Steamy Night. LaQuan Smith AW23

February 14, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

New York loves sexy fashion, and since Tom Ford is on and off the NYFW schedule, there’s a great need for sensual, stinking hot, evening glamour. LaQuan Smith does that so, so well. “This collection has a little bit more of an elevated sophistication,” the designer said. “The LaQuan Smith woman is growing, and she’s incorporating these sexy elements she finds here in all aspects of her life,” he added. Smith is growing, too. His cut has become more precise and intentional, as has his choice of materials. The star of the show was the tailoring. Smith said he didn’t want to take the suiting so seriously, “as we’ve seen classics from all the greats.” This was evidenced by the cleverness of the tuxedo-meets-little black dress of the first exit and the playful sharpness of the cropped jackets. Smith is known for dresses, but here he cut a solid range of trousers: some low-rise, others with hand-folded silk waistbands, but all razor-sharp and with the right fit – not too wide, not too slim, and just long enough to wear with a good pair of stilettos. As expected here, there were moments of sheerness, including mesh tops with scooped satin necklines and another with applied strips. Rounding out the lineup were bodysuits, evening dresses, and separates in stretch suede (the vertiginously low slung skirts include built-in panties, a considerate detail), a skirt and bra set in a crinkled metallic leather, and two LBDs in a patent black material. Smith also included menswear in this lineup, inspired by his recent creation of a custom ensemble for Lenny Kravitz’s CFDA Awards appearance. The looks were worthy companions to his womenswear, and the Kravitz influence was evident, particularly in the coat and monogrammed leather trousers worn by Alton Mason.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

It’s My Party And I’ll Cry If I Want To. Christopher John Rogers Pre-Fall 2023

January 7, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Christopher John Rogers, a designer for whom rainbow stripes are a defining signature, put together half a dozen looks for pre-fall 2023 devoid of color. The title he gave the collection, “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry if I Want to,” offers a hint about his new direction. Having captured the fashion world’s attention, Rogers seems to have set out to upend expectations. “What I’m after is autonomy, the ability to do what I want,” he said. “The idea of play is paramount.” Cue the plastic clown noses and the towering silk clown hats created in collaboration with the milliner Piers Atkinson. There’s even a Pierrot jumpsuit in the first grouping, with silk flowers in place of the characteristic pompons, though this isn’t so much a novelty as it is a callback. A pre-pandemic runway show closed with a different take on the look. In the end, this wasn’t the volta face that those first looks augured. It’s just as colorful as any other CJR lineup, just as extroverted, but there is a commitment to pushing at the limits of his well-known signatures. In the studio, Rogers pointed out the porthole cutout in a boxy knit top bordered with the rainbow stripes – “it takes a lot of work to get it to lay flat,” he explained. Also complex: the sweaters that hybridized two crewnecks into one, and a sweater dress with both long sleeves and arm slits. The playfulness has a purpose; those knits can be worn in multiple ways. And the experimentation is balanced by an easy-wearing sensibility. Rogers’s new suits are oversized and unstructured; cut from recycled polyester in zesty shades of grape and crawfish, they’re the fresh, modern flipside of the more formal tailoring on his June runway. Rogers doesn’t want to get boxed into any one category, but evening wear, inevitably, is his calling card. With award season ramping up, there’s bound to be some incoming calls for the tulip gown in floral printed faille and a harlequin embroidered black column with pouf sleeves, both of which nod with flair back to mid-century couture shapes.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

The Hollywood Glow. Rodarte SS23

November 3, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

For Rodarte‘s spring-summer 2023 collection, Kate and Laura Mulleavy harnessed the theatricality and glow of live performances into a lineup of dresses and sets that balance fluid shapes with busy prints and intricate, rich textures. Alongside rainbows of psychedelic swirls – which take shape across bias-cut chiffon slips – and velvet burnout silhouettes, you will find a range of high-shine threads and embellishments with a light-refracting quality that adds striking dimension. “We were really wanting to feel something that was really vibrant and alive and about lighting and connectivity,” said Laura. A sense of ease and lightness was achieved on an entirely hand knit purple gown with long sleeves and a contrasting orange trim on the hem and cuffs. The yarn was made from a material “that almost looks like saran wrap,” Kate concluded. “No one believes it will be, and that’s what’s so cool about it. It’s very shiny.” They used the same fabric to create little skirt suits worn with matching cropped tops; one in shades of green, and another in orange and pink. The concept of light – both in terms of weight and illumination – played an important role in the collection. Metallic details abounded in fabric construction and embellishments, bringing into play the light that surrounds the garment as an added accessory. “All of the materials are in some way reflective of light. Even the lace has a sheen on it,” one of the Mulleavy sisters said. “So what’s interesting is that you see them differently depending on the angle at which you are looking at them.” This were manifested in straightforward ways, as in some of the looks in the second half of the collection: holographic sequins on an architecturally draped asymmetric gown; silver sequins on a spaghetti strap tunic and flared trousers; silver fringe on a Nick Cave-esque (the fine artist, not the musician) long sleeve cropped top and matching trousers; and gowns with mosaics made from small mirror shards. “We’re starting to see the red carpets open back up again,” said Laura. “I feel like there’s no version of us as designers at Rodarte if there never was a red carpet. We’re in Los Angeles, and it’s one of the thrilling aspects of designing eveningwear. If you design a gown, you want to see it out there, that’s the beauty of it.” But the Mulleavys know that the magic of their clothes is that they can impart that same feeling to anyone that wears them, no matter the place.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hotness. Magda Butrym Resort 2023

July 20, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Unabashedly feminine and sexy, Magda Butrym‘s resort 2023 party-ready pieces sit in a league of their own – and continue to evolve in her new collection. The Polish designer delivers new off-shoulder necklines and the return of her signature, hot-red rose appliqués, now on separates, rendered in crochet and denim, and adorning an elongating pink number that exudes high statuesque glamour. She also introduces more coverage – most notably on a crystal-flecked long-sleeve gown in scintillating pale beige. The tailoring is sharp as usual, this time in an array of colours, from bold magenta to deep black. The pink long-sleeve floor sweeper with a dramatic side slit and floral-detailed high neck is the Aphrodite of Butrym’s latest eveningwear. These are clothes to dance in, all night, in the moonlight. No wonder why the collection is titled “Super Moon”.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Re-Emergence. Christopher John Rogers Resort 2022

May 22, 2021 | Design & Culture by Ed

Christopher John Rogers‘ ecstatically bold clothes make you smile. They are also perfect for all sorts of celebratory moments. So no wonder why the New York-based designer’s resort 2022 collection is the ultimate re-emergence wardrobe. “I wanted it to be visceral and come from my heart. I felt like we’ve developed so many house signatures we didn’t need to reference a specific era or themes. This was more about cutting clothes and providing people with opportunities to enjoy dressing up,” Rogers told Vogue. “Last year, as I was designing it, I thought if I’m only going to make one more collection, what would it look like? And the answer wasn’t informed by the past or what I thought buyers might want. I love fashion, and I’m a fan of fashion, so that came through in the clothes.” By focusing on enjoyment and reinventing customer favorites, Rogers was able to deep dive into several motifs. Sections of the collection were devoted to variations of punchy colors like slime green and tangerine orange, while rainbow prints with an optical illusion vibe made their way onto various separates. This gradual exploration of specific colors and patterns kept things playful. When you have multiple looks in similar shades, the little things become paramount, and Rogers went out of his way to make each piece feel special. He doesn’t just give you a sequined slip dress or puffer coat; he’ll throw geometric diamonds on the dress’s bustline line and make the outerwear a reversible cocoon with one side covered in a Dippin’ Dots-worthy circle print. Rogers wants his pieces to trigger an emotional response in those who wear them, one that challenges the ephemerality of fashion’s seasonal cycle. “We want these to be things our customers cherish, that they can wear and live in,” he says. “These aren’t pieces you wear once and forget; they’re meant to be treasured, clothes that can grow and evolve with you over time.” The focus on wearability and construction meant that some of the proportions here were subdued compared to what we’ve come to expect from the label. No one does extreme volume and color the way Rogers does, and it’s made him an eveningwear fixture for forward-thinking women (big hopes the Sex & The City reboot will feauture Rogers’ pieces along other New York-based designers!). While there were several red carpet-worthy looks – a technicolor paillette-covered dress with flapper flair and a ballgown with an artsy barbecue theme print were two standouts – this season daywear almost eclipsed the after-hours fare. Casual suits that mixed pinstripes and plaid, LBDs with hints of rainbow knit worked into their pleats, and sweater dresses with candy-hued stripes were lighthearted fun that managed to feel polished and grown-up. After a year in confinement that played out in shades of gray, reemergence demands office wear with oomph, and Rogers offered an example of how that might look.