COS has your holiday season covered. The brand has knits in all shapes and textures, eveningwear that dashes with jacquards and sequins, and timeless accessories – basically everything that will come handy this holiday party circuit. As keyed to real life as COS’ capsule collections are, they’re not humorless. Think XXL polka dots and playful details.
Peter Do’s second collection – pre-fall 2024 – for Helmut Lang proves that the designer might be really the right match for the brand. Helmut Lang, the label, has been struggling for years with finding it’s tune. No wonder why: it’s difficult to position a contemporary brand without its namesake founder at helm. Just look at what’s going on at Ann Demeulemeester. Do, however, always seemed to have a similar aesthetical sensitivity to Lang, and while his debut collection last September was bumpy, the newest collection offers a more developed glimpse at his vision for the New York-based brand. You can easily see these slinky, less-is-more clothes hanging on racks in stores and imagine customers being attracted to their essential cool. You can also see @brendahashtag wearing every single look. Worth mentioning are the paint-splattered pieces, an OG Helmut Lang specialty, all done by hand by an artist from LA. And the raw denim is cut with adaptable flap pockets, versatility being one of Do’s signatures. The tailoring, meanwhile, is made with an attention to detail that seems rare at these price points – see the inner waistband of the trousers for proof. Excess straps and oversize proportions might seem like too much at the first sight, but all the zippers you see have a function: the sleeves come off a leather biker jacket, and pants zip into shorts or go from straight-leg to flared. A two-in-one bomber puffer in black with white accents was another standout.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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“Spontaneous” is a word that well describes Maryam Nassir Zadeh’s design practice. The spring-summer 2024 „Rush” lookbook is a result – not by choice, but by circumstance – of total spontaneity, as it was styled and documented during one afternoon in Paris. „The exhilarating exercise was taken as an activity of being in the moment surrendering to circumstance and making the most an afternoon with people you love around a medium you love, clothing”, said the New York-based designer of the go-with-the-flow process. Following your guts and instincts is the best possible advice anyone in fashion should take close to heart, and while sadly not many follow it, Nassir Zadeh proves that its utterly true. The collection, paired down in fabrics and styles, is a sincere return to the designer’s core and past styles, as well as a reiteration of her favorite summer clothes. But there were also novelties that will be enjoyed by the brand’s loyal fanbase. One of the heroes of this lineup is a wrap that can be worn as a skirt or a dress that was inspired by a cover-up Zadeh’s mother wore in the ’90s. It’s essentially an easy-peasy scarf-topped skirt that you self-tie. It’s vacation-ready but also has that lived-in Lower East Side cool with which Zadeh’s work has become so synonymous. “What I’ve been trying to achieve for so long is this sensibility which I look for a lot… when a garment has spirit in it and it has lightness and delicacy in the way that it’s made.” Love.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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It’s been a great week for fashion: we had Phoebe Philo’s big Monday debut, and on Friday a delightful Bottega Veneta resort 2024 collection by Matthieu Blazy. “It’s not about the total look,” the designer summed up the brilliant line-up. “With the team,” he explained, “we talked a lot about what makes individuals special, the pieces they wear and the pieces that tell a story – the pieces, sometimes, that are a bit off, something that feels very personal, what makes you different from others.” What inspired the exercise, Blazy explained, was a trip home to his parents’ place, where he found himself going through his childhood wardrobe. A crab print dress of his sister’s made an impression, as did the “incredible labels” and slightly off proportions of his own old clothes. The crab print dress has been reimagined here as a sweater and matching skirt handknit in shades of turquoise and coral; on an ivory sweater in the same vein a scaly snake twists around the torso, its forked tongue flicking red. As for the oversize label stitched to the back of a tailored vest, it is indeed likely to conjure youthful memories for all who sees it. Blazy’s instinct to create serious fashion out of unserious items feels of a piece with what he’s done on his runways, making jeans, tank tops, and flannel shirts out of the finest leather and in the process turning mundane garments into collector’s items. There is also a dress here whose print features a dancing marionette. The Commedia dell’Arte was another reference this season; Blazy saw parallels between the harlequin costumes of its performers and Bottega Veneta’s own intrecciato motif. A leather coat in mint, burgundy, and white, and a bright yellow and black woven button-down and matching pants are showcases for the label’s striking artisanship and the design team’s embrace of fun. On that note, a large intrecciato tote was constructed with an irregular weave that called to mind TV static or broken pixels. Definitely not just another it-bag, but a wearable artwork to cherish.
As the festive season is slowly but steadily approaching, how about some of Blazy’s Bottega on the wishlist?
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
Loro Piana‘s spring-summer 2024 collection presentation happened in Milan, but it totally transported one’s mind and senses to Japan – and the served wagashi kasutera weren’t the only reason. Japan’s adoration and celebration of exquisite craftsmanship, understated taste, and timeless style were elegantly woven into the Italian brand’s latest offering. The collection also paid homage to the avant-garde fashion of the Rising Sun, in a modern key of posture and volume. Take the belted, high necked shirt suit for women in gray-flecked tweed was topped with a wide-brimmed woven hat. A striped-neutrals silk-linen shirt dress with a high unturned collar featured an attractive leather fastening to fix and drape the skirt up and across the body. A four-buttoned collarless jacket in an off-white nubbly silky fabric above a pleated pale skirt and light green polo neck looked snug and chic. The sleeves of a wide-armed, navy, petal-paneled silk overcoat were turned up to reveal the multicolored stitch work inside. A skirt and blouse in orange and blue florals was adjacent to last season‘s “flower ceremony” dress. Pure beauty – and please, don’t even try calling it quiet luxury.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
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