Candy Rave. Marc Jacobs SS17

September 17, 2016September 17, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

New York Fashion Week might impress and surprise, but leave “shocking” to Marc Jacobs, who always ends the city’s schedule with a spotlight-stealing collection. And this time, Jacobs presented an ecstatic rave of his latest obsessions, inspirations, collaborators and, of course, aesthetic. At the Hammerstein Ballroom, Stefan Beckman built a huge stage splattered with grease, lit up by more than a thousand little bulbs. A perfect space for an off-beat, underground party filled with techno-music and thirsty-for-fun people. The association was right – it was the venue of the most youthful collection of the upcoming season.

Lets take a look at the collection from the bottom to the top, literally. All of the models wore platforms, which looked even higher than the ones from Jacobs’ autumn-winter 2016. I LOVE THOSE SHOES, every single pair of them. Kept in all colours of the rainbow, the killer-stompers were designed in collaboration with Julie Verhoeven (who also did a fantastic job together with the designer during his spring-summer 2002 Louis Vuitton show). Verhoeven produced a number of fantastic, cartoonish illustrations, which appeared on the shoes, and also on the bags and some of the one-of-a-kind pieces. Looking at the clothes, Marc and his team didn’t disappoint. Candy-coloured, sheer apron dresses with ruffles; extra mini, mini-skirts in denim; fur-collared or sprouting with feathers military jackets and cardigans. This season, it’s about lifting normal pieces into ~~nearly~~ couture creations. Hoodies (something we are all getting sick of lately) look brilliant, also printed with Julie’s illustrations. I really do have doubts whether teens would feel absolutely comfortable in those sexy, fairly provocative and imaginative pieces on a binge – but surely, these clothes guarantee a big entrance.

Reaching the heads of the extremelly tall models, we are getting closer to the most problematic (to some) aspect of the collection – the dreadlocks by Guido Palau. Instagram users raged Jacobs’ account with comments on cultural appropriation, calling him a ‘thief’. I’m just overwhelmed with the public’s lack of any awareness. True, corn-rows are over-used by white teens, while Indian headbands with feathers aren’t properly credited by Coachella fans. BUT dreadlocks are for everybody. They are universal. Lana Wachowski has fuchsia-pink dreadlocks. Boy George from the Culture Club-era had dreadlocks. And Bob Marley was the king of dreadlocks. Even a friend of my cousin has dreadlocks (but they look bad, though). In other words, dreadlocks are for everyone, and people should at least try to widen their horizons.

The New Revolutionaries

August 22, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Fashion is continuous in communicating on what’s happening in the world. Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren shaped the 70s punk scene in Great Britain, shaking up the aristocratic nation; Marc Jacobs took grunge into the world of high fashion at Perry Ellis in 1993. There was Raf Simons with studded, skinny pants for boys, and Hedi Slimane at Saint Laurent years later, reviving Yves’ (in)famous scandale spirit. All of those designers wanted to show rebellion, and made history. This season, the mood of rebellion was present, too, but introduced in a different way. If you want to look defiant, leave your mud-splattered boots behind.

Marc Jacobs and Lucie de la Falaise, Perry Ellis era

Take Rei Kawabuko and her autumn-winter 2016 collection at Comme des Garçons – it was an ode to the 18th century, but not in the way you might have expected. The silhouettes were voluminous, while the textures clashed with contrasts. Instead of embroideries and embellishments, opulence played a different role. “The 18th century was a time of change and revolution,” Rei said. “This is how I imagine punks would look, if they had lived in this century.” Think about French aristocracy, and just remind yourself some Marie Antoinette’s pouf hair-style or Louis XIV’s obsession with heels. Ball-dresses, splendour of colours – this is how the Incroyables originated, putting a barrier between them, and others. Their looks shouted “I’m in the elite – you’re NOT”. In fact that was a kind of punk gesture, if you look at that from another perspective. Paradoxically, Kawakubo wasn’t mistaken – punks, different punks, already existed before Dame Vivienne. Living in their saccharine wardrobes and eating cupcakes while the poor starved was to an extend… radical.

Comme des Garcons AW16

Good times changed for aristocracy, and the French revolution proves that. John Galliano‘s spring-summer 1993 collection was a modern-day interpretation, of how a Merveilleuse (female equivalent for Incroyable) could have looked before execution. Of course with grace! A sheer dress which looked nearly like a piece of underwear; her hair of fleek. Decapitation had to be chic, and Galliano’s spectacular collection filled with tattered frock coats, dilapidated chiffon, and extravagantly puff-sleeved gowns was a controversial success.

All of the above: John Galliano SS93

But coming back to 2016. Marc Jacobs‘ latest outing was all about full skirts and big dresses in polished leather. Platforms were there. Those ladies were like the bad queens and bad princesses from a fantasy, while their outfits were loud nods to monarchy looks. For Maison Margiela, Galliano devoted his haute couture collection once again to the Incroyables, presenting coats with exaggerated tails. But this time, the one-of-a-kind pieces were mixed with high-tech textiles and hand-made chantilly lace. John explained his artisanal season as a reflection of today’s world troubles. “I didn’t want to repeat what I did as a kid,” said Galliano. “But it has the rebellious attitude of youth.” Lastly, Dries Van Noten was inspired with Marchesa Casati’s avant-garde aura. She was, you’ve guessed well, an unconventional aristocrat, with her smokey eyes, layers of pearl necklaces and exotic furs. She looked different that all the other fancy dames from those times – and that’s why Dries felt appeal to her. An embodiment of punk? Yes.

Marc Jacobs AW16

Dries Van Noten AW16

Above: Maison Margiela Haute Couture AW16

Get The Party Started. Marc Jacobs Resort’17

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Winning a CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year prize a day before means something. But for Marc Jacobs, it’s just a great reason to celebrate with a new collection. For resort 2017, Marc and his team prepared a mini-show, which appeared to be more than a dose of extreme opulence and surely in Gucci’s Alessandro Michele Italian-splendour taste, who took a seat in the front row. “We took Fall and made it kitsch, and went from YouTube back to MTV,” the designer said backstage, cheerful after his psychedelic outing of models wearing their hair tightly crimped, and storming the runway in already desirable MTV-logo sweatshirts. The voluminous silhouettes and platform boots from AW16 stay for good, but now, they are all splashed in fluo colours of shocking pink and electrifying blue. In some of the most Instagram-ed moments, the outfits looked as if they were straightly taken out of my all-time favourite “Sorry” music video by Madonna – note those varsity jackets, disco jumpers with sequins and, yes, cargo pants. Marc Jacobs makes me want to hit the dancefloor right now, even on a Thursday evening.

But the collection was not only about making 2005-and-so pop music relevant. Paradise was patched on the dresses, and it had a meaning in the entire show. “Just paradise, this fictitious idea” was on Jacobs’ mind. Zebra stripes, hula dancers – it’s rather like an old-school postcard from Hawaii or one of these must-go “kitsch” party outfit tips. Cool pussy-bows (also all in stripes!) styled with Barbie-pink sweatshirts would make it for a great, one-in-a-life-time club nights in the 80s. And undoubtedly, this bold bricollage of ideas and textiles, prints and embellishments, will nail it in this 2016.