Switch It Up. Jil Sander AW23

February 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Five years since their appointment as creative directors of Jil Sander, Lucie and Luke Meier decided to switch it up. In their autumn-winter 2023 collection, you won’t find their signature soft minimalism and a regular palette of neutrals, pastels and creams. The first look – a leather motorcycle jacket – was a clear sign something’s different this season. “We kind of looked back at our formative years, the ’90s and 2000s,” said Lucie. “We were thinking about how the outlook was so positive and exciting, thinking about technology coming into our lives. Now the positivity about the future is more difficult to hold up.” Luke interjected: “It’s always a bit rose-tinted, the past, but the one resounding element here was that there was this openness to kind of cross contaminate things.” The original Jil Sander wouldn’t recognize much of the tailoring, but in a season of samey pantsuits, the Meiers’ streamlined, zip-front jackets and expandable trousers were a fresh take. Strangely, some of the looks had more to do with Consuelo Castiglioni’s (Marni’s founder) quirky sensibility than with the German designer’s impact. Bjork’s love song “All Neon Like” soundtracked the show, and her eccentricities sparked some of the ideas here, like the pretty degradé floral print dresses that were paired with nubby-soled sneaker boots. It was good to see he Meiers exercising their individuality, whether that was in the form of an airy, generously cut parachute dress embellished with crushed metal flowers or tunics and tees digitally printed and jacquarded with fruits and bonbons. Still, the overall effect felt try-hard and too inconsistent.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Something’s In The Air. Gucci AW23

February 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Gucci’s in the middle of a seismic change. Alessandro Michele’s aesthetic and visual impact is still all over the brand, while Sabato De Sarno, the recently appointed new creative director, will show his first collection in September. The Gucci design studio has a rare opportunity to go carte blanche. Like in case of their last indie-sleazy menswear collection, the in-house designers of the mega-brand are enamored with Tom Ford’s era, but revisit his slim-lined heritage through a quirky, Michele-lens. Heart-shaped faux-fur collars on coats and heart-shaped panniers on party dresses; crystal-trimmed portholes on a black shift and slip dresses constructed from see-through sequins; high-drama faux fur chubbies and low-key boyfriend jeans and button-downs; and on the accessories front: oversized double G buckles, a horsebit handbag revived from 2003, metal spike heels about half as high as their ’90s progenitors, and a couple pairs of mukluks. The casting told a story about heritage, too. Amy Wesson, Guinevere Van Seenus, and Liisa Winkler all walked vintage Tom Ford runways. At the end of the show, design team members by the dozen emerged on the green-carpeted show venue to take a group bow. The point was made: Gucci is far more than whomever occupies the creative director seat. Still, it’s a crucial role, the instinctive force that stitches a collection into a unified whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Joan of Arc. Blumarine AW23

February 24, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

For autumn-winter 2023, Nicolas Brognano reinterpreted the Helmut Newton-esque Blumarine girl through the lens of courageous Joan Of Arc. No sugary hues in sight – rather badass heroines in leathers, shearlings and form-fitting jerseys. Dusting off Luc Besson’s movie The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, shot in 1999 and starring Milla Jovovich in the epic role of the pucelle d’Orléans, made Brognano feel “transfixed“. Some models even had similar bowl-cuts à la Jovovich. The designer introduced liquid, sexy shine of slinky silver armor, steering Blumarine towards eroticism, intensity, and danger. Tight-fitting draped minidresses were cut in silver or gold metallic jersey, elongated into leggings covering the curved heels of sharp-pointed shoes. Floor-sweeping shearling greatcoats looked imposing, almost majestic, while slender see-through tunics in metallic net suggested a sort of monastic sexiness. Chunky buckles abounded; knickerbockers were tucked into high-heeled laced shearling boots. Evening options included a rather spectacular bustier gown in flame-red georgette with asymmetrical frayed-hem skirts. It’s good to see that Brognano is exiting his Y2k-inspired comfort zone.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Recycling Beauty. Prada AW23

February 24, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Finally, my heart skipped a beat for the first time this fashion month. Prada‘s autumn-winter 2023 collection – entitled “Recycling Beauty” – was a strikingly powerful take on simplicity and the idea of uniform, with a twist of much-needed optimism. Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have reached full synthesis, as this collection takes the unmistakable Prada look to a new dimension. The white lily pin, folded origami style from humble cotton, that came with Prada’s invitation looked like hope for the future. That notion seemed to be confirmed backstage, where Miuccia and Raf talked about the act of caring. “Mainly what I care about now is to give importance to what is modest, to value modest jobs, simple jobs, and not only extreme beauty or glamour,” Prada said. Nurses’ whites got a thorough consideration, transformed into long-line shirt dresses complete with short trains, and a trio of capes could’ve been lifted off a World War II era recruitment poster for the army nurse corps. Military uniforms proved ripe for elevation by reinterpretation, too. Parkas – never seen such gracious and refined interpretation of this type of jacket – came with elegant Watteau backs or were puffed into couture-like cocoons. Army shirts and ties tucked into high-fitting tapered trousers looked definitive; the pants are apt to make women who’ve embraced the full-leg shape on so many other runways seriously rethink their closets. On the skirt front, there was much more variety: minis, pencils, and voluminous swing 1950s skirts all made appearances, some accentuated with more of those origami fabric flowers. This was the flipside of the concept, Simons explained backstage: turning the embellishments you see on wedding dresses, which are another sort of uniform of care, into everyday attire. The simple crewneck sweaters in camel and charcoal gray they were paired with were effective partners in that regard. The shirtless blazers with detachable dickey-style collars and the pillowy white down-stuffed puffers and miniskirts were evolutions of ideas they proposed in their menswear show a month ago. There too the project was to enhance reality, rather than to indulge in runway theatrics. This persuasive, deeply moving collection provided much food for thought, and a heaping serving of new things to want to wear.

Collages by Edward Kanarecki.
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Enlightenment. Max Mara AW23

February 24, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who would have thought that in 2023, Max Mara would feel so relevant and desirable. It’s ironic especially since Ian Griffiths looked back a couple of centuries in search for this season’s inspiration. “What’s the relevance of the 18th century to today?” To find the answer, Griffiths engaged his tried and tested creative protocol of fixing upon one historically sidelined but contemporaneously central female creative from the period he was scrutinizing to act as a personification of his thesis. In this case it was Émilie du Châtelet, a burningly intelligent French marquess mathematician who translated Isaac Newton into French – correcting a few of Newton’s errors on the way – and was for years passionately beloved by Voltaire. Griffiths seized upon du Châtelet as emblematic of a period of enlightenment in which female intelligence was increasingly acknowledged by the patriarchy, even as the female wardrobe remained constricting, apotropaic, and controlled. He said: “the fashion at the time was completely not enlightened. So I was imagining how she might have dressed if she had freedom to and how that would translate into today.” That meticulous scene-setting translated into a Max Mara collection that was newly romantic. It either adapted 18th century menswear pieces, like the opening teddy banyan coat, or modernized 18th century womenswear – like look six’s miniaturized pannier skirt in camel brocade with a fishtail detail at the back hem. A long rib knit dress coat and a trio of teddy coats were worn slung over the right shoulder courtesy of an inbuilt strap, which Griffiths said was a contemporary military styling trick, but for men only. Pannier pockets were also used to bolster a double-fronted gray cashmere tunic dress and a black brocade skirt worn over a patent corset belt and a sheer top. Evening pieces came with detachable Watteau backs. Griffifths offered Max Mara versions of contemporary paradigm garments that included a dreamy camel parka, a full length liner coat, and a velvet bomber with frogging. Some models teamed their lug-soled boots with shorts. This was not a wardrobe Émilie du Châtelet would have recognized, but she would, you suspect, have been into it.