Camille Miceli delivered a bold and joyful Emilio Pucci moment: high-energy runway presentation held at Palazzo Altemps in Rome, opened with a stunning appearance by Christy Turlington and closed with the iconic Italian actress and model Isabella Rossellini. To the tune of Roisin Murphy’s covers of all-time Italian classics, the charismatic designer sent down a contemporary take on the psychedelic Pucci motif. No wonder why the collection was titled “Very Vivara” – after the iconic pattern which was created way back in 1965 and has the same vibrant resonance in 2024. Intertwining the characteristic sumptuousness and the emblematic lightness of the fashion house, shifting between organic and geometric shapes, Miceli offers a certain heartfelt glamour that doesn’t feel forced. Wearing a breezy Pucci caftan-dress, you’re a jet-set goddess, but one cherishing ease and comfort.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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If there’s one designer that leads the bridalwear game today, then it’s definitely Danielle Frankel and her New York-based studio. However Danielle isn’t limiting her designs to weddings only; she describes her namesake brand as “a fashion label” whose “medium is bridal,” a minor yet important distinction that indeed manages to capture her stunning creative output. The latest collection, starring Italian beauty Mariacarla Boscono and styled by Vanessa Traina, is an in-depth study of texture, unique fabrications, and gesturally arranged flowers lead to a sort of accidental Impressionism. The brand’s signature interplay of hard and soft and its relaxed refinement join pointedly feminine details that are naturally mussed at the edges. Oil-on-canvas landscapes are interpreted by hand-painted petit-fleurs, watercolor prints, and sculpted blooms. Painterly brushstrokes adorn featherweight organza juxtaposed by castings of metal and clay blossoms created by artisans in Ukraine and South Africa. The introduction of silk jersey brings a goddess-like liquidity to the range, while the addition of Lyon lace elevates an exploration of sheerness and structure. Silk woven with metal fibers creates beautiful wrinkles that are meant to last rather than be pressed away; a sort of “perfect imperfection“. In a continued exploration of color for the aisle, alabaster is joined by patinaed rust, hibiscus, citrus, pale chrysanthemum (Frankel’s favorite) and various shades of ivory. Degradé-dyed and pearl-tipped organza fringes mimic grasses in the hand-brushed expanses that inspired them. This really isn’t your average bride-to-be wardrobe.
Here’s a couple of Danielle Frankel beauties you can get right now…
There’s no way you haven’t seen oneof those bulbous denim shorts or red dresses in one of the latest editorials (or magazine covers). Stylists went crazy for Duran Lantink‘s spring-summer 2024 collection, being his big break-through moment. Garments with built up shoulders and hips with padding, torsos exaggerated with stretchy body stockings: these extreme proportions make for great photos, and are just really fun to play around with. For his autumn-winter 2024 collection, the Dutch designer is on a similar wave of thought (big shapes and sustainable approach to garment-making) but with hints of commercial sensibility. Instead of delving into such summery essentials as bathing suits and lifesavers, he trained his attention on wintery gear like ski sweaters, long johns, and cozy wool socks, complemented by some power tailoring. “We’re really trying to figure out new ways of presenting clothes, creating new shapes and forming a new identity,” he said. Using padding, he exaggerated the shoulders on both a sweater dress and a single-breasted jacket by bringing them forward, and thickened the chest and back on cropped jackets in leather or upcycled puffer nylons. The effect is somewhat sexy. Unsurprisingly, these shapes aren’t easy to achieve. “They’re very labor intensive,” Lantink said “but I’m kind of a romantic thinker in that way. From my perspective, I don’t think that it’s something only conceptual.” Still, he has to think about commerciality, so on smaller pieces like sweater vests and button-downs he inserted a good inch or inch-and-a-half of foam between two layers of fabric, sometimes slicing them horizontally or diagonally to show off their unusual thickness. Damn, this year’s LVMH Prize season is really intense: Duran is in the game along with Elena Velez, Niccolo Pasqualetti, Vautrait, Marie Adam-Leenaerdt and other talents.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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Supriya Lele, the London-based designer, is known for her skimpy silhouettes and flesh-revealing cuts. For autumn-winter 2024, her decidedly female viewpoint takes a toughened up direction. “I started thinking about what I was actually wearing,” Lele said. “Every day, I’ve been wearing this baseball coat and slim jeans. And so we started by working into this idea with a really nice kind of leather piece.” It turned out as an over-the-head leather hoodie. The slim jeans part became fine-gauge leggings. “Then obviously, we started exploring the draping that I love to do so much, which I think has now become sort of more of a signature of mine. I wanted to create fabrics that looked wet, almost iridescent.” That effect is definitely conveyed by one of the dresses in white paisley lace, hand-foiled with pearlized paint, subtly underlining the designer’s Indian heritage. What worked in favor of the collection was the way it got captured: at an an ex-pharmacy, with a busy street glimpsed outside and a corner pub over the road (fun fact: Lele’s studio is located on an upper floor in the same building). The spontaneous, uncontrived poses – or rather walks – of the models and the raw surroundings make these hot clothes feel grounded in reality.
Here’s a summer-ready Supriya Lele piece you can scoop right now!
Phoebe Philo fans, rejoice! The second delivery of the second edit is here. The idea of “continuity” is key in the designer’s eponymous venture: Philo keeps on building THE wardrobe, making her primary ideas as valid as the new ones. The fresh set of pictures – by Talia Chetrit – stun with their simplicity yet commanding allure. Looking at them, you just really desire all these dropped-waist leathers and outerwear pieces, no matter what the price for them is (disclaimer: h i g h, but after reading Philo’s silence-breaker piece by Vanessa Friedman for The New York Times, I really get it, and if I had a money tree, I would indulge and indulge in the brand’s offering without any doubt in the quality and uniqueness of these pieces). There are gorgeous trench coat iterations with attachable scarves; wrap-skirts in butter-smooth leather; very, very handsome cargo coats with huge pockets; a leg -wrapping ribbed skirt. Basically speaking, garments you buy once and wear forever. The latest delivery also offers basket cabas bags à la Old Céline and the brand’s going-gently-viral “Bean” bag covered in rough-cut, XL leather fringes; hot, retro-tinged sunglasses in cool narrow shape; and lethally chic open-toed pumps in oxblood. According to the aforementioned piece, Phoebe likes to tell her kids: “the more you mess around, the more you find out“. She actually uses the more colloquial, raw version of this saying. It seems to perfectly captures the spirit of her quite revolutionary, assertive endeavor.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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