london

Cryptic. JW Anderson SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

In his spring-summer 2025 collection, Jonathan Anderson dissects the meaning – and substance – of clothes. The cuts are in-your-face, the textures are exaggerated in their tactility, the shapes go from super-slim to super-big. “I think where we are today is that there needs to be a kind of narrowing of things while the world is transitioning. I think fashion needs to kind of refocus somehow, because we’re in a moment where we, the industry, have to look at ourselves.” JW Anderson takes cues from surrealism, but with a realistic grit. Yet there’s a feeling of deliberate palette cleanse, a sense of reduction. “It’s more like this idea of starting from a blank page,” he said. “Where is the next decade going, and how do we work with it?” Cryptic.

ED’s SELECTION:

JW Anderson Layered Cotton Trench Coat


JW Anderson Embellished Suede Loafers


JW Anderson Pintucked Brushed-jersey Mini Dress


JW Anderson Hedgehog Resin Clutch


JW Anderson Embroidered Denim Mini Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Styled Show. Puppets & Puppets SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Puppets & Puppets‘ Carly Mark left New York – a rather hostile city for emerging brands – for London, a place that’s resilient and way more supporting for creatives that think outside the box. There’s also an element of strangeness about Mark’s fashion (and accessories). The feeling of unexpectedness was delivered by the deliberately blunt clothes that were just… clothes. Boxy t-shirts, navy crewneck sweaters, skinny black jeans, plain lingerie sets and faux-fur trimmed hoodies. All that was styled with indie-sleazy fedoras (very girlfriend of an Arctic Monkeys member in the late 2000s), big sunglasses and gloves. Was Mark’s intention here an elaborate trolling exercise? Not quite.

Rather than think of a fashion presentation solely as a forum for presenting new designs, she sought to evaluate its merit as a conceptual and artistic medium. Her decision to present what she called “a styled show rather than a fashion show” was an exercise in distancing herself from a sense of obligation to create producible garments. Working alongside stylist Taylor Thoroski, looks leaned into Mark’s familiar style vernacular, drawing upon her own dress habits. “Something I’ve learned over the years is that the things that I put down the runway are stronger, in my opinion, when they’re in line with me,” she said. “I’ve been very into not having pants on in the past. So we were like, ‘OK, let’s keep going there.’ And I’ve been wearing really simple jeans,” she says, pointing down to a slim-fit H&M pair she was wearing. And that’s so refreshing to hear in 2024.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Dance It Out. Simone Rocha SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

“When people see the collection I want them to have license to interpret it themselves” said Simone Rocha said of her spring-summer 2025 collection, adding: “I’d never be interested in fashion that’s defining a look or defining how someone should feel.” Her latest offering – striking a balance between experimental and wearable – did spark a spectrum of emotions. Just like dance. Michael Clark and Pina Bausch were cited as influences. Bausch’s Nelken (her carnation-strewn piece exploring extreme and traumatic love) had a significant cameo, lending its floral motif to this Rocha collection. Some of the models wore tutus topped by over-sized, languid jackets, with their hands crossed as if they were leaving a ballet rehearsal – or a bad relationship. The collection was also about transparency: sheer organza shirts for boys, barely-there, translucent dresses and coats for the Rocha ballerinas. Performative, but, intimate, multidimensional, yet light: Simone Rocha is finding great pleasure in playing with contrasts.

Need a Simone Rocha wardrobe update?

ED’s SELECTION:

Simone Rocha Cotton-jersey And Ruffled Tulle Mini Dress


Simone Rocha Embellished Merino Wool And Silk-blend Polo Sweater


Simone Rocha Lace-up Crystal-embellished Tulle Bustier Top


Simone Rocha Bow-embellished Faux-fur Pumps


Simone Rocha Crystal-embellished Tulle Midi Dress


Simone Rocha Webbing-trimmed Faux Pearl-embellished Shell Shoulder Bag

 

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Technique. Standing Ground SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Standing Ground‘s Michael Stewart was named the inaugural winner in a savoir faire category of the LVMH Prize. His label’s first solo runway outing during London Fashion Week proved how much he deserves that award. The way Stewart approaches dress-making is truly one-of-a-kind. It’s so powerful and haute in craftsmanship that you can easily imagine the designer taking helm of a brand like Alaïa. Spring-summer 2025’s closing khaki dress was the supreme example of Stewart’s celebrated technique (a term so rare used – and practiced – by emerging designers). Two layers of jersey had been draped and cut over the wearer’s body, before Stewart drew the contours his instinct told him to apply. These drawings were then digitized to make the design symmetrical and applied as stitching to the layers of jersey, before hundreds of micro-beads were inserted in the pockets of space that remained. Yes, that’s magic, and it echoed down to every single detail of the line-up, from the sublime, sculpted leather jacket to a hooded, velvet maxi-number.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Flamboyance Revived. S.S. Daley SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

S.S. Daley kicked off the unexpectedly good and brisky London Fashion Week (pardon my review delay – been busy for a couple of days!). This is Steven Stokey-Daley‘s first full womenswear collection, and it’s clear from the very first look that the designer knows what he wants to bring to this very overfilled table with his offering. The collection was inspired with the life of the British painter Gluck, who presented as a man in the 1920s and ’30s, and Constance Spry, the hugely fashionable high society florist, who was one of her many lovers. What makes this collection standout is that it didn’t read historically labored or archaic, but gracefully conveyed the idea of dandy-ish flamboyance, a very British thing, and quite rare to see in women’s collections. Spring-summer 2025 was a contemporary combination of Stokey-Daley’s English handcrafty talent, his spirited tailoring, and quirk for off-kilter details (think the silk floral side-ripple to his signature Oxford bags). “People are asking me, ‘why are you doing womenswear right now?’” the designer stated. “It’s like, the economy’s crashed, everyone’s struggling. But I think there’s one simple answer. I began this brand in a pandemic, and it does feel like quite a bleak time in the universe right now. But I’ve had an idea simmering for a while. And London’s a resilient place.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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