Men’s – In Search Of A Spark. Gucci AW24

January 13, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Sabato De Sarno‘s vision for Gucci is taking shape of a formula. His debut womenswear collection was a product-centric, straightforward parade of unoffensive clothes; the ad campaigns operate on blank backgrounds and offer no visual risks; and his first menswear collection for the brand is also moving in that generic, business-is-business direction. Except for one kinky, taken-out-of-the-Tom-Ford-book look where the model wore nothing but a pair of tailored pants, a tie-leash and a pair of leather gloves, this Gucci outing left you with no bold impression. Maybe because most of the looks were the same as in De Sarno’s September debut – like the opening over-sized coat, or the navy v-neck knit with embellished collar, or the color palette consisting of pops of cherry red? It’s actually quite surprising the designer has such confidence in these couple of looks that he’s already mirroring them. It’s probably to early to call, but De Sarno’s Gucci feels like mash-up of your favorite Italian brands: a bit Prada there, bit of Valentino here (where the designer worked before his Gucci appointment). The only signifiers that make it Gucci are the monogram logo, placed on belts and backpacks, and bag re-issues. Don’t get me wrong: those are really good clothes, there’s nothing wrong about all these timeless pea-coats and loafers. But I don’t think De Sarno is giving us enough reasons to be invested in his new Gucci. The designer gives big statements on “artisanship“, “Italianity“, “beauty“, even “good taste“. But as he says himself, “I don’t have a narrative for my collections at the moment”. That shows.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Welcome To My Island. Bottega Veneta Resort 2024

November 3, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

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.
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From Osaka to Milano. Loro Piana SS24

October 20, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

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.

The Eye Has To Travel. Bottega Veneta SS24

September 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

“The eye has to travel“. Matthieu Blazy‘s sumptuous spring-summer 2024 collection for Bottega Veneta seemed to be a visual response to that phrase, coined by Diana Vreeland, the legendary fashion editor who happened to love the noisy jewellery around her employees’ necks to know where they were at all times. The collection was an audacious, charismatic and bold journey, but not inspired by specific locations or geographies. It’s a travel seen through a rather philosophical lens, as Blazy said, “it’s about what you can become after this journey as well; everything you get from a journey transforms you.” Leather wrap poncho topping a leather trench. Shaggy salt-and-pepper coat. Crocheted raffia dresses with the giant pompom embellishments. A large “straw” bag made from leather intrecciato. Those were just a couple of instances when you really want a run-of-show listing the garments’ textile information and the techniques employed to create them, like a map legend. Blazy’s aim was to “create some kind of new culture”, and he succeeded (interestingly, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons investigated the topic of “culture about clothing” this Milan Fashion Week). The Belgian designer who reinvents Bottega believes in the transportive possibilities of fashion. Wear those “banana leaf” sandals or carry the bag and “you escape.” Rachel Tashjian of Washington Post summed it up perfectly: it’s a “very Roland Barthes way of seeing as a form of social exchange, in which every passing person is a jumble of signals and symbols, and you put together a narrative in your head that’s half-reliable assumption, half-fictional fantasia“. But you can extract the backstory, and this was still an extraordinary collection, more like couture than ready-to-wear when it comes to the craftsmanship that went into individual pieces, from the cowl neck top and “bias-cut” skirt made from strips of different colored leather to the chunky woven jacquard coat that read almost like fur. “Where people call craft dusty, I think it’s the opposite,” said Blazy. “It’s a world of possibilities.”

Monte Verità. Bally SS24

September 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

At Bally, a quiet revolution is upon. Simone Bellotti is the new design director at the Swiss brand, replacing the brief stint of Rhuigi Villaseñor, who left abruptly in May. An experienced designer, Bellotti spent 16 years at Gucci under Frida Giannini and Alessandro Michele, and is now tasked with bringing the dusty brand into new territory. His debut is promising, and much more convincing than the other Milanese debut – Sabato De Sarno at Gucci – this season. For his spring-summer 2024, Simone mined the label’s rich archive “that holds incredible treasures of made in Switzerland craftsmanship”. Bellotti was drawn to explore a mysterious, expressive and subversive flip side of the spirit of the country’s culture. He came across the story of Monte Verità, a utopian community of free, creative souls founded in Ascona at the turn of the 20th century. A haven for spiritual regeneration and artistic and mystical practices, it was visited by famous intellectuals and artists – Carl Jung, Herman Hesse, Rudolf Steiner, Paul Klee and many others sojourned in the retreat, basking in the healing atmosphere of the alpine landscape. The collection he sent out was a fine, sensible exercise in balancing the contradictions between practicality and imagination, elegant design and subtly humorous details. The result: A.P.C., but luxe. A niche that was unfilled in Milan for years.

For both genders, outerwear was the collection’s core, cut with soft precision mostly in high-quality leather. Elongated straight-line or boxy blazers paired with matching shorts, pencil skirts or relaxed trousers were offered alongside A-line dusters and sleeveless zippered bombers and treated with a fresh, youthful approach. Eccentricity and the “out-of-control element,” as Bellotti put out, came by way of taffeta minicrinis, poufy ultra-short ballerina skirts or minuscule tutus made from swirls of rosettes and girandoles, peeking out from masculine trench hcoats in shiny black leather, or paired with a short-sleeved, square-cut office shirt in crisp Swiss poplin. Adding a note of witty homage to Swiss traditions, a strawberry print gracing both a pretty one-piece bathing suit and a small rectangular handbag recalling a kid’s miniature travel bag was drawn from a picnic tablecloth. ‘Appenzeller’ talismans in the shape of tiny cow bells were rendered into bags’ charms, hanging from the straps of trapeze crossbody bags in bright, cheerful colors. Finally, after all these years of uncertainty, Bally found its person.