Deauville. Chanel AW24

March 7, 2024March 7, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Virginie Viard presented a confident and absolutely charming collection, one that made even the biggest nay-sayers of her Chanel change their minds (even a bit). Inspired by Deauville, the town in Normandy that had a great importance for Coco Chanel’s career, the autumn-winter 2024 is a beautiful ode to its breezy, bourgeoisie ambience. In the 1920s, the brand’s founder started her business as a milliner in a shop in the seaside resort. Hence the symbolic connection Viard drew with the turned-back brims of the the sun hats. Her translations of Chanel’s earliest, revolutionary jersey signatures flowed into state-of-the-art modern knitwear in multiple versions of belted cardigan pajama-like trouser suits, and made sense of the ease of the house tweeds in long-line coats and, later, the fluttery, 1930s-via-1970s chiffon prints. All the cognac-brown shearling outerwear and suede boots are just so chic. It felt as if Viard had truly found an unforced connection with the original intention of Chanel – to make chic clothes easy for contemporary women.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Upbeat. Stella McCartney AW24

March 7, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Stella McCartney show began with a video message from Mother Earth, a manifesto read by the actor Olivia Colman. It went: “Show me you love me / It’s about fucking time“. If somebody is still skeptic about global warming, just see how early spring has sprung in Paris. McCartney, a pioneer sustainability activist in this industry, wondered this season how does a woman, especially if she’s a mother, not get depressed about it all? McCartney is preternaturally upbeat and that refusal to see the cup half empty infuses her collections. Though her tailored jackets are cut with power shoulders that could command a board meeting, she styles and sends them down the runway sans shirts or underpinnings. On the more laid-back side of things, slouchy matching knit sets are accessorized with loopy yarn boas long enough to dust the floor with. Other cases in point this season included the tailoring with cut-crystal detailing in the style of a Chloé collection McCartney designed circa spring 2000 and jeans with built-in eco-leather chaps accompanied by a tank printed with the ending refrain of the Mother Earth manifesto. That much of this had been constructed with responsibly sourced or recycled materials and vegan alternatives to animal products is another reason to feel good in McCartney’s clothes.

Here’s a couple of sustainability-conscious beauty products from Stella’s line…

ED’s SELECTION:

Restore Cream Refill

Alter-Care Supplement

Alter-Care Serum Full

Travel Essentials Set

Restore Cream Full

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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What’s Hot (7.3.24)

March 7, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Muglerettes On A Mission. mugler AW24

March 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Mugler brought some drama and bravado to Paris Fashion Week. For autumn-winter 2024, Casey Cadwallader staged a three-act revue show, full of moody curtain drops and a supermodel cast that included Precious Lee, Kristen McMenamy, Eva Herzigova and Farida Khelfa. Curve creating cuts and corsetry, ergonomic body-cons, futuristic fetish wear, that’s 100% modern-day Mugler. From this season’s novelties, the designer included fluttering asymmetric panels that trail as you stride past; in smooth leather or shiny silk they worked to enhance the models’ silhouettes in motion. Tailoring was as sharp as it can get at Mugler, and wide shouldered coats and jackets were worn with padded leather breast plates. Winged hip contours and wired necklines made the clothes look extra-dynamic, as if the Muglerettes were on a mission.