Human Nature. Ponte SS25

January 12, 2025January 11, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ponte is so much more than a fashion brand. Although it focuses on clothes, these garments have more to do with a Meret Oppenheim-kind of surreal approach to applied arts than, say, haute couture (although some of the techniques conceptualized and materialized by the founder of the brand are just unthinkable). But I’m not sure Harry Pontefract, the London-based creative who views this project as “ongoing body of work” that dates back to his days at Central Saint Martins, would want to call it an art project. Ponte is… Ponte.

“Contradictory” seems to be a fitting term that classifies Pontefract’s practice. He might describe a look a “sort of a Chanel Catherine Deneuve suit” or “the most wrong cocktail dress in the world,” but at the same time he values the power of interpretation and believes that how people “read” his designs reveal much about themselves. The spring-summer 2025 collection can definitely be read in various ways, especially in terms of biography the object – in this case, the provenance of used materials in these striking, body-transforming coats, shawls and dresses. Look one was made with raw fleeces delivered from known sources. All the shearling came from a business down the street from the designer. The textile used for the pink shirt and pants is the lining of military sleeping bags. Vintage M65 army jackets were repurposed into not-so-basic suits. “Once you start to take them apart and they have the memories of whoever’s been wearing them in all the seams and everything, they’re such loaded garments. Even just doing something in that color, never mind out of old jackets, is going to be loaded”, Pontefract says. In the end, clothes are about codes and signals. I think not many contemporary designers have that in mind anymore. Another thing that stuns about the creative’s approach to fashion is his deep interest in the ephemeral. A dress painstakingly covered in 24 karat gold leaf and hand-felted shearlings (which were sewn to sheer tulle… mind-blowing!), will change and deteriorate in not such a long time, making one think of Ana Mendieta’s “Silueta” series. There’s something animalistic about this collection. Even brutal: like the sheepskin body covering the entire body in a intriguingly fetishistic way. “It’s human nature and it’s primal, that’s what I’d say about the collection“, summed up mastermind behind this absolutely transfixing brand.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Icecream-hued Chic. Maryam Nassir Zadeh SS25

December 22, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

For spring-summer 2025, Maryam Nassir Zadeh delivers her trademark (es)sense of cool. It’s one you just can’t fake; authenticity and realness have always been Maryam’s key codes, whether we’re talking about her label, her boutiques in New York and Paris, or her personal style that’s on so many brands’ moodboards. The experiments with clothes, textures and colors she conducts in her wardrobe are reflected and refined in her ready-to-wear collections. You can tell the designer is really into silky transparency this spring season, and she made it extra-intriguing (and extra-sensual) thanks to an idiosyncratic color palette pulled from “ice cream” hues like mango, guava, pistachio, and cherry (she posted a lot sorbets throughout the summer on her IG!). All that delight got brilliantly balanced with mannish, earthy brown tones. The juxtaposition of ultra-feminine slip-dresses and ruffled sheer skirts with more masculine elements like vintage-y leathers and flannel shirts (a mix & match delightfully orchestrated with the help of stylist Camille Bidault-Waddington) makes this collection feel even more appealing.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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New Poetry. Paolo Carzana SS25

December 20, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

As we’re approaching 2025, everybody seems to look backwards at the last quarter of the century in fashion. But let’s also take a look at the future. Paolo Carzana, the London-based designer, makes one feel very hopeful about. The über-talented designer, a finalist for this year’s LVMH Prize, uses plants and natural pigments like burnt umber to dye his crafty, gender-fluid garments. Carzana’s signature is the raggedy, lived-in look of his garments that makes men and women look as if teleported from another century. There’s also that hazy, misty, as if seen through a broken lens, lyrical silhouette of his clothes: the pinstripes on a pair of men’s trousers look blurred, the Caravaggio-esque drapes of the dresses seem to be shaped by gushes of unexpected wind. The gauzy layering and the buttonless, zip-free poetry of Carzana’s work makes him a truly, truly unique creative who doesn’t obey the industry norms of production scaling or aggressive marketing. No other contemporary designer sees beauty and strength the way he does.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Beauty Is Back. Valentino Pre-Fall 2025

December 15, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

As some of you might remember, at first I was very on fence with Alessandro Michele’s debut take at Valentino. It just felt very archaic to me at the time. But something clicked for me the moment Donald Trump won the elections in the U.S. (here’s the post on that). I suddenly realized I need escapism. A sweet, decadent, indulgent escapism – exactly what Michele is known for through his unhinged vision he channeled at Gucci (with Gucci’s ready-to-wear limits) and now at Valentino, where he’s got the ultimate couture know-how.

This week, Alessandro’s third act for the Rome-based brand got released, and it’s his best one so far. I really liked how Lyas described it as “punk”. It really is punk whilst pretty much everything in fashion right now is pure conservatism, from bland “quiet luxury” minimalism to “office-core” – on the way of trad-wives and white-cube ad campaigns. Michele’s vision couldn’t be further from all that. It’s full-throttle boheme, striking with artisanship and well-traveled, idiosyncratic approach to styling.

His Valentino is of course very vintage-y. Now you might say I’m a hypocrite – I just shaded the Anthony Vaccarello’s nostalgic Saint Laurent collection. But here’s the thing: while you can trace Vaccarello’s vintage-obsession to exact, well-documented references, in case of Michele it’s totally not the case. Alessandro’s history-mania has echoes of Diana Vreeland’s “the eye has to travel” way of thinking. He takes from the past, remixes it, and recontextualizes it. Plus, it’s really striking to see how he not only is inspired with 1970s and 80s fashion (and Valentino Garavani’s work from that period), but also does his best to measure up to the craftsmanship standards of these times.

The pre-fall 2025 collection is transfixingly beautiful and dreamily opulent. The silk dresses are made out of patches of prints, from robust paisley to wallpaper florals; the lace is so intricate it looks like porcelain, and the lush, dense embroideries on velvet jackets and big-sleeved, peasant blouses is beyond. And I went completely crazy for the bags, especially the fringed, knitted pouches. Bode looks kind of poor next to these works of art. New Valentino is heirloom-status fashion. If this is what the label’s ready-to-wear looks like in Alessandro’s hands, I can’t wait for his first haute couture outing.

Unabashed beauty is so back, baby!

Here are some of my favorite pieces from new Valentino…

ED’s SELECTION:

Valentino Resin and Crystal Butterfly Brooch

Valentino Embellished Pointelle-knit Cotton Socks

Valentino Polka Dot Ruffle Organza Mini Dress

Valentino Polka-dot Silk Head Scarf

Valentino Twill Paisley Fringe Scarf

Valentino Nellcote Suede Fringe Shoulder Bag

Valentino Garavani Après L’hiver Shearling-trimmed Metallic Brocade Coat

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Nostalgia. Saint Laurent Resort 2025

December 13, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

First, pardon my silence for those good couple of days… had a quite rough time, but things are looking up! I’m back.

Second, damn, what a week in fashion. Honestly, I feel overstimulated with all the news and (r)evolutions. Julian Klausner’s appointment at Dries Van Noten could call it a day. But then, John Galliano officially announced his departure from Margiela (but that was no news to insiders). And yesterday, within mere two hours, Louise Trotter parted ways with Carven (this brand will never know peace) to go to Bottega Veneta, from which in the very same minute Matthieu Blazy left to go to Chanel. Did I miss something? I probably did. 2024 leaves fashion with a bang. 2025 will be all about new beginnings. But when there are too many new beginnings, do you feel that excited? Also, I feel like such thing as customer’s confidence in a brand they felt devoted to and aligned with is dead when so many key positions are changed that abruptly. Good for Trotter, I’m happy she’s finally acknowledged by the industry after all these years of being an underrated designer-star, but I think the now-existing Carven client must feel very confused and puzzled.

Third, in those couple of heavy days, I took note of Anthony Vaccarello’s resort 2025 collection for Saint Laurent. At a first glance, all seems great: bold, bright lookbook shot by Katja Rahwles; free-spirited maxi-dresses; in general, a sort of boho optimism is back (again). But then I wonder: is it enough? Is it enough to just go back to the same images of Loulou De La Falaise in her nomad-inspired paisley dresses and heavy beaded necklaces? From one side you can be totally satisfied with this Vaccarello undemanding offering. But from another, I feel like he’s a living proof that nostalgia isn’t a good thing for fashion. You just can’t look back at the past without applying any contemporary reassessment. Plus, this collection packed with ruffled dresses and resort-ready skirts could easily be something Zara would photograph very nicely with Steven Meisel. Not that the quality would be the same. Although when I see how all the mesh stuff “hangs” in the YSL stores… I’m not that sure. By the way, there was a wild rumor a couple of months ago that Anthony is headed to Zara, so who knows what else the end of the year will bring!

The morale: designers like Vaccarello should dial down on their vintage obsessions-slash-manias and get back to the modern day. It really isn’t that boring and uninspiring.