AW19

Farewell, Karl. Chanel AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Chalet Camelia. Winter wonderland. Houndstooth coats and tweed hats. Luxe knits and eternal CC logo. Snowball skirts and Choupette fluffiness. Penelope Cruz, Cara Delevigne, Adesuwa, Maria Carla Boscono, Mica Arganaraz, Kaia Gerber, Anna Ewers, Adut Akech and the Chanel girls. Thousand of tears dropped, from Michel Gaubert’s minute of silence to the model’s finale walk (some couldn’t hold the tears). But you surely know all this.

I doubt Karl Lagerfeld would want his last show to be a fussy, overemotional event. His last show was exactly how he planned it to be: as if it was his next collection for Chanel, another fantasy. “Oh! It’s like walking in a painting!” Farewell to the visionnaire, the most prolific, joyous, assertive and energetic designer the world has known, whether you agree with this or not. But those are facts. What will next seasons look and feel like without him? I’ve got no idea. It seemed like he was always there. On the show’s invitation there was Lagerfeld’s last illustration, captioned: “the beat goes on!“. He wanted it to go on, so let’s all look forward to Virgine Viard’s future for Chanel.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Beautiful Consistence. APC AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

This was a classic A.P.C. presentation, with a few plot twists. Jean Toitou invited two collaborators for autumn-winter 2019 collection: Brain Dead, an Los Angeles–based streetwear brand, and Suzanne Koller, the house’s longtime stylist and Parisian friend. The first created graphic hoodies based on the 1972 documentary, Future Shock, in which Orson Welles, playing narrator, discusses how technology is moving too fast for humans to keep up. Koller, the fashion director of M Le Monde and Self Service, designed the collection’s black wool dress (worn by her currently favourite blond, Maggie Mauer) and an oversize parka that she teamed with a monochrome look in gray: chunky sweater, turtleneck, wool trousers, and leather boots. During his speech, Touitou joked, “Maybe you can guess which pieces are hers.” Knowing her style and work, you could think of Koller right away, even not knowing about A.P.C.’s collab.  A.P.C. values consistence, which seems like the best advise for any brand doing shows in Paris. And their eventual ‘surprises’ make this consistence even more beautiful.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Suspiria. Undercover AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

When I saw Undercover‘s autumn-winter 2019 collection, I was literally like: “OMG. It’s an ode to Suspiria. OMG!”. Yes. Jun Takahashi really did a collection that’s in majority all about Luca Guadagnino’s remake of Dario Argento’s cult horror, Suspiria. First, you’ve got to know I’m a mega-fan of Luca and all his films. But his Suspiria transported me to a completely different world. So I was really impressed that somebody in fashion finally went crazy for this film and did a proper collection based on it. The mood of 1970’s, Cold War-era Berlin and a world-renowned dance company controlled by powerful, elusive, sadomasochistic witches… it’s such a good source of inspiration. Not only the collection’s colour palette was completely inspired with the film. Takahashi wanted to use the film stills for prints (Guadagnino gave his permission for this – he’s a film director with an incredible sensibility for fashion) and here we are with a line-up of bomber jackets, hoodies, dresses and skirts that picture some of the most standout moments from the remake. Tilda Swinton – who played three roles in the film – and her character of Madame Blanc in a floor-sweeping, red dress appeared in two ways: as a literal print, and as skirt-pant hybrid in the same colour. I think no other designer can make a collection look so good, using just one reference and focusing so much on it. The theme doesn’t feel tired or invasive. It’s for fans, but not only – I bet any Undercover client will rush for the collection’s garments, without even watching Suspiria. You haven’t? Please do!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Love’s in the air. Valentino AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

Pierpaolo Piccioli makes people get emotional (and Celine Dion shed tears of joy) over his couture. Does his ready-to-wear for Valentino spark the same reactions? Pretty much yes. His autumn-winter 2019 collection was an ode to love. A theme that might be so easily clichéd in fashion got beautifully poetic on Piccioli’s runway. “I feel that people are looking for emotion and dreams—but not distant dreams,” he said today before the show. “I want to create a community for Valentino. I mean something different from ‘lifestyle,’ which is about owing objects. It’s about people who share values.” Valentino’s community has many faces, and this season Pierpaolo made them even more vocal. First, the choice of models who walk the Valentino runway as of late utterly cement the normalisation of inclusive casting. You’ve got Adut Akech open the show in a voluminous coat, and Maria Carla Boscono wear a gorgeous black gown. Then, we’ve got artistic individuals that leave their mark on Piccioli’s fashion. Jun Takahashi of Undercover started collaborating with Valentino’s menswear last season, and his contribution goes on here as well. This time the designers morphed together a print of a 19th-century neoclassical sculpture of kissing lovers with an image of roses. It appeared on pretty much everything, and wasn’t necessarily a subtle detail. And then there are the poets. Poetry in fashion always seemed to be a good idea just in case of Ann Demeulemeester and her long-time friend, Patti Smith. In case of Valentino, the concept wasn’t overly intellectual or profound, but digestible for the eye. Picciolli commissioned the Scottish poet and artist Robert Montgomery and the three young writers – Greta Bellamacina, Mustafa The Poet and Yrsa Daley-Ward – to contribute to a slim volume, Valentino on Love, which was left on seats for the audience. An illuminated billboard with lines by Montgomery stood at the end of the runway, reading, “The people you love become ghosts inside of you and like this you keep them alive.” The words carried on to live in Piccioli’s designs and the lines were printed (or embroidered) inside coats, tulle dresses, inside of bags and boots. In terms of fashion, this was a line-up of incredible matchings. An orange jacket with feathers was worn over a hoodie – refined, yet fresh. There were as many couture-ish silhouettes (like the yellow cape-coat or the finale dresses) as sublime daywear (think soft tailoring, flared mid-lenght skirts and classical little black dresses). Love’s in the air, in every single aspect.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Reality Check. Balenciaga AW19

| Design & Culture by Ed

That’s a fact: Demna Gvasalia delivered the best coats (outerwear, even) of the season. Literally every coat that appeared in Balenciaga’s autumn-winter 2019 made me drool! Those volumes. The designer focused on the streets of Paris and how Parisians really dress (forget the Jeanne Damas and Caroline de Maigret archetype of Parisian chic). He thoroughly investigated outfits people wear in their metro commute, to the parties, on a dog walk, for groceries. And here we are with more than 100 looks, featuring faux-fur, floor-sweeping coats in Cristobal Balenciaga-esque architectural silhouettes to vintage-y leather jackets and quilted belted robes in satin. Tailoring was strong, too, just as the dresses. From the polished, sleek mini-dresses that closed the show to flowing, maxi-gowns (like the one Stella Tennant had on, made from some fancy, metallic fringes), each looked was distinctly Gvasalia – sharp, ironic, delightfully confusing. I really loved this one ‘super-nornal’ outfit that featured a black turtleneck, leather slouchy pants and a pink, polka-dot shopper bag. That’s exactly how editors dress in Paris. Again, this collection was extremely Paris, but not in this fashioned-up manner we often get to see. As the designer said backstage, “It’s real. When I’m on the streets of Paris, that’s what I see.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.