intensità. Etro AW24

February 22, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

The first day of Milan Fashion Week was hard to watch: messy and silly-looking Diesel where the Y2k-mania starts to feel stale; Kim Jones’ Fendi that left you with no impression (a worst feeling a collection can give); lots of Prada knock-offs and a couple of emerging Italian designers that literally have no direction.

A light of hope was seen at Etro – metaphorically, as the venue was bathed in darkness. Marco De Vincenzo‘s vision for the Italian label is taking shape. Sometimes, designers really need time to find the right balance at a brand. The autumn-winter 2024 show had huge, slightly disquieting effigies of masks inspired by Greek tragedies placed in the middle of the runway. The collection was called Act. “It’s that in my role as Etro’s creative director, I feel torn between authorship and interpretation. It’s a constant struggle that sometimes takes an emotional toll, yet it’s deeply generative. The masks are a symbolic manifestation of this inner turmoil.” The co-ed collection had an almost somber undertone, as if De Vincenzo had tried to unearth a darker, unknown side of Etro, bringing the brand along on an unmapped journey of self-discovery. Colors were muted, progressing from sensuous earthy tones to the intriguing depths of pitch black – a first for Etro, a brand which is usually affiliated with chromatic exuberance. But De Vincenzo is keen to experiment, and he feels confident and mature enough to chart new paths. His penchant for quirk can be both disconcerting and surprisingly fresh. De Vincenzo’s take on the brand is also much more radical and unapologetic rather than romantic. Silhouettes were kept fluid and unstructured, yet draping and plays on asymmetries read as a bold statement, counterpointed by oversized tailoring that had presence and charisma. “I’ve felt the need to raise the bar,” said De Vincenzo. “I sense around me the desire for more intensity in fashion, for a creativity that doesn’t have to justify itself but can just be, that doesn’t seek perfection, but rather emotional expression.”

Here are couple of my favourite Etro pieces you can shop right now!

ED’s DISPATCH:

Off-the-shoulder Fringed Floral-brocade Midi Wrap Dress

Oversized Wool-blend Jacquard Cardigan

Printed High-rise Flared Jeans

Leather-trimmed Embroidered Printed Canvas Belt

Printed Silk-twill Blazer

Pleated Checked Woven Wide-leg Pants

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Finding Ground. Burberry AW24

February 20, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Daniel Lee is finding his ground at Burberry. Well, it’s high-time: the sales don’t look good at the British brand, and the plans of making Burberry a high-class-luxury player seem to be too ambitious. But what Lee presented under the tent in Victoria Park yesterday was quite convincing. To the tune of Amy Winehouse’s biggest hits, London’s O.G. models – Agyness Deyn, Lily Donaldson, Karen Elson, Lily Cole, Nomi Campbell – marched in desirably-looking outerwear, no-nonsense knitwear and plaid flannels. Maya Wigram – Phoebe Philo’s daughter! – closed the show. This gesture felt like a blessing from the fellow London-based designer who schooled Lee at her Céline studio. The styling of the show was persuasive as well: maxi-skirts styled with short varsity jackets, slouchy shearling coats mixed with super-oversized pants, and of course, a range of revisited moleskin trenches in shades of earthy greens and browns. Echoes of Christopher Bailey-era Burberry were heard and seen all around. All this certainly felt good to watch, but will it actually lure the clients to invest in Burberry just as they did in the early 2010s? Time will tell.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Femme Vortex. Dilara Findikoglu AW24

February 20, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

“It’s about toxic masculinity – and being beyond it: I feel like tonight we are doing a mass ritual to end it. The collection is called Femme Vortex because I wanted to create a different reality, outside politics, borders, gender norms, any kind of systematic rules that have been created by hetero-patriarchal men. My previous collections were about fighting, about resistance. But I’m not fighting any more: I wanted to express divine feminine power somewhere beyond time, beyond reality, and beyond what is happening.” That’s the manifesto behind Dilara Findikoglu‘s autumn-winter 2024 show presented at a moody church in London. All 37 looks had a title, and were crafted to encapsulate the spirit of a Findikoglu-conceived character through costume. The models then inhabited them, accepting the possession of that spirit through the prism of their own individuality. Hari Nef, being “Female Territory“, wore a corporate suit, usurped and transformed. Its pinstripe wool and cotton shirting was deployed as a split skirt worn beneath corseting, latex opera gloves, and a BDSM bow headpiece. Other looks, including number three’s “Man License“, were accessorized with a tabloid newspaper whose splash headline ran: “OMG Dilara Is Doing a Satanic Orgy at a London Church.” Others, such as “Fragile Ego“, and the final two looks were made of stiffened fabric apparently mid-flutter (or wrenched) as if to appear frozen in time. We still have to see what’s cooking at Sean McGirr’s Alexander McQueen debut collection, but I feel like Dilara would do absolute wonders under Lee’s name.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Nosy Neighbors Are Watching. JW Anderson AW24

February 19, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Picture a 1970s, British suburban scene: an Marks & Spencer blouse with a delicate bow detail at the neck blows in the breeze on a washing line. Nosy neighbors living in rows of terraced houses peer at your clean laundry through picket fences. Well, that was the mood behind JW Anderson‘s autumn-winter 2024 collection. Jonathan Anderson is the absolute fashion mastermind when it comes to planting bizarre, irrational ideas and making them somehow desirable. Old-style English underwear and slippers. Grandpa coats. Even grandma’s gray hairdo became an avant-nostalgia accessory. “They’re hats!” he revealed. This collection certainly has to be read through an irony-tinged lens…

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Wake. Simone Rocha AW24

February 19, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Simone Rocha‘s guest residency at Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture atelier definitely stayed in the designer’s mind for her label’s autumn-winter 2024 collection. “It was an amazing experience,” she told the press. “There were probably two main things I took away from it, which was to have that focus and attention to detail, and to slow down with each look. I found it really interesting to discipline myself to do that – and I really wanted to bring that discipline back with me.” The workmanship and the attention to detail when it comes to the embellishment techniques is also something she found exciting to elaborate on, that’s why majority of this season’s embroideries is handmade. Presented at St Bartholomew’s Church in Farringdon, the collection was entitled “The Wake” and was partly inspired by Queen Victoria’s mourning dress. There was plenty of sheer dressing, touches of faux-fur detail, exquisite capes and coats, and opulent-looking, ecclesiastical-inspired accessories. Corsetry – another take-away from JPG’s couture studio – ran through the collection too. Its delicate structure embraced the abdomen within tie-detail nylon parkas and rompers. Its contours defined the darting in little sheer jackets worn north of pantaloons, some of the many womenswear looks in which Rocha worked to place the models’ breasts on twin metal-beaded podiums shaped perhaps after lips. “There’s the perversity of being adorned, and cupped, in these organza corsets: it’s really stimulating on,” said Rocha.