christelle Kocher or Glenn Martens, is a represantative of Paris’ new generation of most daring and exciting fashion designers. Jacquemus frequently mentions his typically French child-hood as a continous inspiration for his collections, and spring-summer 2017 is not an exception. But his newest “story”, as he tends to call it, is much more refined. The designer searched deep in Provençal folk culture, and he conveyed the mood of a sun-drenched, care-free French village girl in a brilliant way.

Jacquemus loves the term naive. There’s always something childish about his collections, and this season it’s definitely the setting of his venue: a fake, orange sun glowed at the end of the runway, radiating with summer nostalgia. First element of the show that caught my eye was a range of lovely, straw hats, or chapeau de paille if you prefer French. The dresses with voluminous sleeves and over-sized pinstripe suits are on everybody’s lips for spring, but Simon managed to make them look eternally chic. In fact, the collection isn’t about a new idea or silhouette. Borrowed-from-a-guy shirt, block-heeled shoes, geometrical culottes and sexy cuts are very Jacquemus. I guess that’s the appeal of this collection: it’s focused on weekend-perfect ready-to-wear with an arty twist. And it’s quite easy to wear, if you take it off the runway!