Essential. Andreas Kronthaler Vivienne Westwood SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Deep plunge neckline, cinched waist and mid-length: that’s Vivienne Westwood‘s signature, ultra-feminine and ultra-flattering dress that charismatic women like Tracey Emin and Pamela Anderson still love and wear. Andreas Kronthaler smartly revived the super-sensual silhouette in his Paris Fashion Week outing that toned-down on his sweet-spot for avant-garde, and focused solely on Westwood essentials. “It’s just clothes, clothes that I think symbolize a very powerful, feminine woman, which I think we are looking for and need more than anything,” said Kronthaler. That’s definitely a direction the designer should keep on developing, because his more “arty” collections as of late felt overly gimmick-y. Spring-summer 2025 is chic, but never prim. Just like the late Dame Vivienne.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Quotidian. Carven SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Louise Trotter‘s Carven is easily one of the best designer-and-brand pairings in a while. The spring-summer 2025 collection, which opened with a minimal dress in shade of champagne and constructed to hover just slightly away from the body, was about sense of an intimate world taking shape in unexpected ways. While the shoes were slippers and puffy mules, there was nothing sleepy about the collection as it beautifully balanced easy nonchalance with sophisticated chic. Trotter – just like Phoebe Philo or the Olsens – understands that dressing women means understanding their relationship to their clothes; her silhouettes are considered yet never overworked. The intriguing ambiguity of a rounded trench on Marte Mei and the extended white tuxedo shirtdress topped with an ample collarless black jacket on Jessica Miller were both standouts. Wherever the Carven woman is wearing these looks (you can imagine them in different circumstances), for Trotter they represent “the quotidian, the rituals.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Flashy. Schiaparelli SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

At Schiaparelli, I feel like Daniel Roseberry doesn’t have a clear idea of what the brand’s ready-to-wear line should look like. For a consecutive season now, it’s more of an after-thought of his haute couture that was forced to be less in-your-face, more “commercial”, but at the same time still look flashy and rich. In a way, Schiaparelli ready-to-wear is giving Olivier Rousteing Balmain or something Alexandre Vauthier-ish. Paris is overfilled with fashion like this, and Roseberry’s is just adding up to that certain not-so-niche niche.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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New Avant-garde. Duran Lantink SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Duran Lantink is one of the most exciting names in Paris. His bigger-than-life clothes are editorial favorites, and innovative approach to fashion – an actual rarity. His extremes of silhouette shaped an avant-garde aesthetic that is already being picked-up by the establishment. Still, nobody has mastered the Duran method, and he’s the beautiful outlier.

This season, the designer went to the beach, inserting inner tubes of padding in one-piece swimsuits and adding several cup sizes and generous uplift to bikini tops. Full-body bodysuits, meanwhile, were padded at the joints, making the models resemble insects or aliens. Other looks were accessorized with handbags worn as bonnets, the straps tucked under the chin. “It was really important to think a bit more about wearability, but still in a very fun way,” he said. The exceptional silver jewelry belonged to Carla Sozzani and was made by her companion, Kris Ruhs. The sculptural necklaces claimed space in a similar way to Lantink’s bold designs. It all worked.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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