Jacquemus’ Dadaism

November 3, 2015November 10, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Simon Porte Jacquemus is one of the most daring designers in Paris. His collection trigger controversy, even though they reminisce childish, naive and even primitive way of being. The brand’s recent autumn-winter collection is deeply rooted in the period of dadaism – the shirts are printed with surreal, black hands, while voluminous trousers and skirts have those red, plastic circles through which stripes of textiles overlap. Take note of the abstract crop-tops – even though they look like pieces of a fancy, 60’s rug, they are made of wool patches, made fully in France (just like the rest of the pieces sold by Jacquemus). For the full effect of the very arty and avant-garde femme Simon creates this season, there are those paper masks – nobody is sure how practical are they, but surely they will update every possible look you think of this autumn.

The full AW15 look-book on jacquemus.com

Neo – Gothic

September 6, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Blame Alexander Wang and Marc Jacobs for introducing one of the most significant trends of autumn-winter 2015 season (remembering, that there as many trends as the number of designers presenting their collections during New York Fashion Week – A LOT.) Goth. Or rather, neo-goth. Wang opened the fashion week, sending his models down the runway wearing chained jackets and skirts, maxi gowns and the must-have platform boots. The hair was all about a messy, black mullet while the whole atmosphere felt disturbing. The mood-board of the designer had a lot to do with punk and metallica, and surely Goths that we can see on the streets. However, fashion history is scattered with all-black collections – so what is so special about this collection? It translates more than the black colour. It conveys a refreshing, rebellious attitude. But not the Perry Ellis one, though. It didn’t raise that much of scandal and is definitely much more commercial.

Marc Jacobs also presented his dark side, but in a totally different way. Rather than listening to metallica all day, his woman preferred opera and drama. Marc’s gloomy AW15 was all about Diana Vreeland’s glamour, The Night Porter sex-appeal and every Goths wardrobe essential, a leather choker. Personally, I hate seeing 14-year-old teens wearing those because they all look the same then – but seeing chokers during Marc Jacobs’ show was absolutely fascinating. And somewhat, chic. Besides chokers, Marc made pleated skirts and brocade jackets have a major style moment.

The trend for Goths went overseas and landed in London, where Giles Deacon of Giles presented his highly theatrical collection. The season’s hottest face, Molly Bair, wore a long dress and had a black lipstick on. Tim Burton’s model reflection, Esmeralda Seay-Reynolds, killed it while wearing a latex, Victorian-mannered waist jacket. The voluminous ballroom skirts have swept the audience away. Not only Giles presented his best collection to date, but he showed, that gothic fashion can be shady and really all about splendour.

Alessandro Dell’Acqua reinterpreted the topic of goths in his own, Italian way. Of all mentioned collections, No21 felt the most wearable and minimal – however, the devil is in the details. It was visible, that Dell’Acqua has been thrilled with Alida Valli in Visconti’s Senso. Long lace gloves and over-sized ruffles there-and-there had more to do with the Victorian era than stereotypical Goths, however the collection looked forward in a street-style-wise way. The beautifully embroidered skirts were styled with black, neoprene hoodies, forming new, gender-fusing silhouettes.

The main aim of this post was to show you, that 2015-goths are not only about black, black and black. Well, of course you won’t really see a gothic person wearing bold pink dress, but – the neo-gothic style blurs elegance with extravagance, while it can also be more wearable and boyish. It can start on Victorian references and stop on a more modern-day punk mood. And the season of AW15 definitely proves, that being a stylish neo-goth is totally fine.

The Names To Know

August 29, 2015August 29, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Stella Jean AW15

SS16 is coming with big steps, guys! The fashion month will begin really soon. The first week of September will be all about New York’s bliss and sophistication. Then, we will all have a jet-lag in London. Have a large plate of pasta in Milan and eat breakfasts at the new Fondazione Prada. Go to the sleaziest night-clubs of Paris for fashion shows. Also, this means a constant Instagram overload, long evenings spent on writing reviews and this fabulous / exhausting feeling you have during the fashion month. As we are all still charging our batteries on these last days of summer, here is my list of designers to KNOW & WATCH during the spring-summer 2016 marathon.

Eckhaus Latta / Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta from Los Angeles don’t care about their model’s size, age, gender. Their street casting and friend-models wear their clothes on runway as if they were having a stroll around Downtown. Raw domesticity is explored and modified, as imperfections are made beautiful and comfort found in the most unexpected of places, due to spontaneous fittings and very soft textiles.

Rosie Assoulin / Many designer who do evening-wear think that an excessive amount of Swarovski and flesh-exposing-cuts is just it. But thankfully, Rosie Assoulin is the woman who says a loud “NO” to that. The New York-based designer creates dresses which are mostly categorised as “evening” ones, but surprisingly look as good with white sneakers as with heels. By looking at her previous, autumn-winter collection by Rosie, it’s easy to conclude, that these simply cut, boldly coloured dresses look at their best with sweatpants and yes, even with hoodies.

Marques Almeida / They were the ones who discreetly made frayed and cut denim cool again; they made 90’s vibe strong and most noticeable this season. And there is something about their cool, ghetto attitude. The Portuguese duo rocked London just a few years ago and from the beginning smelled with success. Winning the LVMH Prize Award this year, Marques Almeida is now excepted to be really IT, after the luxury group, LVMH, takes them under their wings.

Faustine Steinmetz / In Steinmetz’s label, each textile is solely hand-woven by one person using their traditional hand looms.
And, each piece is meticulously made by hand, with some pieces taking over a week to weave. “In our East London studio we spin, dye and weave all our own fabrics. We reproduce iconic pieces, the kind everyone has or has had in their wardrobe at one stage, except we make them all by hand.” Faustine Steinmetz creates and designs denim which isn’t really denim- it’s a new apparel vision, but on upper level. And I just can’t wait to see how her amazing vision is going to evolve.

Stella Jean / The brightest star of Milan Fashion Week, I must admit. Stella was born in Rome, however its her Creole roots that make her fashion so unique and open-minded. From season to season, she offers her clients a mix of ethnic prints and references with a chic, Italian heritage. Although this might sound quite avant-garde, her clothes are a combination of “hand-made” tradition and European comfort – beautifully embroidered trousers evoke the warmth of India; a kimono from Tibet looks like a dream. Stella Jean should be praised not only for her breath-taking clothes, but for her idea of giving women and men around the world a chance to do their craft, work in good conditions and being paid for their talents.

Vetements / Lately, I have written a long post about this eponymous, yet provoking label from Paris. Vetements in French means clothes – but Vetements goes far beyond the meaning of clothes in today’s fashion industry. It exaggerates clothes. It elongates the sleeves, gives volume to cowboy boots and makes floral grandma dresses look scandalous, and kind of sexy. Led by Demna Gvasalia and six other anonymous designers, who met while working as design team at Maison (Martin) Margiela, Vetements is the new force which makes fashion rules feel even more useless than ever. Even their AW15 fashion show wasn’t a typical event where clothes were celebrated in a traditional way. But don’t think it was done in a buzzy, Chanel way – oh no. The “creative network” of the brand took their guests to Le Depot, a dark sex-club, where everybody felt a mood of anti-fashion. At first sight, you might not really understand the collection – but in reality, it is not that deep in its meaning as you might think. These clothes, even though look pretty grotesque, are wearable. Gvasalia claims “as long as we can make clothes that people want to wear and they find them cool and relevant, that’s my understanding of hype”.

Eckhaus Latta vibe. Forget the fashion rules, it says.

This is my list of designer “to watch out for” during the SS16 season. Would you add anybody else?

Hillier Bartley

August 27, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Hillier Bartley’s advertisement campaign photographed by David Sims.

Ladies & gentlemen, welcome Hillier Bartley – a new brand coming from the British designer duo, Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley. After closing the sister line of Marc Jacobs, MBMJ, these two truly unique personalities decided to open their new chapter in fashion! Firstly, in February, Hillier Bartley was quietly presented to few buyers; then, a mysterious Instagram account appeared. And now it is the time to see, what they are really up to – edgy, slightly decadent style that celebrates English tailoring with feminine twist. Warm wool coats, fringed bags, satin blouses and lady-like silk gowns – and all of that kept in a cool, quite nostalgic manner. No wonder why you can find Tracey Emin, David Bowie and Debbie Harry in the brand’s AW15 moodboard. Also, Hillier’s signature bunny motif appeared in the collection in form of adorable clutches.

The collection will be exclusively available at Matches from September 2nd.

In September issue of Vogue US by David Sims.

Post Anti-Fashion

August 22, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Vetements in French means clothes – but Vetements goes far beyond the meaning of clothes in today’s fashion industry. It exaggerates clothes. It elongates the sleeves, gives volume to cowboy boots and makes floral grandma dresses look provocative, and kind of sexy. Led by Demna Gvasalia and six other anymous designers, who met while working as design team at Maison (Martin) Margiela, Vetements is the new force which makes fashion rules feel even more useless than ever. Even their AW15 fashion show wasn’t a typical event where clothes were celebrated in a traditional way. But don’t think it was done in a buzzy, Chanel way – oh no. The “creative network” of the brand took their guests to Le Depot, a sleazy sex-club, where everybody felt a mood of anti-fashion. At first sight, you might not really understand the collection – but in reality, it is not that deep in its meaning as you might think. These clothes, even though look pretty grotesque, are wearable. Gvasalia claims “as long as we can make clothes that people want to wear and they find them cool and relevant, that’s my understanding of hype”. Although the styling is complicated and well-considered (or not), separately the clothes are easy. Take the over-sized trench coat. You can wear it with everything – even if you might look like a hobo, you look like a anti-fashion person. But the thing about Vetements is, that you need to feel this anti-fashion thing. And live in it, consciously.

Vetements’ AW15 collection seemed to have a brutal, violent attitude in it, too. But this can be easily explained. Raised in 80s Soviet Union Georgia, Demna’ childhood was shaped by the aggressive gang youth culture, and the certain censorship of the USSR. The topic of Soviet youth is also repeatedly presented by another Paris-based designer, Gosha Rubchinkiy. In fact, both of these designers develop a new movement in fashion, which you might like or not – post anti-fashion. “Yeah, I like that. No one knows what it means” Gvasalia said with a laugh while being interview for i-D. In other words, Vetements should be kept on the radar during the fashion week in September, folks, because it is truly intriguing.