Art

Dandy’s Wake-up Call. Dunhill AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

At Dunhill, an unexpected surprise: the British dandy’s wardrobe gets a refreshment. Simon Holloway‘s debut collection felt like a much-needed wake-up call for this sleepy, London-based brand. The salon-inspired show unfolded at the National Portrait Gallery, transforming it into an elegant, cozy setting reminiscent of a chic café. As a swarm of very fine models emerged, the collection emanated a decidedly classic feel. This setting aptly matched the preppy mood that permeated the garments that felt quintessentially Dunhill. But with a closer look, a majority of pieces were lightweight, and the purposefully mismatched details within the prints and textures felt more modern than was first apparent. There were suits upon suits: two-piece cashmere wool sets here, fabulously cut Donegal tweed three-piece concoctions there. Reinventing the car coat, a nod to house founder Alfred Dunhill’s heritage, the outerwear range varied from camel hair with leather accents to premium double-faced wool. When asked about his intentions in translating Dunhill’s 130-year legacy to a contemporary London audience, Holloway’s response was assured: “There are menswear enthusiasts here, some of whom, particularly older generations, may know Dunhill from the past. But I do think there’s a younger audience obsessed with tailoring and proper menswear haberdashery – it’s a lovely thing to be able to connect with them here, too.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Exuberance. Erdem AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

 

Erdem Moralıoğlu is at his best when he leaves behind his comfort zone of florals and regality. In the halls of the British Museum, amidst the ancient grandeur of the Parthenon Marbles, a modern muse was reborn through imagination of the designer. As the autumn-winter 2024 fashion show progressed, a vivid homage to the American-Greek soprano Maria Callas and her iconic debut as Medea at La Scala in Milan unfolded. From the pea-green opera coat with its extravagantly exaggerated collar at the start to the same silhouette at the finale, this time strewn with a rose print on white satin, but quilted, almost like the memory of a 1950s housecoat, this certainly was an exuberant Erdem moment. In between we had the designer’s extended tribute to Callas, her greatness, her status, and style “almost as a pop idol of the ’50s,” as he put it. The complex psychologies of extraordinary women of the past have always been the fuel for Moralioglu’s layered design approach; the plots always blending into his own design narrative: a romantic, flowered, maybe raw-edged recasting of formal social-occasion dress codes. Callas’ wardrobe – the tiny-waisted, full-skirted dresses; draped scarf necklines; swing coats – were in full force. Carmine red dresses, roses attached to the toes of slingbacks, as if thrown at her feet onstage, and then satin pajamas and shoes evoking marabou slippers were yet another hints we are looking at a modern-day interpretation of a legend’s wardrobe.

 

 

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Raven. Thom Browne AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

Thom Browne‘s autum-winter 2024 show was a compelling and theatrical NYFW send off. An ominous broken window in the centre of the runway coupled with barren trees, including a towering nine metre one swaddled in a puffer coat, set an eerie tone. As Anna Cleveland entered, clad in a tweed and a black headpiece, to the crowd’s surprise the largest tree began to move – it was a model on stilts. Suddenly, at the hem, children began to pop out, four in total. The soundtrack playing while this was all happening? Naturally Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven, as narrated by Carrie Coon. The magnificent Kristen McMenamy was next to hit the runway, clad in a coat covered in ravens and gravity-defying braids. Twisted and dark, the subsequent parade of looks highlight what Browne does best, take preppy, classic standards like tweeds and tailoring and transform them into works of art with a perverse, sinister allure. A trenchcoat gets the bondage treatment, courtesy of rows of straps that line the back while a resin dipped jacket resembles a black ooze infecting a rainbow-hued world. Waists were cinched and blazers were exaggerated, creating both slim and bulbous silhouettes in equal fashion. Alex Consani’s finale as the mantis meant gold gilded braids turned into antennae as well as a face full of foil, complete with matching lashes. At its heart The Raven is a tale of distraught love and the madness that entails from it. Browne managed to convey all these feeling in this stunning fashion-show-slash-performance.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Metrosexual. Luar AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

Raul Lopez’ Luar shows have become highlights, just as Marc Jacobs’ or Raf Simons’ Calvin Klein shows were back in New York Fashion Week’s history. Autumn-winter 2024 is one of those definitely, not only because Beyoncé was in attendance. This collection was a witty play around the clichéd term “metrosexual” (the last time I’ve heard it in a serious conversion was in 2012, and I live in Poland where such topics always arrive delayed). According to a dictionary definition, he’s a “single young man living in a metropolis in close proximity to the best gyms, shops, and social spaces, with a vast disposable income spent mostly on himself”. A metrosexual is a “well-manicured man whose sexuality is often immaterial – though he’s presumably heterosexual – who is well groomed, well-mannered, and has good style”.

“They’re back, and it comes in cycles,” said Lopez, pointing at images of Elizabethan and Victorian era men in brocades, makeup, and wigs, as well as men in the late ’70s with tight knits and blow-dried hair. “There are different generations of the metrosexual, and now we are in the era of the stray (straight gay),” the designer concluded. The collection in itself was an anthology of the metrosexual from the perspective of a queer man. This season, Luar clothes can be really flamboyant, but can also turn very masc at the same time. This dichotomy was on display on the runway as Lopez offered opulent zebra devoré prints in shirting (a riff on Tom Ford, an iconic metrosexual), glossy leather tailoring in the designer’s signature hefty proportions, and his recurrent hulking shoulder treatment on everything from cardigans to denim jackets. There were tight jeans paired with tighter tees (the uniform of the Dominican metrosexual, he said) that highlighted the models’ builds. A run of extra large jackets with the aforementioned bold shoulders and rounded sleeves, Lopez’s play on Elizabethan male attire, dwindled the body. The one-two punch provided by the Luar designer was the combination of a knockout collection paired with thought-provoking hypotheses about our culture. Forget the “strays,” metros, queers, straights, and everything in between. This fashion week, he christened the “Luarsexual,” and by asking the right questions about American culture and welcoming one of its biggest icons into his space, Lopez himself cemented his place as a key figure in American fashion today.

Here are couple of Luar classics you can shop right now!

ED’s SELECTION:


Diamond Tech Pinstripe Dress



Diamond Boulder Shoulder Pullover



Hybrid Tech Zip-Cuff Trousers

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Woman For Women. Batsheva AW24

| Design & Culture by Ed

A whole fashion show full of women in their 40s, 50s, 60s, and beyond: that’s a meaningful statement. This phenomenal Batsheva outing was opened with Molly Ringwald in a black velvet shift dress and a short hooded cape, her hands held in front of her inside a lace trim muff. Then came Amy Fine Collins in another black velvet shift with a scoop neck and lace trim, a bit like a French maid uniform, but on Fine Collins it was the chicest little dress on this planet. Though Batsheva Hay said she simply wanted to see women like herself on the runway, the effect it had on her clothes was remarkable – not just because of the diversity of their body types but because of the way they carried themselves; the lives they brought to her dresses. It was especially interesting, given that Hay broke onto the scene with little girl-inspired dresses. The intarsia knitted sweater with the word HAG emblazoned on the chest, modeled by one of New York’s OG cool female designers Victoria Bartlett, was another unapologetic F-U towards fashion industry’s ageism. Although many models were friends of Hay, a good number were also street cast and on at least one occasion the designer and her team checked out dance classes. “When I stopped people, the one reaction they all had was like, ‘Why would you ever want me?’, so that actually made it more exciting. Like they don’t even feel visible.” Now we just need the rest of the industry to catch on.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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