Demna’s Chapter. Balenciaga AW16

March 11, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Something new is afoot Paris, and it’s good. I think it’s the energy of youth, which contrasts with the old-school, corporate system. Koché, Jacquemus, Y / Project and Vetements prove that, with their recently delivered collection. But if talking of the last one, though – Demna Gvasalia leads this talented league, and pushes his vision to a much larger space of expression. And we are talking about Balenciaga now – the house, which was found by Cristobal Balenciaga in 1919, which raised the designer of our century, so Nicolas Ghesquiere, and went under a three-year period of uncertainty with Alexander Wang‘s miserable sport-meets-couture attempts. But Demna is a designer, who knows best how to create desirable fashion which is going to sell (Vetements sales turnout is the perfect example) – so, the unexpected choice of him as the creative director of the historic maison is both exciting, and reasonable.

But if you think that Gvasalia is about to change Balenciaga into a higher-cost Vetements, then you are wrong – the autumn-winter outing seemed to state visible barriers between the post-Soviet, anti-fashion soul from the eponymous brand, as it freshly implemented the spirit of Balenciaga into a modern-day wardrobe of pure edginess. Back in the days, Cristobal wanted to look into fashion’s future, and Gvasalia understands that, by giving the audience over-sized, cosmic duvet jackets, leather market bags and embroidered tea-dresses. The floral prints were a bold nod to Balenciaga’s temperament and Spanish origins – while the tailoring, also a long-forgotten signature of the house, was revamped. “How do you persuade a woman to wear a two-piece suit who is not the German Chancellor?” Grey, flannel two-button jacket and a slit pencil skirt, in which the shoulders were slightly over-sized, “was the posture and the attitude, and Cristóbal’s way of working with the body I (Demna) found interesting.“

In other words, Gvasalia’s debut for Balenciaga isn’t favoured by me, and by other critics just because it’s a debut – these clothes, the concept, and the styling are ground-breaking, and smartly look back at the rich archives of Cristobal Balenciaga. Unlike his predecessor, Demna Gvasalia looks forward to a much more creative approach, and even if we’ve seen a few of those tricks at Vetements – the new chapter at Balenciaga is the one to have on your radar.

Art Dealer Fashion. Olympia Le-Tan AW16

March 11, 2016March 11, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

In Paris’ hottest contemporary art gallery, Galerie Perrotin, Olympia Le-Tan staged her arty and extremely French presentation for autumn-winter 2016 season. The location was the right fit for her Parisian-chic embodying clothes and bags, with her dad’s Murakami, Erró, and Sophie Calle illustrated intepretations. The pastel-pink, vichy prints worked well with the olive-green coats, while the adorable, sequinned mini dress with Damien Hirst-like polka-dots is my personal favourite – I mean, it’s a go-to choice for an art exhibition! Looking at Olympia’s models, who have helped her to envision an art auction scenario (with Sabine Getty as a posh art buyer, Le-Tan’s sister, Cleo, as a secretarial assistant and Lily Summer as an eccentric girl), the whole event / fashion show felt absolutely entertaining, and humorous. And the Christian Louboutin lace-up stilettoes, splashed with paint the other day by Katie Hillier, were pure FUN.

Spiritual Unisex. Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood AW16

March 10, 2016August 5, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Vivienne Westwood opens a new chapter in her fashion – and it’s called Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood. But who is Andreas? No, he isn’t a one-season-only collaborator. He’s Viveinne’s life-partner and her right hand in designing collections, and after many years of their creative reciprocation, Westwood decided to sign her main line’s collections with her love’s surname, too. How romantic. Just as romantic, as the beautiful, deep shade of red on toga-style draping and monkish pants from the autumn-winter 2016 season! Although the collection’s name, Sexercize, might be associated with the British dame’s past (SEX boutique in the heart of London, Kate Moss in boudoir corsets), it was rather about spirituality and gender fluidity. Both women and men wore platform boots, and the oriental manskirts made a cut. Just like the tiny, brass “penis” necklaces (by coincidence, we are heaving a little sex talk with Viv and Comme des Garçons today…), styled with masculine suits or feminine, lamé dresses. The collection, coming from Westwood’s and Kronthaler’s hearts, is full of styling tips, and as the Vivienne stated, “it’s really incredible – look at the amount of innovation!”

Cheers to these two lovebirds!

Erotic Decadence. Comme des Garçons AW16

March 10, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

“18th century punk” is how Rei Kawakubo, the 73-year old designer behind Comme des Garçons entitled her autumn-winter 2016. But don’t expect opulent ball-dresses with tomahawks (although Julien D’Ys, Rei’s long-time collaborator, created those grandiose hair constructions for this occasion) – this collection pushed all the possible concepts of both, the past of historical costumes and punk. And, it was really all about sex and fantasies, with gigantic tongues, and – well, let your naughty imagination work it out – layered garments with “balls”, rendered in Lyon’s finest (and most expensive) tapestry. The closing look worn by Anna Cleveland, so the pastel-pink, leather piece with exaggerated, ruffled sleeves was a defiant reconstruction of Marie Antoinette’s coat, in which she would surely have a cupcake, or two. It subtly exposed calves, just like the rest of the extraordinary “dresses”. Another look, also in the same shade of pink, was an elongated blazers with harness belts tied all around the model’s body, while the floral armor made of booming, red fur pom poms shouted one thing – make love, don’t fight. There was a decadent, bourgeois feeling of couture, but simultaneously, Kawakubo broke up with chambre syndicale conventions, and totally ripped the French fanciness off. Who do you call a rebel now?

Not Just a Punk. Acne Studios AW16

March 9, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

You always feel an energetic attitude at Acne Studios collections, naturally caused by the bold colour palette, psychedelic prints and the 80s spirit which surrounds the clothes. The creative director of the brand, Jonny Johansson, has been inspired by a Californian punk band, The Cramps, and their rebellious, acid-dyed looks. But the autumn-winter 2016 outing wasn’t a wannabe “grunge” collection. Johansson reinterpreted his obsession, playing with silhouettes (orange, duvet jackets worn as kimono dresses, for example) and textures. From a transparent PVC top, which hid a striped mini-dress, to über-cool yellow leopard patterns on the knits and undies, the designer proves that a punk soul has many forms of its appearance – but it always keeps on looking defiant, and going against the flow!