Modern Softness. Paco Rabanne SS16

October 5, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Julien Dossena looked at the heritage of Paco Rabanne from a totally different side this season. It rather feels more him, than Rabanne. The collection is designed for a modern girl – however, it’s much more feminine than the built-up looks we’ve seen last season. The fresh, summer outing was all about the high-tech sportiness with a sense of casual sexiness. Baby doll dresses walked alongside motocross-influenced leathers; the graphical prints on tank-tops had the Native American feeling about them. Definitely, Julien introduced a more slouchy festival attitude to the brand, rather than continuing Rabanne’s futuristic strictness and rawness. The textiles are softer in comparison to the signature Paco chain-dresses and the woman reflecting the brand changed.

Conceptuel. Louis Vuitton AW15

March 15, 2015March 14, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

AW14 was about 70’s and the refreshed wardrobe. SS15 was looking at vintage florals and denim. AW15 is looking at the future, as Nicolas Ghesquiere stated after the Louis Vuitton show. And, it really did. Presented at the Louis Vuitton Foundation, Feja Beha walked down the runway in a fluffy, white shearling coat. Then, a very diverse model casting wore abstract peplum tops, satin suites with logo appliqued t-shirts and sexy lace “underwear” dresses.

Kept in ich colour palette, Ghesquiere’s conceptual take on winter wardrobe is über-interesting. The trousers seem to match everyhing just like the boldly coloured knits. I kind of love it.

Astronauts. Paco Rabanne AW15

March 7, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

In the 20th century, Paco Rabanne wanted to create a wardrobe for modern women; in 21st century, we’ve got Julien Dossena who wants to make Paco Rabanne the future go-to label. The result for AW15 is pleasing – iconic chain dresses, astronaut-like mesh jackets (like the one worn by Aya Jones), voluminous varsity jackets and very wearable ankle boots. The zips were the key here, too – they were mostly everywhere, giving us some leg or exposing shoulders. The sheer fabrics there and there and brought sex-appeal which was slightly missed by Julien in previous seasons. In other words – Dossena feels like in the right shoes at Paco’s house.

By me for nuicons.com

Modern Air. Coperni Femme AW15

March 4, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

What’s Coperni Femme? Whether or not you accept the conncetion of Copernicus to womenswear, this latest collection from Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant made a strong case for exploiting an idea of pure forms. A bit scientific, a bit cosmic (the name of the label isn’t lying), a bit feminine – Coperni Femme duo’s integration of circles were very literal (disks of leather, suede, and papery metal patched together with “topstitched” crosses). Even the shoes – with these circles! – talked geometry. Also, a lot of genuine ways of wearing the clothes appeared: a detachable ruffled cuff in blue could be “twisted around the wrist, extended up the sleeve, and affixed to the shoulder, or left to dangle like an architectural tail.” Genius.

In the meantime, as winners of ANDAM’s First Collections Prize and among the short list for the LVMH Prize, Meyer and Vaillant already gained the status of new era designers – they think through the future perspective. Although their AW15 clothes look simple at first sight, they are ultra-sophisticated and smart in the detail.

Pastel Life. Derek Lam AW15

February 17, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Pastels are always a good choice. In my opinion, Derek Lam is seriously underrated – he is a master of colour combination. He can easily mix unobvious camel with teal or rust with yellow, creating a simple, but interesting look. AW15 is one of the most genius collections Derek showed in his whole career – the way of wearing coats, the “whatever” mood brought by the XXL-sized sweatshirts and pantalons – created a smart and sophisticated collection which allows women to style their clothes however they want to. No big theme is imposed – it’s all about pastel-coloured basics!