La Canopée. Koché SS17

September 28, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Seeing Lindsey Wixson walk down the crowdy alley in Parisian La Canopée isn’t a usual, everyday sight. And it’s even stranger, when you wonder whether it’s really her, or an interestingly dressed passer-by. Christelle Kocher, the designer behind Koché, is obsessed with elevating street wear, and she’s the only designer who literally takes her clothes to the streets. Last season, she invited the fashion crowd to Passage du Prado, a home of cheap phone stores and cheesy hair-dressers; yesterday, her spring-summer 2017 was seen by the anyone who was running their errands in this gigantic, commercial passage.

Kocher’s latest outing was filled with her quite well recognisable signatures. She works at Maison Lemarié, a couture atelier specialising in feathers, so that’s why her off-the-street (or not) parkas and sweatshirts were all about excessive layers of ostrich plume. Velour sweatpants with a multi-coloured, zipped track jackets (my middle-school P.E. memories go posh) – a thing for dressing in anti-fashion way is intense here, too. Adwoa Aboah sported a not-your-average-cross-fit bra-top, while meticulously embroidered slip-dresses never looked so… effortless. I know this sounds cliché, but admit – Koché is a brand, which fuses the idea of “on-the-go” with minute attention to detail, close to haute couture level. The styling of the show felt absolutely spontaneous, and both the street-cast, and professional agency models seemed to enjoy the nature of this show. First days of Paris Fashion Week are always my favourite – it’s the moment, when niche, French designers present their intriguing, not-business-wise attitude to style.

Big Return. Olivier Theyskens SS17

September 27, 2016September 28, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Paris Fashion Week is the time of big debuts: Anthony Vaccarello at Saint Laurent and Maria Grazia Chiuri at Dior to name the most significant ones. But also, it kicks off with a big return. Olivier Theyskens. The designer who placed little canaries on stilettos back in 2002; the man behind iconic heel-less shoes at Nina Ricci. Prince of avant-garde, who has been sorely missed, surprised everyone when he reappeared in the season’s schedule. However, his spring-summer 2017 collection is far from fuss: intimately presented to a group of 80 editors and fashion industry friends, there were 25 looks. Both numbers seem to be unrealistically small for a fashion show in 2016 – but sometimes, it’s the quality, not quantity, that matters.

Theyskens had an occasion to refresh everybody’s memory with his cult signatures. Python leather leggings and very high heels are still his favourites; blazers with sleekly corseted waists are pure romance; elusive transparency revealed a thing or two. And the all-black colour palette (with minor splashed of red and white). Leave sultry to Olivier, as his love for women’s body is reflected in those sharp mini-dresses and intriguingly cut skirts. To a certain extend, I see some similarities between Theyskens’ latest outing of noir ready-to-wear, and Azzedine Alaia’s chic-defining fashion shows. The mood of privacy, and a kind of luxurious modesty, radiates in work of these two legendary designers. Even though they come from totally different decades, their sophisticated, and somewhat dramatic elegance never goes out of ~~fashion~~ style.

Glamour Loves Humour. DsQuared2 SS17

September 27, 2016September 27, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dean and Dan Caten‘s spring-summer 2017 collection at DsQuared2 is a collage of everything opulent and glamorous, with a good sense of humour. Leopard-print bustiers; leg-of-mutton sleeves (they seem to be everywhere this season) over a glossy taffeta mini-skirt; extremely slim, intricately embroidered cavalry jackets. The Canadian brothers play with volumes, blurring the lines between high-fetched femininity and slouchy masculinity. Sequined, over-sized denim pants worn with big shoulder pads at the top gave an impression of a hilarious exaggeration. The long-legged models looked even taller in those quite cartoonish combinations. DsQuared2 ends Milan Fashion Week in a very Italian way I must say – it’s an endless dolce vita for those two guys!

Everyday Armor. Marni SS17

September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marni is like nothing else. Why? Consuelo Castiglioni, same as Miuccia Prada, doesn’t care about others. That’s why collections of these two inspiring, assertive women always feel different from the rest. They are invisibly signed with their own signatures. But exceptionally this season, it’s Consuelo who wins the Italian game: her spring-summer 2017 collection is remarkably beautiful, and I might name it as the most brilliant outing of all Milan-based brands we’ve had an occasion to see. Its drifty, baggy silhouttes in cream white; the “hips don’t lie” pockets on dresses and pantalons; unobvious sexuality concealed in those voluminous, draped pastel-green dresses. I have a soft spot for Marni and its modern concept, but for the last few seasons I had a sense that the ready-to-wear collections were monotonous, and Castiglioni rested on her (well deserved) laurels. Now, it’s different: I’m really into the layered-up looks which reassemble women’s armor for everyday routine. Standing ovations for this one!

Corporate Cool. Jil Sander SS17

September 26, 2016September 26, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Rodolfo Paglialunga is the creative director of Jil Sander for the second year, and throughout this quite long period of time (considering the industry’s pace), I haven’t seen even one, good collection that would stuck in my head. Jil Sander is called the ‘queen of minimalism’, and when she was departing the brand, she left a rich legacy for her successors. Rodolfo’s aesthetic is, honestly, obliged to be all about “less is more” while designing at Sander, but it sadly doesn’t feel authentic at all – it’s not him, and it’s not Jil anymore.

His spring-summer 2017 is an unexpected step forward, as it went under a ‘how-to-be-relevant’ treatment. Paglialunga isn’t revealing nothing but the fact he is obsessed with Demna Gvasalia’s style at Vetements. At least, there’s something to write about – the clothes, and the overall outing, is filled with covetable pieces, like an over-sized men shirt or a buttoned dress/coat. Removable shoulder pads drift between 40s masculinity and 80s Montana, elevating each look. Pinstripe blazers with matching skirts exaggerate the corporate dress-code, looking fairly appealing. However, that’s again an unsung nod to Gvasalia’s work, and specifically his debut collection at Balenciaga, where he did bureaucrat dressing. In the newest collection, Rodolfo plays with pleats, creating voluminous, distorted in proportions dresses and fancy sweatshirts. They are surely fun to wear. Also, the colour palette is well-considered: from pastel blue to carrot-orange, Paglialunga will surely score high points next summer.