Men’s: Psych Rock. Saint Laurent SS15

June 30, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Hedi Slimane of Saint Laurent always keeps his own style in his designs. And not many designer do that nowadays. The men’s SS15 entitled Psych Rock was all about Hedi’s love to rock & roll. Little Bugle Boy jacket, poncho, sheepskin vest, army surplus, embroidered jeans, amulets, snakeskin boots, garage band—rather than an unleashing of the beast of psych rock. The collection had something of beautiful gypsy escape (all these jewels) vibe, the indie rock chic and itty-bitty rodeo style (the soundtrack is a contribution from an obscure West Coast sixties-revivalist band, the wide-hatted Mystic Braves were an aural and visual complement to the new collection). I really enjoyed the whole show (and women’s was so, so good. Natalie Westling and her hot red hair combined with a black maxi dress and star sequined boots are dreamy) and I am happy we’ve got Hedi at Saint Laurent. By the way, au revoir men’s PFW for SS15!

Men’s: Fun Time. Thom Browne SS15

June 30, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Thom Browne is possibly the biggest kid of the men fashion scene. And the SS15 is just the prove! The collection was full of colours, funny embroidery… models wore mutated suits, socks embroidered with butterflies, plastic, transparent masks and vibrant prints! In the middle of the show, there was a bunch of blindfolded models wearing classical, grey Browne smokings, taking a nap. Many things are unclear about this collection, but one thing is sure- it was a real toyland!

Men’s: Russian Skater. Gosha Rubchinskiy SS15

June 29, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Gosha Rubchinskiy, Russia’s young fashion star just came for the Paris fashion week, to show his SS15 collection for men. And that’s surely something, that the Parisian fashion scene never have seen (although they had other Russians, like Vika Gazinskaya or Ulyana Sergeenko). Known for his post-Soviet, skater style and street influenced clothes, thanks to Comme des Garcons he found his place here. One of his first customers back in 2010 was Dover Street Market, which opened a corner for the post-Soviet brand in its London store, and in 2012, Comme des Garçons took on production and distribution. As he says, his clothes are made in mind for Russia’s post-1991 generation, those who grew up in the midst of a reawakening of religious roots in the post-Soviet boom-or-bust economy. For spring, Rubchinskiy showed leather jackets, fur coats, canvas shirts, skater sweatpants and silent, white t-shirts with his logo written in Russian. In my opinion, everything here is wearable, and all of it is really cool. But are these clothes so, so breath-taking?

Men’s: Darkness. Givenchy SS15

June 28, 2014June 28, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

“I always come back to the dark side. It’s what I’m most attracted to,” Tisci explained. This season – like many of his collections – he explored the duality between something quite aggressive and uniform and something much more romantic. Leather thigh-high lace up boots were worn with pearl embellished floral print garments, and all of his models emerged onto the runway with their hair pushed back inside black hairnets. His female models – including Adriana Lima, Candice Swanepoel and Irina Shayk – made their way around the industrial show space in sheer dresses (which revealed bondage-style underwear) and thick black cat eyes. The show was in good taste, it was elegant and glam, but at the same time very arrogant and non-chalant! In the middle of the show venue, we had a huge, deconstructed airplane made by Dutch artist Paul Veroude, which was a chic approach to luxury and the 30s, which very influenced the collection.

Men’s: Douillet. Loewe SS15

June 28, 2014August 21, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

For few days before the presentation, the new Loewe ads were sent all around the Parisian billboards, presenting vintage Steven Meisel photographs curated by Jonathan Anderson. Jonathan, designer of J.W. Anderson and the new creative director of Spanish luxury fashion house, Loewe, debuted with a menswear SS15 look-book yesterday: full of warmth and youth, the clothes are modern, but keep up with the legacy of the house. The leather Amazona bags, the cozy sweaters with new M/M logos, the origami sharp cotton t-shirts and foulard like tops look fresh and innovative! It was also quite obvious how much of Anderson himself there was in the new Loewe. He played with Meccano blocks in his childhood, and the Meccano references in the new collection were, he said, representative of “a naive approach to rebuilding a brand” and the small leather goods. They led to a Pop-y, primary-colored touch. And, the naive aside, there was a jolt of Andersonian ambiguity in a piece as frankly feminine as the two striped silk scarves sewn together to create a top. I am really curious how will Anderson continue his journey at Loewe- because it starts really good!

Inspirations: Meccano blocks, Alex Katz beach paintings. The shoes, bag, keyholder and purse from new collection.