The Greatest. Dries Van Noten SS25

June 23, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who would have known a fashion heartbreak could hurt so badly? Yesterday, in anticipation of Dries Van Noten‘s last show ever, the fashion industry was going through a collective mourning. Today, it’s a collective hungover, and not the most uplifting one. The thought that spring-summer 2025 collection was the last Dries show by Dries, and that there won’t be a Dries moment every Paris Fashion Week is just way too much to handle. I can hardly imagine how will this brand operate without its founder, and please, whoever takes it over – don’t dare to remove “Dries” from the brand name. And I really hope it’s true that Van Noten will quietly advise the design team or the still unknown successor for the next couple of seasons. Still, I want to own every single piece from the Belgian designer’s final outing, his 120th one (he held his first ever Paris runway show back in 1991), as it’s absolutely, quintessentially DVN. The show was opened by Alain Gossuin, silver-fox model who walked Van Noten’s first show. The celebration of the designer’s maverick work was closed by a parade of his all-time favourite models – Małgosia Bela, Debra Shaw, Kirsten Owen – as well as new faces. This wasn’t a collection of literal “greatest hits”, but it had all ingredients that made Dries Van Noten a space for people who didn’t want fashion, but style. No dramatic gowns or somber eveningwear, but highly wearable garments for everyday life. Dries was really committed to innovation here, experimenting with unlikely fabrics like brushed wool fused to neoprene or a crinkled polyamide that he likened to glass. “I didn’t want to make old clothes, and things which are looking old,” he said backstage. “But you have the transparent tops which sometimes catch some memories, and that for me was important.” Then, the color palette. The transition across shiny ripe purples, that incredible pink silk overcoat, the apricot mohairs, and pistachio lurex… this was Dries in full bloom, and a reminder he’s the ultimate colorist in fashion. The runway laid out with silver foil was later on replaced with a huge disco-ball for the after-party. The designer didn’t want to make his good-bye a teary one (still, many tears were dropped, at the show and in front of screens), but rather joyous. He’s about to start a fresh phase of life, leaving fashion on his own terms. That’s what the greatest do!

Now we all need a Dries wardrobe fix.

ED’s SELECTION:

Dries Van Noten Oversized Double-breasted Denim Blazer

Dries Van Noten Wrap-effect Ruffled Floral-print Crepe Skirt

Dries Van Noten Embellished Silk Clutch

Dries Van Noten Checked Cotton Bralette

Dries Van Noten Ruffled Floral-print Silk-blend Chiffon Midi Dress

Dries Van Noten Padded Velvet Thong Platform Sandals

Dries Van Noten Curled Gold-tone Pearl Earrings

Collages by Edward Kanarecki.
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La Famiglia. Emilio Pucci Resort 2023

November 17, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

The resort 2023 line-up is Camille Miceli‘s next, bold chapter of Emilio Pucci‘s revival. The designer has already proven that she has a natural affinity for the brand, sharing a penchant for expressive style, glamour, joie de vivre, and a flair for travel. Tying all this together for Miceli is the idea of La Famiglia, the tight-knitted Italian lifestyle which is a kind of precursor to today’s widespread concept of community. “For me Pucci evokes a family of people spending time together, to enjoy life, parties, and well-being.” The cross-seasonal collection covered a wide-ranging spectrum of pleasurable activities – weekends on the slopes, sun-kissed holidays in seaside destinations, celebrations, and various moments of day/night fun. Miceli wants the travel-loving, generations-spanning Pucci famiglia to be dressed not only to impress, but to express the self-confidence and lust for life with which she herself is abundantly imbued. The lineup reads as a flexible, adaptable proposition, festive and mood-lifting as well as suited for an efficient, fast-paced everyday life. Miceli worked a round, egg-shaped silhouette inspired by the swirls of the blown-up archival prints she has reinterpreted. Short padded nylon puffers, midriff-baring drop-shaped foulard tops, and patineuse swinging miniskirts and blouses with ballooning sleeves all conveyed the slightly trippy roundness of Pucci’s curlicued motifs. Counterbalancing the bold all-over-printed effect, Miceli introduced optic white and deep black as eye-soothing alternatives, playing with cool proportions and alternating silhouettes, either voluminous or form-fitting. Archival stripes were a new introduction, as was gold leather, which highlighted the bold glamour Miceli is after. It was particularly appealing rendered in a shiny patchworked bolero, worn by Malgosia Bela, who was part of an age-diverse cast of beauties, whose undisputed queen was the rarely photographed, camera-shy Doris Brynner. “I’m so proud and honored she accepted to do it for us,” said a delighted Miceli, who surely scored high in having such an age-defying legend join the ever-growing Pucci famiglia.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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New Romantic. Magda Butrym AW21

March 9, 2021 | Design & Culture by Ed

Magda Butrym, the Warsaw-based designer, delivered a brilliant line-up for autumn-winter 2021. With every season, the designer consistently builds her style vocabulary, which is the right balance between impeccable tailoring and chic eveningwear. The new collection, entitled “New Romantic“, photographed by Sonia Szóstak and starring the one and only Małgosia Bela, is the dream wardrobe for re-emergence: a timeless, shearling coat in beige, a le smoking suit covered in sequins, masculine blazers that mean business and some of the most delightful dresses we’ve seen from Butrym up to now. Flowers are a reocurring motif for the brand, with its origins based on Polish folklore culture. This time, the designer went one step further and presented a fabulous, sequinned, red capelet that looks like an actual blooming rose. And then we’ve got the pink peony cocktail dress, which just needs a fittingly dramatic occasion to go to (even if still wearing a face-mask).

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

The Finest. The Row Pre-Fall 2019

June 7, 2019 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Row‘s pre-fall 2019 release came together with the launch of the brand’s on-line shop. Shortly speaking, the collection is as good as the website and the clothes available there – which of course isn’t a surprise, knowing Ashley and Mary Kate Olsen‘s love for refined. The look-book features the most luxe basics out there, from a cotton poplin shirt to virgin wool pants in the most delightful shade of caramel. Maggie Maurer and Małgosia Bela look stunning in those cashmere turtlenecks, without any make-up or accessories. Browsing through the bags and shoes, you will instantly get why The Row won the CFDA Award for best accessories last week. That’s a lot of The Row news for one post. Need more? When you open the Galerie tab on their website, you’re taken a step further into the Olsen’s universe: here, you can buy items from the sisters’ hand-picked, curated antiques collection – Gustave Serrurier-Bovy’s brass chandelier, a vintage Boucheron ring, Georges Jouve’s vase…

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

American Hustle. Alexander Wang AW19

December 3, 2018December 3, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Alexander Wang presented his autumn-winter 2019 collection months ahead of the rest, just like last season, and here we are – already thinking about outerwear and knits we would love to wear this winter, but which we will get sometime in 2019. Wang’s newest outing is his best to date – it’s badass, it’s cool, it’s New York. It’s Alexander Wang we know, and have missed for a while. This one, the designer said, was a “celebration of the American hustle. We’re taking stereotypes of class and wealth and trying to remix them, giving status symbols a new sensibility.” There was something downtown (safety pins, lots of leather and leopard print) and uptown (tweed suits, tennis sweaters, evening gowns, crisp shirting), clashed and collage-ed. The leather garment bags, carried by models (see Malgosia Bela and Kiki de Willems), were inspired by images of the 80s career types toggling between the office and the health club. I’m not entirely sure of the clothes when put seperately, but the show’s styling was on point – take the towel turbans or the boys’ take on suiting.