Lived In Americana. Coach Resort 2025

July 13, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

I never really cared about what’s going on at Coach, but the resort 2025 lookbook has sparked my interest. Finally, a brand in New York that fills the blank space that Raf Simons left after creating the ambitious – and sadly aborted – Calvin Klein 205W39NYC project. Stuart Vevers similarly plays with the codes of Americana in a loveworn, weathered, and lived in way, with bits of cinematic, even horror-y drama. Vevers’s rather winter-ish resort collection is stuffed nostalgia-tinged fuzzy-soft cozy cable knits and full tweedy skirts with huge taffeta bows, rocking a Victoriana-goes-1950s vibe. Note how the oversized Argyle check knit polo shirts are designed to layer up at will, one of the many pieces in Vevers’ line-up denuded of gender specificity. Likewise the jewelry: diamanté bows and chandelier earrings to pin here, there, and everywhere, and single earrings with a delightfully kitschy quality to them – pumpkins, candy canes, essentially the John Waters-approved inventory of holiday tree decorations. For layering up with those sweaters Vevers suggests a ratty tee emblazoned with Popeye; it was inspired by a black and white image of Debbie Harry back in the day wearing a t-shirt with the pipe smoking, spinach loving cartoon character. Popeye isn’t the only pop cultural icon in play here as the designer was also looking at images of Twin Peaks stars Madchen Amick and Lara Flynn Boyle between takes, in their homespun, 1950s-esque looks warped by David Lynch.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Ease of Today. Carven Pre-Fall 2024

July 11, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

The best indicators of whether a brand is taking shape under a new creative director are not the runway collections, but the pre-collections. Judging by the pre-fall 2024 lookbook, Louise Trotter‘s Carven certainly is on the right path to be your new favorite Parisian brand. “It is not a nostalgic or particular prism of a woman,” said the British designer, when asked how the heritage of Carven informs her approach. “It’s that sense of silhouette and sense of proportion with an ease of today.” Comparing to other designers in Paris who struggle with reviving historic Parisian maisons (think Nina Ricci and Rochas), Trotter isn’t stepping into the trap of the archives. She isn’t pulling out a mid-century dress and trying to make it look somehow relevant in 2024. But she smartly deconstructs elements of Madame Carven’s sensibility, and incorporates them into contemporary Carven. For instance, the 1950s column silhouette is revisited in a tank dress worn over a t-shirt. For pre-fall, the designer is gravitating towards a more masculine wardrobe; think sweatshirt in sheepskin or a technical Prince of Wales trouser. The softly tailored coat that comes in either double-face cashmere or chocolate wool gabardine is phenomenal. “I want to find solutions for her life, as I do for myself,” Trotter noted. “It’s instinctive for me. These are pieces that I appreciate and want to wear.” Other women will, too.

Here are some of my favorite pieces from Trotter’s debut collection for Carven. Last sizes left!

ED’s SELECTION:

CARVEN Striped Tech-shell Shirt

CARVEN Pleated Satin Midi Skirt

CARVEN Strapless Twill Maxi Dress

CARVEN Oversized Embellished Tulle Top

CARVEN Satin Shorts

CARVEN Leather Mules

CARVEN Oversized Satin-twill Jacket

CARVEN Striped Shell Tote Bag

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Joy, Period! Marc Jacobs AW24

July 2, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

This week started with a sensational Marc Jacobs fashion show in New York. The designer is in such a great creative place right now: he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, doesn’t engage in New York Fashion Week, and just creates at his own pace some of the finest work in his career. As he wrote in the latest collection’s powerful note, “we use fashion to embrace bold and courageous self-expression to articulate and showcase our inner selves, allowing us to freely explore and display our thoughts, desires, and identities in a deeper pursuit of joy, beauty and personal transformation“. This isn’t another press release talk; this absolutely and truthfully sums up not only Marc’s work and contribution to fashion, but himself.

The show lasted just six minutes. Jacobs fancies this short, sharp-shock format, starkly contrasting to his past, excessive outings that featured entire runway productions. This “less is more” approach really gives so much more – intensely more. On the runway, a mosaic of all-time American symbols, hyperbolised and exaggerated as if they were Claes Oldenburg sculptures: Marilyn Monroe in her iconic subway grate dress from “The Seven Year Itch“, Minnie Mouse in her red and white polka dots (they also felt very Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist Marc collaborated with at Louis Vuitton), and princess gowns out of a fairy tale. Hyper-pop and vivacious: a bold act of resistance towards all the socio-political disasters going on in the world – and especially, in the U.S.? Maybe. But maybe the designer wanted to rebelliously commit himself to pure joy. And then you had the yellow polka dot bikini, several sizes too big. The proportions in this collection were distorted to perfection. The miniskirts’ ultra-short lengths, and the arcing hemlines of knee-length skirts, especially when they were higher in front than in the back, made models look like giants. “The future remains unwritten,” the designer concluded in his note. And maybe that’s a good thing?

How about some of my beloved pieces from past Jacobs’ Runway collections?

ED’s SELECTION:

Marc Jacobs Bustier Linen Wool Strapless Mini Dress with Scarf

Marc Jacobs High-Neck Draped Sequin Mini Dress

Marc Jacobs Leather Engineered Draped Mini Skirt

Marc Jacobs Prince Of Wales Wool Cropped Blazer Jacket

Marc Jacobs High-Waist Lace Briefs

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Lighthearted Feeling. Rosie Assoulin Resort 2025

July 1, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

What I love about Rosie Assoulin is the fact she doesn’t follow trends and always does her own, distinct, joyful thing at her namesake brand. There’s just so much radiance and optimism in her clothes, and they also please with their day-to-night versatility. Her resort 2025 offering is “light and unserious, but with real construction, and subtle fabrics,” she said. “We are trying to still appeal to our luxury tastes, but with a more approachable, lighthearted feeling.” That ethos is encapsulated in the tangerine, floral-print column “Banana” dress affixed with two padded crescents at the neckline and hanging off the shoulder. Or in the entrance-making flamenco-inspired number with a vibrantly ruffled hem. It’s intriguing how Assoulin effortlessly matches (and clashes) gingham checks in canary-yellow and turquoise with florals in contrasting colours; not many designers would pull it off so gracefully. No wonder why: the New York-based designer is a colorist of the ranks of Dries Van Noten and Alber Elbaz. Her unique approach to garment-construction is phenomenally reflected in the beige, ruffled midi-skirt that opens the collection and in the same-colour peplum top with striped cuffs and collar; its hourglass shape resembles vintage jugs and vases that have a cameo throughout the lookbook. And this takes us to the theme of home that often inspires Rosie in her work. “The home is a very interesting place for me. Domestic life feels very rich: what are the things we’re surrounding ourselves with, wanting to surround ourselves with? It feels like a philosophy for us“, she summed up.

Garden parties and summer occasions ahead, I’ve got you covered with some amazing pieces by Rosie Assoulin you can shop now!

ED’s DISPATCH:

Rosie Assoulin Patchwork Satin Jacquard Midi Slip Dress

Rosie Assoulin Mixed Print Ruched Buttoned Vest

Rosie Assoulin Organza Quartered A-Line Midi Skirt

Rosie Assoulin In Full Bloom Colorblock Dress

Rosie Assoulin Whoopsy Daisy Two-Tone Floral Dress

Rosie Assoulin Stripe Colorblock French Cuff Button Up Blouse

Rosie Assoulin Swivel Stripe Colorblock Godet Midi Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Beach. ERL SS25

June 30, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

ERL, next to Bode and Greg Lauren, is the future American classic of fashion. What Eli Russell Linnetz so painstakingly and consistently returns to at his brand is so much more than only about clothes; it’s a feeling, crafted from 2000s nostalgia, unique male-on-male-gaze and a certain theatrical sensitivity. His clothes are Bruce Weber and Abercrombie & Fitch campaigns, blues and surf-rock, Venice Beach and John F. Kennedy Jr. (and also John Schlossberg – JFK and Jackie’s grandson, the internet’s latest obsession). And yet they feel so good – and relevant – in 2024. “I like going back to these benchmark things, even from a historical point of view,” he said, “Where did this outfit come from? I want to solidify the narrative of this look,” he continued, explaining that this season was about defining his take on his forever beloved theme, Americana. The spring-summer 2025 collection is titled “The Beach,” in a nod to the 2000 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as an all-American backpacker. Linnetz said that his narrative for the season was four boys, Tyler, Jason, Brad, and Chad, leaving water polo practice and stumbling upon a mysterious beach party. Though the looks could also be nods to the people he saw every day growing up in California. “A lot of those movies are just what people wore around me, so I never saw them as film costuming,” he said. “But this season I was reexamining all the athletes, the jocks, and what they wore.” So he made tiny swim shorts and cozy terry knits and transformed his popular swirl jacket into a loose gauge knit with a mohair insert. He made zip-off cargos and sherpa zip-ups. He also turned ’70s posters into charming ’90s airbrush tees, and produced dense and comfy striped tees with extra long-sleeves (“just like a surfer would have”). All that crafted in ERL’s studio (@whitepicketfence) and made in California, from most durable and high-end materials. This is the American dream.