Men’s – Raw Elegance. Maison Margiela SS16

June 27, 2015January 6, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

That’s funny. John Galliano is the creative director of Maison Margiela, but officially he did not design the Resort collection you have seen earlier this week, and the men’s SS16 which is here. He only does women’s ready-to-wear and couture for this Parisian, ex-avantgarde house. And that is solidly visible by comparing these two collections to woman’s AW15, the latest creation of Galliano. The Margiela Resort for 2016 was a very commercial collection; the menswear line is all about raw elegance. As usually, chaotically painted vests, sheer tops with decoupage covering the chests and voluminous overalls. This collection is precisely the same thing that we saw last season… and that makes me mad because men’s Margiela used to excite me. And now the Maison Margiela studio plays it safe to keep up with the sales.

Men’s – Soviet Modern. Gosha Rubchinskiy SS16

June 26, 2015January 6, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Gosha Rubchinkiy is the guy from Moscow, who brings on the nostalgic ideas of post-soviet Russia and its “fashion”. Soviet sportswear and Iron Curtain era was mentioned in the collection, too, by presenting the infamous symbols and dates on shirts and t-shirts. The silhouettes of jumpers were inspired by Eastern-bloc athletes (all the Russian flag colours) and the short shorts would be perfect for PE classes. Even the venue had something to do with sports – the oldest basketball gym of France was the venue of the show. But the overall effect of this collection seems to be the same as usually in case of Gosha – strong homage to his homeland and a kind of irony perceived in the air toward’s Russia today.

Men’s – The Masked Man. Julien David SS16

June 26, 2015January 6, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

The embroidered masks seen during Julien David‘s shows aimed to neutralise the models and their characters, so the whole spotlight would be stolen by the clothes. In fact, that worked! David presented fabrications, such as the crinkled natural wool suiting that opened the show; the material reminded cracked asphalt in gray and rice paper in white. A paraffin-coated lyocell rayon became his dedicated parka material, which looked even more genuine. The white, corduroy suite looks simultaneously elegant and effortlessly modern. David’s amazing usage of textiles is always mind-blowing. While the styling and the clothes themselves make me drool, the wide-leg cropped pants are my definitive favourites!

Men’s – Cyclops. Rick Owens SS16

June 26, 2015January 6, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Cyclops” was the keyword of yesterday’s Rick Owens show. The mythological creature with one eye is a symbol of men aggression and devastation – and precisely this was presented through severely curled hairstyles of the models and tattered tunics. The maxi tank-tops had something chaotic about them, too. A kind of violence was visible in the clothes, that’s sure. Leather and other various textiles were all sewn together, giving an arty, very impulsive and emotional expression. However, the whole vision of Owens’ new collection was disturbed by Jera, a model-muse of the designer. Suddenly, during the show, the German model took out a banner that said “PLEASE KILL ANGELA MERKEL…NOT“. The unplanned stunt was said to be totally out of Owens’ hands, with the designer being furious and stressing in an interview backstage, “I don’t know because it was not my idea. He pulled it out and I punched him when he came off stage.” Whatever this message meant to be, this what Jera did was disrespectful for the whole project Rick Owens and his team worked on.

Men’s – Time Elapse. Raf Simons SS16

June 25, 2015June 25, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

The message behind Raf Simons‘ SS16 is quite melancholic, but so, so true – everything passes away as time goes by. In this collection, Raf presented the difference in fashion that ruled at the times of his grandpa, and at the time of today’s youth – knitted polos versus hoodies, fancy coats contrasting with whie sneakers. But in reality, the hoods were the biggest clue, giving the models and the show venue an eerie atmosphere. Half of the models walked with heads wrapped in checked textile (vision obscured to the point where at least a couple of them pitched off the raised catwalk). Hoodies have become a contemporary emblem of teenager, but Simons made his hoods medieval in shape. Monastic. And that automatically created a connection between the brotherhood of a medieval monastery and the brotherhood of a 21st-century gang of boys. Also, I feel like this collection wanted to represent the topic of martyrs, which was briefly moved by the chains carried by the models which staggered through the runway. But this mystery can be revealed only by the designer.