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.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Femme Vortex. Dilara Findikoglu AW24

February 20, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

“It’s about toxic masculinity – and being beyond it: I feel like tonight we are doing a mass ritual to end it. The collection is called Femme Vortex because I wanted to create a different reality, outside politics, borders, gender norms, any kind of systematic rules that have been created by hetero-patriarchal men. My previous collections were about fighting, about resistance. But I’m not fighting any more: I wanted to express divine feminine power somewhere beyond time, beyond reality, and beyond what is happening.” That’s the manifesto behind Dilara Findikoglu‘s autumn-winter 2024 show presented at a moody church in London. All 37 looks had a title, and were crafted to encapsulate the spirit of a Findikoglu-conceived character through costume. The models then inhabited them, accepting the possession of that spirit through the prism of their own individuality. Hari Nef, being “Female Territory“, wore a corporate suit, usurped and transformed. Its pinstripe wool and cotton shirting was deployed as a split skirt worn beneath corseting, latex opera gloves, and a BDSM bow headpiece. Other looks, including number three’s “Man License“, were accessorized with a tabloid newspaper whose splash headline ran: “OMG Dilara Is Doing a Satanic Orgy at a London Church.” Others, such as “Fragile Ego“, and the final two looks were made of stiffened fabric apparently mid-flutter (or wrenched) as if to appear frozen in time. We still have to see what’s cooking at Sean McGirr’s Alexander McQueen debut collection, but I feel like Dilara would do absolute wonders under Lee’s name.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Nosy Neighbors Are Watching. JW Anderson AW24

February 19, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Picture a 1970s, British suburban scene: an Marks & Spencer blouse with a delicate bow detail at the neck blows in the breeze on a washing line. Nosy neighbors living in rows of terraced houses peer at your clean laundry through picket fences. Well, that was the mood behind JW Anderson‘s autumn-winter 2024 collection. Jonathan Anderson is the absolute fashion mastermind when it comes to planting bizarre, irrational ideas and making them somehow desirable. Old-style English underwear and slippers. Grandpa coats. Even grandma’s gray hairdo became an avant-nostalgia accessory. “They’re hats!” he revealed. This collection certainly has to be read through an irony-tinged lens…

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Wake. Simone Rocha AW24

February 19, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Simone Rocha‘s guest residency at Jean Paul Gaultier’s haute couture atelier definitely stayed in the designer’s mind for her label’s autumn-winter 2024 collection. “It was an amazing experience,” she told the press. “There were probably two main things I took away from it, which was to have that focus and attention to detail, and to slow down with each look. I found it really interesting to discipline myself to do that – and I really wanted to bring that discipline back with me.” The workmanship and the attention to detail when it comes to the embellishment techniques is also something she found exciting to elaborate on, that’s why majority of this season’s embroideries is handmade. Presented at St Bartholomew’s Church in Farringdon, the collection was entitled “The Wake” and was partly inspired by Queen Victoria’s mourning dress. There was plenty of sheer dressing, touches of faux-fur detail, exquisite capes and coats, and opulent-looking, ecclesiastical-inspired accessories. Corsetry – another take-away from JPG’s couture studio – ran through the collection too. Its delicate structure embraced the abdomen within tie-detail nylon parkas and rompers. Its contours defined the darting in little sheer jackets worn north of pantaloons, some of the many womenswear looks in which Rocha worked to place the models’ breasts on twin metal-beaded podiums shaped perhaps after lips. “There’s the perversity of being adorned, and cupped, in these organza corsets: it’s really stimulating on,” said Rocha.