Stately. Burberry Resort 2025

May 30, 2024May 30, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Daniel Lee is finally getting it right at Burberry. Resort 2025 is his best collection so far, and it seems to be a moment where the designer really knows what he wants to make out of the brand. I think he’s gradually taking a smart approach of making Burberry the British Ralph Lauren. Less superfluous runway styling, more stately clothes that are interweaved with a sense of authentic Britishness. The resort lookbook nicely co-ordinates high and low, making the checkered apparel look as good as the more daring pieces – especially all the gorgeous suede leatherwork with hand-cut florals and the furry fringes of mint-green and caramel-beige bolero jackets. The collection also offers a truly charming, cross-generational appeal. “It’s giving a modern spin on British tradition,” Lee remarked about the immaculately cut yet plain-seeming brown wool men’s blazer, worn by model Will Chalker. It’s part of Burberry’s remit to serve men’s suits; Lee smartly pushes a sense of Savile Row restraint, but not in a conservative stuffed-shirt sort of way. “It’s a modern interpretation of what you think King Charles would wear,” remarked the designer. Well, I can definitely see the King fronting Burberry’s next campaign. “Trans-seasonal, with a soft tactility” is also something Lee said about the collection. “Everything has to look good on a hanger. Worth the money. Because ultimately we’re making expensive clothes we want people to want to wear for a very long time.” The realization is that each piece has to live alone and justify its usefulness and quality, but it’s the way you put them together that creates character. You can see that when Lee styles a cargo pant with a pointy mule, and tops the look with a polished chestnut leather belted moto-jacket. Very 1990s Spice Girl. But also pieces will age well.

Here are some very good Burberry by Daniel Lee pieces you can update your trans-seasonal wardrobe with…

ED’s DISPATCH:

Burberry Calf Hair Point-toe Pumps

Burberry Strapless Leather-trimmed Checked Wool Mini Dress

Burberry Embroidered Quilted Leather Ballet Flats

Burberry Belted Cotton-gabardine Trench Coat

Burberry Wool-jacquard Throw

Burberry Calf Hair And Leather Shoulder Bag

Burberry Printed Satin-jersey T-shirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Is Gucci Really A Feeling? Gucci Resort 2025

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s really interesting to observe how badly Sabato De Sarno‘s Gucci tries to force everyone into thinking the brand – in its current situationship – is a “feeling“. You rather catch feelings, especially the good ones, instinctively and spontaneously. Genuinely. Not when somebody signals it in such a straightforward manner. De Sarno’s first resort collection traveled from Milan to London, and it aimed to somehow tell a story that connects the city and the Italian brand. I didn’t grasp that press release blah-blah at all. Just like I didn’t entirely get the point of the location – Tate Modern – and the plant-filled runway setting. If you want to position a brand as an art-loving platform, instead of stripping a London museum to bare walls and place tons of greenery inside, why not focus around some actual artworks that are contextually or emotionally close to the designer?

And now the clothes. Yes, resort 2025 is in some way better than De Sarno’s previous attempts, because at least it’s not repeating three styles throughout 50 looks. And there’s finally some range in terms of style. But here’s where the real problem starts. If not for the eventual Gucci logos and appearance of Jackie and Blondie bags, it’s really difficult to catch where the actual Gucciness is hiding in this collection. Not to mention De Sarno’s footprint which still feels blurry and indistinct. Some of these 1970s-inspired looks gave hints of Miu Miu and Coach. The pleated finale dresses could easily be Victoria Beckham (ironically a designer who often has trouble with finding her own voice – at least the eveningwear is emblematic!). The denim part of the line-up felt like the many iterations Pierpaolo Piccioli used to deliver at Valentino (where Sabato worked at before Gucci). Some of the outerwear and pieces covered with sequin-embellished checks could equally have a Burberry tag on and no one would question that. What was most confusing however were the vintage-y pussy-bows that instantly made you think of Alessandro Michele’s highly-memorable debut for Gucci, an instant breakthrough for not only the stagnating brand at the time, but 2010s fashion in general. Their presence seemed to say that there’s a large Gucci client base that wants that kind of style back as they don’t identify themselves with De Sarno’s reductive minimalism. So… I think Gucci fails to be a (good) feeling. Especially in times when the demand for luxury is decreasing and people investing in fashion want ingenuity and authenticity.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The More You Mess Around, The More You Know. Phoebe Philo Edit 2, Delivery 2!

March 26, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Phoebe Philo fans, rejoice! The second delivery of the second edit is here. The idea of “continuity” is key in the designer’s eponymous venture: Philo keeps on building THE wardrobe, making her primary ideas as valid as the new ones. The fresh set of pictures – by Talia Chetrit – stun with their simplicity yet commanding allure. Looking at them, you just really desire all these dropped-waist leathers and outerwear pieces, no matter what the price for them is (disclaimer: h i g h, but after reading Philo’s silence-breaker piece by Vanessa Friedman for The New York Times, I really get it, and if I had a money tree, I would indulge and indulge in the brand’s offering without any doubt in the quality and uniqueness of these pieces). There are gorgeous trench coat iterations with attachable scarves; wrap-skirts in butter-smooth leather; very, very handsome cargo coats with huge pockets; a leg -wrapping ribbed skirt. Basically speaking, garments you buy once and wear forever. The latest delivery also offers basket cabas bags à la Old Céline and the brand’s going-gently-viral “Bean” bag covered in rough-cut, XL leather fringes; hot, retro-tinged sunglasses in cool narrow shape; and lethally chic open-toed pumps in oxblood. According to the aforementioned piece, Phoebe likes to tell her kids: “the more you mess around, the more you find out“. She actually uses the more colloquial, raw version of this saying. It seems to perfectly captures the spirit of her quite revolutionary, assertive endeavor.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Anti-Fashion. Phoebe Philo Edit 2

March 8, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Phoebe Philo‘s feverishly anticipated Edit 2 – second collection under her namesake, London-based label – is the perfect detox moment after the long, long, looooong fashion month. No gimmicks, no overstyling, no oversaturation of product, no… fashion. This is an anti-fashion line-up, one that absolutely focuses on style and gives real tools for building an intelligent wardrobe. That’s the real power of Philo’s venture, visually narrated by Talia Chetrit in a low-key, yet commanding way. Anatomy of a Fall and Zone of Interest‘s actress Sandra Hüller stars in the latest campaign, sporting the line’s turtlenecks, tailored trousers and sharp eyewear. In her notes, Philo called the actress “one of the most accomplished talents of her generation, renowned for her intimate, intelligent and fearless performances on stage and screen.” This is a collaboration that only the stars could align.

The designer characterized her brand’s latest offering – available now in her on-line shop – “from the get-go as a continuous body of work”. If you look at the store, you will notice that images from Edit 1 are still up there, mixed with the new ones. This is revolutionary: we’ve got used to the fact that brands usually wipe out their entire websites every three months for new deliveries. The latest “edit” (the brand avoids the word “collection” in its elusive communication) experiments with proportions, setting a dropped-waist leather jacket in a dark berry tone against an ultra-cropped bomber in a mastic hue. We’ve got oversized trousers, doused in “salt and pepper” colors, and upright collared shirts button tight at the neck with raised collars. Double-breasted Milanese jackets flaunt the designer’s crisp tailoring expertise. As for accessories, the popular “MUM” necklace is back. Scarves are constructed as pillows, wrapping around their wearers’ heads with an avant-garde facade; and sunglasses, including the “Peak” and “Bombé” frames, make statements with face-shielding builds. Bags are Philo’s speciality, with the Cabas, Bean Bag and Drive Bag arriving in all sorts of finishes, spanning cheetah print and plushy purple to lipstick red and strong neutrals.

Honestly, you can’t imagine a better collection to review on International Women’s Day. Women rule!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Finding Ground. Burberry AW24

February 20, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Daniel Lee is finding his ground at Burberry. Well, it’s high-time: the sales don’t look good at the British brand, and the plans of making Burberry a high-class-luxury player seem to be too ambitious. But what Lee presented under the tent in Victoria Park yesterday was quite convincing. To the tune of Amy Winehouse’s biggest hits, London’s O.G. models – Agyness Deyn, Lily Donaldson, Karen Elson, Lily Cole, Nomi Campbell – marched in desirably-looking outerwear, no-nonsense knitwear and plaid flannels. Maya Wigram – Phoebe Philo’s daughter! – closed the show. This gesture felt like a blessing from the fellow London-based designer who schooled Lee at her Céline studio. The styling of the show was persuasive as well: maxi-skirts styled with short varsity jackets, slouchy shearling coats mixed with super-oversized pants, and of course, a range of revisited moleskin trenches in shades of earthy greens and browns. Echoes of Christopher Bailey-era Burberry were heard and seen all around. All this certainly felt good to watch, but will it actually lure the clients to invest in Burberry just as they did in the early 2010s? Time will tell.