Heavy Cross

August 24, 2016August 24, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

I’m in love with Frank Ocean’s latest drop, ‘Blond‘, and anything else that has something to do with his newest album. From Tyrone Lebon’s video for ‘Nikes‘ to Wolfgang Tillmans’ über-cool visuals, Ocean is on everyone’s lips this month. Also, is he just about to relaunch the trend for motocross gear? Posing in a pink hoodie and a matching racing helmet, he makes me want to wear a motocross t-shirt so badly. But Frank isn’t the only person who revives racing style. Fashion has always been in love with the biker jacket – Vetements‘ over-sized version, and its success is a proof. Also, take under consideration Louis Vuitton‘s biker-girl dresses and Alexander Wang‘s customised helmet from 2012.

Louis Vuitton Resort’17

Vetements SS16

Alexander Wang SS12

AND, have you heard of Anne-France Dautheville? She’s Chloé‘s autumn-winter 2016 muse, who back in the 70s travelled the world on her motorcycle. Her on-the-go wardrobe, so a maxi floral dress and a leather total-look, was reintepreted in a chic, girlie way by Clare Waight Keller, who is Anne-France’s biggest fan. Although Dautheville doesn’t like to be called a fashion person or anything alike, she’s a true style inspiration. Above all, her look was quite shocking in the past. On the way to Tehran, Anne-France was travelling cross-continent, and a group of men started to drive faster than her. “Ten kilometers later, they stop on the side of the road, and they stop me again. I ask, ‘Is there something you forgot?’ And they say, ‘Well, we were wondering, are you a girl or are you a boy?’” Dautheville tells T Magazine.

In other words – full throttle!

Rio. Louis Vuitton Resort’17

May 29, 2016June 2, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

All eyes are on Southern America in fashion industry, lately. A few weeks ago we had Chanel nailing frivolous dresses in Cuba; yesterday, Nicolas Ghesquiere presented one of his best collection to date for Louis Vuitton, in Rio De Janeiro. For resort 2017, the house chose another vacay-fit destination with an arty edge – after Monaco and Palm Springs, Brazil was the next stop for Nicolas during his Vuitton journey. Staged in futuristic Niterói Museum of Contemporary Arts, the utopian construction was designed by Oscar Niemeyer in the 90s. The erratic structure of the museum perfectly matched the modern attitude of Ghesquiere’s newest creation.

The concrete runway, surrounded by water, was as spiral as the high-tech cuts on the dresses; sporty windcheater coats and studded, “deconstructed” dresses oozed with athletic vigour and breezy softness. But even during his far-fetched travels, Ghesquiere always stays the same guy from Paris. The collection was filled with colour and flesh-exposing details, yes, but Parisian elegance was present in these cool, black pants, corset-tops and ecru blazers. Unconsciously (or not), the designer brough some old, good ideas back from his cult Balenciaga-era. If you look through Ghesquiere’s Balenciaga time-line, and then see his latest Vuitton outing, the defiant, yet very feminine aura is alive. I missed it for the last few seasons, and now I’m very happy it’s back in form of unconventional flats and layered looks.

Moreover, resort 2017 at Louis Vuitton is an important beauty statement. Forget the rule of “same hair for every model”. It’s all about the personality – from Tamy Glauser’s boyish cut to Natalie Westling’s untamed, ginger curls, Nicolas and Ashley Brokaw (model casting director) prove that Louis Vuitton girl is all about beautiful diversity. I respect them for that every season, honestly.

Collage by me

System Hang. Louis Vuitton AW16

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Even Nicolas Ghesquiere needs a break. Although Louis Vuitton‘s creative director look always into the future, and wants to be as fast as his muse, Lightning, the hero of Final Fantasy XIII and face of the house’s most recent campaign, this season it’s distinctly visible that Ghesquiere is having a throwback to his best Balenciaga and Vuitton moments. Not that the collection is bad – quite the opposite, this chic, luxe Tomb Raider girl is Nicolas’ long-term concept, which both excites and sells. But it just feels like the autumn-winter collection doesn’t have this sense of new, which is always conveyed in his collections. How many sweatshirts will we see, or those satin, sporty dresses? And why are the last-season’s patent-leather boots again in the show (well, because they were best-sellers – but I doubt whether Ghesquiere’s aim is to go Valentino’s path and become an accessory-loving, commerce-wise designer)? Believe it or not, but this collection looks usual and quite easy to pull off, and even more banal, when you are Nicolas Ghesquiere. Phoebe Philo can confess she is having a chill – but I doubt Vuitton’s designer, noting the capacity of the brand, can let himself for a system hang.

#2015 – Nicolas Ghesquiere

December 22, 2015December 22, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Nicolas Ghesquiere is praised by many as the designer, who perfectly highlights the quintessence of a 21st century wardrobe of a woman – his absolutely wearable and hi-techn clothes are all about comfort and a kind of refreshing, neo-eclecticism. His year at Louis Vuitton is also a year full of diversity – definitely, Nicolas and his team represent the French maison as a multi-cultural and stereotype-breaking brand through beautiful pink and afro haired models walking their world-wide runways (we have even came across Palm Springs this year for the Resort 2016 collection)! Thanks to Nicolas Ghesquiere, Louis Vuitton has become a label that is more than clothes and a vast range of accessories – now, Louis Vuitton is an open-minded, lifestyle project.

AW15 – Autumn-winter 2014 was about 70’s. Spring-summer 2015 was looking forward to vintage florals and denim. The autumn-winter 2015 collection was “looking into the future”, as Nicolas Ghesquiere stated backstage. And, it really did. Presented at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, the designer’s muse, Freja Beha, walked down the boldly coloured runway in a fluffy, white shearling coat. Then, the model favourites like Lineisy Montero and Fernanda Ly wore abstract peplum tops, satin suites with logo appliqued t-shirts and lace dresses. Kept in a rich colour palette, Ghesquiere’s conceptual take on the winter wardrobe is both über-feminine and simultaneously casual, noting the luxe sweat-pants and lovely tank-tops.

Resort’16 – Nicolas Ghesquiere amazed me during his recent Resort collection. Louis Vuitton‘s is the first collection, in which he shows he is really the boss of the brand. The collection, presented in Palm Springs, California, was a sunny blast of fresh, slightly eccentric fashion. Nicolas showcased the silhouettes, that have never been present in his previous shows for the house and Balenciaga. Long, woman-warrior dresses with embellished gems; high-waisted trousers with harness belts; beautifully laser-cut leather jackets, which reminded me of the Victoriana era, brought the mood of Nicolas’ favourite musician, Grimes. But also, some sexy shorts and crop-tops appeared, giving us the vibe of the real all-American summer. What should I say more? California suits Nicolas Ghesquiere as much as Paris.

SS16 – This season, Nicolas Ghesquiere really did show his refreshing stance at Vuitton – cyber luxury is the best term that reflects the mix of exclusive logo prints and pink-haired model wearing highly hype (whatever this means nowadays) clothes. Nicolas definitely had Japan on his mind this time – the Harajuku girls with manga-inpired robot tiaras and platform sandals make this collection sharp, but with a slight bit of kawaii flavour coming straightly from Tokyo. However, the collection had something more ethnical, too – note the lovely hand-stitched embroideries on suede biker jackets below. Or the feather details on mesh tank-tops and badass gloves. This how you do ethno, Valentino – keep it discreet, but appropriate. But what really hit me this time, is the amazing talent of fusing fashion history that the designer is known for – the Victorian blouses with leather vests and medieval inspired gowns (Resort 2016 continuation) have never, ever looked so modern as in Nicolas’ vision. These shirts, dresses, motorcycle leggings and, yes, jumpsuits (!) are highly in need. Also, I am drooling over these leather, pleated totes – the beauty of these accessories makes them conceptual objects, rather than just “bags”.

Unexpected Muses

November 13, 2015November 15, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s clear that fashion has always had its muses. This season, the designers looked forward to all decades – and all of them had their unexpected muse that influenced the whole collection, even though she wasn’t pinned to the moodboard… here is a break-down of spring-summer 2016’s eight unconventional women who left their style DNA forever in fashion!

Kim Gordon x Marc Jacobs

Kim Gordon, the vocalist and guitarist of 80’s/90’s top grunge band, Sonic Youth, seemed to be present with her spirit in Marc Jacobs’ spring collection. Kim is in Marc’s fashion story from the very beginning – when he was at Perry Ellis, she performed at his debut show. Then, Gordon appeared to be in Jacobs’ first ever advertising campaign in 1998, photographed by Juergen Teller. The recent collection of the American designer focused on the Old Hollywood glamour, however the off-duty, grungy twist was visible in the way the models wore their dresses. They really didn’t care about them, and this was very her.

Doona Bae x Louis Vuitton by Nicolas Ghesquiere

Doona Bae, the actress of the iconic science-fiction film, Cloud Atlas, became an instant, yet very unexpected muse of Nicolas Ghesquiere. Her home-cut bob and manga inspired way of dressing reflects one of the top looks from Louis Vuitton’s collection. The cyberpunk, sci-fi aesthetic is Nicolas’ current obsession – so no wonder why Doona’s film character excites him so much. Just check out his Instagram account.

Madonna x Miu Miu

Miuccia Prada conveys, as she likes to describe, something “perverse and girlie” to Miu Miu. The recent collection, filled with sheer apron dresses, felt seductive and elusive at the same time. Just like Madonna’s style from Erotica and Human Nature period – a lot of flesh exposure, satin underwear and transparent mini dresses, as everyone can distinctly remember. Erotica, romance. I’d like to put you in a trance.

Courtney Love x Chloe

Chloe is all about freedom and care-free attitude this season. And this attitude is something you can consider as Courtney Love’s way of being – concerts, parties and fun. Take a note at the photograph above.

Meryl Streep x Celine

Lately, I have watched Woody Allen’s Manhattan film, and I am surprised to admit that whole New York used to wear Celine dresses! Just look at Meryl Streep, who played Jill – the minimal, light dresses she wore made me think of Phoebe Philo and her feminine, creative direction at the coveted Parisian brand. And, I must say – Meryl looks flawless in this film.

Sade x Anthony Vaccarello

Sade’s Soldier of Love is as timeless, as denim, which was seen in Anthony Vaccarello spring show. A simple, well-fit pair of jeans can make every outfit look effortless, and Sade has proved that throughout her career.

Diana Ross x Vetements

Demna Gvasalia would have never considered Diana Ross as his SS16 muse publicly. But the sparkling, sequin dress from the most anti-fashion and anti-corporate brand, Vetements, just screams Chain Reaction. Disco vibes alert is turnt on!

Frida Kahlo x Gucci

When I saw this dress designed by Alessandro Michele, my first thought was “Frida Kahlo would nail this one”. The meticulously embroidered tehuana dress is such a bold nod to this eccentric, Mexican artist, who totally changed the female art scene. I am in awe – if you ask me, this is the most beautiful dress of the season.