Pragmatic. Lemaire AW26

January 23, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

On the stage of the Opéra Bastille, the Lemaire troupe emerged in small configurations, each representing different themes and attitudes across the collection. One model moved a chair; another wandered into the audience; and then there was dancer Julie Anne Stanzak, who gleefully leapt and twirled in a floaty yellow dress while clutching her pumps. Theatrics aside, this was a quintessentially Lemaire collection, defined by “a very pragmatic approach to clothes,” as Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran stated. It is grounded in the everyday – somewhere between the utilitarian and the functional – yet at the same time unmistakably chic. Whether a quilted skirt that converts into a cape, a sculpted bag shaped like buttocks, or the dramatic insertion of impressionistic colour layered into earthy tones, Lemaire’s pieces are designed to be worn, loved, and lived in.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Actually Fashion. Dior Men AW26

January 22, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Remember my very real concerns about this season’s menswear turning conservative? Jonathan Anderson erased them the second the first look of his sophomore Dior menswear collection hit the runway. It felt like a bow-wow-wow moment of unfiltered fashion that is actually fashion, for Christ’s sake.

The yellow wigs by Guido Palau, à la Pam Hogg, felt like the much-needed final disruption of the contemporary Dior image – one long orchestrated by former creative directors Maria Grazia Chiuri and Kim Jones. Goodbye neatness and primness; hello decadence, flamboyance, drama. This collection cut the umbilical cord to anything preppy, veering into directions nobody could have fathomed. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Debonair. Wales Bonner SS26

January 21, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

As Grace Wales Bonner gradually prepares for her new, high-profile role at Hermès (her debut will arrive exactly a year from now), the autumn–winter 2026 collection under her namesake label serves as a reminder of why she is so perfectly suited to one of Paris’s most prestigious menswear positions. It is a serene meditation on debonair elegance, informed by modernist architecture. Her thinking this season revolves around Indian modernism and modernist architecture more broadly, approaching modernism as a means of renegotiating and creating new identities, while also exploring something graphic, almost uniform-like in its clarity and restraint.

There is no shortage of such propositions, whether in the tailcoat and tuxedo trousers – tailored in indigo linen and paired with a linen wingtip-collar shirt, softened through washing – or in a Madras-checked jacket with a leather collar. This season, Wales Bonner also added John Smedley, the Derbyshire knitwear manufacturer founded in 1784, to her select circle of suppliers, delighting in its archive and fine British craftsmanship. She has long favored collaboration with highly specialized makers, valuing depth of knowledge and precision above all else.

One can only imagine what awaits in January 2027 – after all, great things take time.

ED’s SELECTION:

adidas Originals x Wales Bonner Karintha Sequined Satin Sneakers

Wales Bonner Anthem Embroidered Mesh-trimmed Jersey Track Jacket

Wales Bonner Presence Studded Organza Blouse

Wales Bonner Echo Leather-trimmed Organic Denim Jacket

Wales Bonner Java Macrame Fringe Midi Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Melancholy. Prada AW26

January 19, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’s joint effort at Prada may not have been conservative in concept, but it unmistakably foreshadowed recession – economic, political, cultural. The show venue at Fondazione Prada resembled a ruined palace or temple constructed from spolia. The clothes sent down the runway – on models decidedly less hunky than those seen at other houses – bore visible signs of distress. Slender, waist-cinched jackets were deliberately creased, their worn wool appearing raw and coarse. A beige leather coat was frayed at the edges, as though it had been worn – and lived in – for decades.

There was something deeply melancholic about the collection as a whole, something distinctly 1930s in its sense that the good days were coming to an end. Prada’s runway tailoring felt resolutely anti-Bezos, anti-Vance. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:

Prada Men’s Wool Knit Stripe Crewneck Sweater

Prada Men’s Poplin Chest Logo Full-Zip Shirt Jacket

Prada Men’s Hawaiian-Print Short-Sleeve Shirt

Prada Men’s Collapse Nylon and Suede Low-Top Sneakers

Prada Men’s Solid Short-Sleeve Sweater

Prada Men’s Re-Nylon Snap-Front Jacket

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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A Moment Of Respite. JW Anderson AW26

January 18, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Jonathan Anderson’s rebranding of his London-based label is a unanimous success. It has brought clarity and ease to JW Anderson, which is now more focused than ever on IRL retail spaces that mingle impeccably crafted flannel shirts and denim with objects sourced across Britain. No fashion shows – just simple lookbooks starring Anderson’s friends, who wear the brand and embody its witty (and unobtrusively sexy) character.

There’s Ashley Heath in a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “Porn” and pink satin shorts; Kylie Minogue in a crochet dress with a yellow car motif; Tim Blanks in a short-sleeved shirt in a cocky print, digging in with a garden fork; Alice Temple looking absolutely badass in a classic leather jacket. Then come the home accessories – organically dyed cushions, stripey hand brushes – all so British and so desirable, even if you might not actually need them in your life.

It seems that JW Anderson has become the designer’s outlet for slowing down, a moment of respite from his other, far more intense role in Paris. His second Dior menswear show is just around the corner.