Balade en Méditerranée. Chanel Resort 2021

June 8, 2020June 9, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

Many dreams and plans had to be thrown away to the trash bin due to coronavirus. The Chanel resort 2021 collection was originally intended to be shown on Capri, the heavenly Italian island. Virginie Viard has a hard time with the critics, but I find her work attractive and purely Chanel. She’s focused on the essentials and signatures of the house – making each collection feel truly timeless. So maybe a look-book, photographed by Karim Sadli, works just fine for those clothes. Viard spent lockdown in her French country house, a time, as she says, for “rest and family time,” that was no holiday. In addition to preparing this resort collection (which she had begun before lockdown), Viard was also working on a capsule haute couture offering, which will likewise be presented virtually. Viard returned to Paris and the Chanel studio on May 4, when the city partially reopened, but in the depths of the countryside she was thinking and dreaming, as she told me, about “summer in Capri – or the South of France,” and the kind of destination wardrobe of “easy clothes” that “a sophisticated but also cool girl would want to travel with.” Her proposal includes swimsuits to wear as bodies under cardigan jackets, wide-legged pants, or handkerchief-hemmed skirts, and no-nonsense iterations of the classic Chanel suit or saharienne jackets in cotton tweed. “There are no evening dresses, no heavy things,” says Viard, who proposes instead some day-into-night options including those bathing suits printed with scattered trompe l’oeil Chanel costume jewels and worn with skinny cardigan jackets and wide pants in a fine-gauge knit or bandeau tops embroidered by Lesage with flowering branches of bougainvillea (the emblematic Mediterranean summer flower) that that can be worn under suits or veiled under sheer black chiffon blouses. No ground-breakers here, but I’m fine with that. It works. Also, I might say that the Chanel team had to have a closer look at Jacquemus and his mediterranean lifestyle for a while – I found echos of that light, playful sensibility in the resort offering with all the volumes, body-revealing cuts and mini-accessories. But the the most exciting thing about this collection is the least visible. Finally, at least some sustainable thinking at a house this big as Chanel. There was a new approach behind the works with supply chains compromised by the pandemic. The collection, as Viard explained to Vogue, was made using “all the fabrics we had in stock – all the buttons, all the galons – we had a shop in the studio, it was so cute!” Moreover, Viard pulled some staple pieces and accessories that are currently available in store, but that haven’t yet been shown in campaigns – among them some denim jeans and a very stylish woven wicker beach basket purse. “I love it,” reasoned Viard, “why would we have to do another one?” A silent revolution is going on in here.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Focus On: Kenneth Ize

June 7, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

In support for the Black community, I continue celebrating and highlighting the talented individuals that shape fashion today. Take notes! Kenneth Ize made his official debut at Paris fashion week this season, though his eponymous label has been making waves on the international circuit for the past few seasons. The Austrian-Nigerian designer was an LVMH prize finalist this past September, having first caught the world’s attention at Lagos Fashion Week a few months earlier. Images of Naomi Campbell and Imaan Hammam striding down Ize’s runway in his signature handwoven checks, a traditional Nigerian fabric known as asoke, caused a global social media frenzy within minutes. Both super-models were present at his autumn-winter 2020 show – Hammam opened, while Campbell closed what was a truly impressive first outing for Ize. The designer is best known for his men’s tailoring, though he kicked things off on a distinctly feminine note with a quilted striped miniskirt and matching funnel-neck zippered jacket. Ize is also inspired by workwear – think carpenter pants spun from silk and fringed at the hem. Adwoa Aboah looked especially striking in one of his quilted boilersuits. Ize has been working with a small circle of asoke weavers in Nigeria with the hopes of preserving the centuries-old craft from the brink of extinction. For autumn-winter 2020, he expanded on that commitment to local artisanship by collaborating with Austrian lace-makers in Vienna where he was born and raised. The green and orange lace tunics and suiting were a nod to Ize’s mother, who, like many West African women, would source Viennese lace to make custom outfits for special occasions. The collection was largely inspired by her meticulous approach to Sunday best in particular; the devil was in the details here, with matching fringed bucket bags and clutches made in collaboration with Austrian accessories label Sagan. It’s exquisite transcultural fashion experiments like these that will make Ize’s brand stand out in the fashion crowd. Discover more of Kenneth’s work here!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

The Look: Stella Jean AW14

June 6, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

In support for the Black community, I continue celebrating and highlighting the talented individuals that shape fashion today. Take notes! Stella Jean, Rome-based designer with Haitian origins, is recognized as the first Black Italian designer. She is considered to be Giorgio Armani’s protégé, and her collections are some of the boldest moments every Milan fashion week. The basis of Jean’s work is multiculturalism applied to fashion, resulting in a cultural fusion of her own métisse identity. Her work often merges classical Italian tailoring with stylistic features of varying cultures, whether its wax prints from Burkina Faso or artisan embroideries made in India. Above is my all-time favourite Stella Jean look from her delightful autumn-winter 2014 collection. For more of the designer, see my previous posts on her or check out her site!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

The Look(s) – Pyer Moss SS20

June 5, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

In support for the Black community, I continue celebrating and highlighting the talented individuals that shape fashion today. Take notes! Kerby Jean-Raymond‘s spring-summer 2020 collection, presented in Brooklyn’s Kings Theater in Weeksville and entitled Sister, is the third and final chapter in the Pyer Moss’ “American, Also” trilogy – and it paid homage to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. A singer-songwriter who rose to popularity in the 1930s and 1940s, Tharpe is widely considered to be the godmother of rock & roll, though her legacy has been diminished in music’s history book. “I think relatively few people know that the sound of rock and roll was invented by a queer black woman in a church,” Jean-Raymond told Vogue backstage. “I wanted to explore what that aesthetic might have looked like if her story would have been told.” Sending you to my review of this beautiful collection right here!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Focus On: Victor Glemaud

June 4, 2020 | Design & Culture by Ed

In support for the Black community, I continue celebrating and highlighting the talented individuals that shape fashion today. Take notes! Haitian-born, New York-based designer Victor Glemaud launched his eponymous leisurewear collection of statement knitwear, designed for all people, genders, races, sizes and personalities, marrying comfort and style, in 2006. The designer was a finalist in the 2017 CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and honored for his achievements by the Ambassador of Haiti to the United States. For his recent collection – autumn-winter 2020 – Victor used three materials: merino wool, cotton cashmere, and a merino-cotton-ramie blend. Glemaud’s unparalleled sense of color makes his knitted garments even more compelling. A lavender-tomato back-to-front knit set is a highlight. Within his ringer midi dresses and pooling flares are a variety of stitched details that amplify the power of his clothes. His coats, actually fully knit, have the weigh and potency of felted wool. But the best thing Glemaud did on his runway (his first) was show his clothing on a glamorous cast of people of all types. As his turban-clad models – an homage to both his friend Camilla Staerk and the women he grew up with – sauntered around a lounge in the SoHo Grand hotel, audience members could be heard whispering, picking out a must-have pant or bolero sweater. That kind of inclusivity translates to real customers who will be delighted at the prospect of wearing a square-neck minidress with Nike sneakers. Looking back at his previous collections, the autumn-winter 2019 look-book starring Indya Moore, the incredible trans actress from Pose, makes you dream of all the tangerine knits. Pre-fall 2020 has seen Glemaud leaning into his grooviest, hip-swiveling impulses, filled with gorgeous crochet dresses, tunics, and flares. Discover Glemaud’s universe here.