Women Empowerment. Gareth Pugh AW16

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

The theme behind Gareth Pugh‘s autumn-winter 2016 collection is women empowerment – which dangerously blurs between a strong political statement and S&M nods. The models, wearing exaggerated, yet appealing Mugler-ish silhouettes and leather skirts looked fierce and powerful – while the sleek blazers, sheer turtlenecks and gorgeous, leg-flattering flares in camel beige made these women feel as the ones you don’t want to mess up with – and surely not if you are man. What caught the eye of the observant ones were the details. Suitcases were handcuffed to models’ wrists; the aggressive “man-eater” masks were made of leather, and had this “danger zone” aura all aorund the place; painfully tied strings around the faces were surely trouble-some for most of the cast, but looked sharp with the plum-red lips. And this Tom-Ford-at-Gucci era vibe, which is a contrast towards Pugh’s previous, much more arty collections. Although I’m not ultimately certain whether I like or dislike this collection – it was one of the most confident and self-assured outings of the season.

Tulle as Women’s Best – Friend. Molly Goddard AW16

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Molly Goddard‘s girlie, pastel-pink tulle frocks are not only the street-style phenomena, but also a new, essential addition to women’s wardrobe. You might think that a tulle dress might be only destined for an eternal-ballerina soul – but the London-based brand, which produces each of their pieces by hand, proves that this sweet and light textile is also for the everyday princesses. Molly doesn’t rest on laurels, though – for the autumn-winter 2016 presentation, which featured her diverse model casting, she looked forward towards new, risky fields of her feminine fashion – together with her dreamy fairy dresses, we had an orange taffeta skirt, floral corduroy mini-dress and even those lovely, transparent lilac tunics which obscured the soft, satin pants. But what really left everybody in awestruck was the elegant black gown with shoulder exposing sleeves (below) and the impressive, pink ball-dress which was sewn from approximately 40 metres of tulle (above). I must admit that I have never liked or appreciated tulle – but the stuff Molly does is stunning.

Baby Boom. Simone Rocha AW16

February 21, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

I am always praising Simone Rocha for being a young and independent designer, who doesn’t fall into the trend of having pre-collections. And that’s truly rare in today’s fashion industry – even though there are a few exceptions in this case, like Gareth Pugh or Vetements collective. Two collections a year give Rocha the time for the creative process, which is so in need at the moment, and lets the designer convey her vision to the fullest. And, as her gift keeps on giving, it’s a good occasion to congratulate the designer – she has just given birth to her baby, Valentine! And, to a surprise, this event gave Simone a creativity boost this season, looking deeper into the meaning of “baby-boom”. “I started to do this wrapping and swaddling with stoles. There’s something a bit surgical and matronly going on—sick-y nudes, the lilac of the uniforms that nurses used to wear. Medical aprons; knitting as women do when there’s a baby coming; schlumpy, relaxed shapes—and a little bit of trauma!” Yep, this doesn’t sound like your average post-pregnancy reflection.

Indeed, the autumn-winter 2016 collection had a lot to do with nurse uniforms, being psychedelically revamped with a various shades of pink. The fur stoles and fluffy Mary-Jane flats gave the feeling of babyish innocence, but that can’t be said of the darker dresses and coats – Rocha’s “matrons” with strict black bows lurk from the Victorian history of hospitals that up to now haunt Irish tales and stories. The woman behind AW16’s plot is both, sweet and sour – she might be Lolita, Mary Poppins or Jane Eyre one day – and she is blooming just as the designer herself.

I Love Fashion. JW Anderson AW16

February 21, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

The autumn-winter 2016 collection delivered by J.W. Anderson is a playful continuation of the designer’s spring collection and pre-fall look-book – and it proves that Jonathan Anderson wants to have fun with fashion, too. “I love fashion! It should be fashion” is what he declared backstage of his London fashion show, perfectly stating the nature of the new season – there was something about the 60’s, looking at the mini-skirts with curvy, leather cut-outs and multi-colour ruffles. There was a sense of softness in these fluffy “clouds”, while the fur hoodies were like a Anderson-revisited nod to hip-hop music. Yet, the chain mail-like studs had you wondering about the much more harsh, punk side of the designer, which we’ve experienced in his last menswear outing. The collection didn’t have a one, straight line of references or inspirations, however it had a humorous, Pierre Cardin-ish outer space character. To conclude, these voluminous, edgy clothes made it clear – Jonathan is taking us to his playground.

New Girl in The Hood. AV Robertson AW16

February 20, 2016September 19, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Do you remember those exquisite, playful embroideries from Marc Jacobs’ spring summer 2016 collection? They were designed by his design assistant, Amie Robertson, whose speciality is embroidery. The blond designer from the Northern part of England has stormed the first day of London Fashion week, supported by the New York-based designer and Katie Grand, the editor-in-chief of Love Magazine. Although she’s a pretty new girl in London’s fashion week schedule, her debutant fashion show was walked by such supers as Edie Campbell, Molly Bair and Anna Cleveland – moreover, seeing her rare talent in a full line-up showed how skillful she is in sequins and artisanal craft. The autumn-winter 2016 collection is based on multi-coloured, pin-stripe pencil skirts, tops and leg-exposing dresses. Noting, that all of that is ornamented with delicate embellishments, which resemble flowers. Hand-made, sequin flowers, which are time-consuming in their process, but look so modern on these wearable silhouettes. Surely, the A.V. Robertson girl will make an entrance in one of these masterpieces.