Art

Dark Glamour. Rick Owens AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Designers seem to reconsider glamour this season in subverted, new ways. While this term seems to be far, far from Rick Owens‘ well-known aesthetic, the designer took a try with it and what came out is the brilliant autumn-winter 2019 collection. Who else can pull off a reference crossover of such names as Charles James (the only American couturier), Larry LeGaspi (the person who designed costumes for Labelle, Kiss, Grace Jones, and Divine) and Mariano Fortuny (the Spanish-born, Italy-based designer who was famous for pleats and prints)? Only Rick. All of those people did glamour in their own, idiosyncratic way, and Owens was interested in doing garments that have a bit of each of them in the seems, cuts and drapes. Wait, but it’s never a Rick Owens collection without a bit of darkness. The designer hired 18-year-old Salvia (see her Instagram! It’s disturbing, but you won’t stop scrolling) to consult on the show makeup. The models looked like alien princesses with all the face implants and prothesis. That’s post-apocalyptic chic.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Reworked Glamour. Y/Project AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Similarly to this season’s Paco Rabanne, Y/Project was ‘overfilled’ – but in a good way (even if this sounds strange). Glenn Martens took the old school glamour archetypes, reworked them, and delivered something pretty much madly fashion. He jumped from a superchic tweed coat with faux fur and Turkish rug inserts to a long black satin skirt draped up from a pair of deconstructed pants. A pistacchio kimono coat-dress? Yes. A voluminous jacket with an A-shaped skirt that reminded you of weaved chairs that are all over the Parisian caffes? YES. The closing, XXL gown was so extravagantly billowy that you really wish to see it on the red carpet (Rihanna, take a look!). Martens likes to take risks. Also, he seems to be one of the few designers in Paris who really dare.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Definining Elegance. Lemaire AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

I could write and write about each and signle look coming from Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran‘s autumn-winter 2019 collection. Everything’s just so beautifully balanced and refined. Lemaire might be defining elegance this season – I mean, just look at this all-knitted look feauturing a sweater with big shoulders and waist-highlighting button-down skirt. From masculine coats to evening dresses, there isn’t a thing about the collection that isn’t compelling. The blouson jackets with leg-o-mutton sleeves have this chic, slightly vintage-y Parisian feel about them, just like leather jackets or business-ready blazers. Some things don’t change, like Lemaire’s season-to-season goodness – and I’m fine with that.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Not Just Flowers. Dries Van Noten AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

For the autumn-winter 2019 prints, Dries Van Noten and his design team went for a ‘field trip’ to the designer’s garden (and it’s not just any garden – you must witness it in the ‘Dries’ documentary on Netflix!) in order to take photos of flowers. The photos were taken last October, so quite naturally the flowers weren’t all that bloomy and fresh. Still, what attracted the designer the most were their imperfections: black spots, visible diseases, dried petals. Don’t expect basic floral prints, but rather, a strangely romantic, darker take on the very unlikely trend of the A/W season. Turtleneck dresses, satin blazers, robe coats and shirts were adorned with these flowers, while the colour palette was kept in deep greys, lilac and burgundy. Many compare this collection to Prada this season – where flowers were as well the key point – but at Dries Van Noten the effect is much different. Styled with long leather gloves, loosely-fitted pinstripe suits and faux fur stoles in extremely bright orange, the feeling was edgy, chic eccentric, but very feminine in an unmistakable Van Noten manner.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Hot. Saint Laurent AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Is there any sense in searching for a smarter word than ‘hot’, when talking of Anthony Vaccarello‘s autumn-winter 2019 collection for Saint Laurent? Well. It was hot! But not dumb hot. Rather, confident hot. The best look? A broad-shouldered, wool coat with big shoulder pads, on a matchingly blond girl who looked very much like Yves Saint Laurent’s ultimate muse: Betty Catroux. Then, we’ve had clothes that looked like taken out of wardrobes of female spies that kick asses during Cold War thrillers. Dramatic mini-dresses inspired with Yves’ haute couture “Scandal” collection from 1971 and le smokings converted into gowns – gorgeous. The part that could have been omitted? The glowing-in-dark dresses at the end – they kind of undermined the cool, sharp assertiveness of this show. It felt as if Vaccarello and the brand wanted to generate even more Insta-content… but do we really need more? The tailoring was strong enough. And the Catroux coat, of course.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.