La Montagne. Jacquemus AW21

July 5, 2021 | Design & Culture by Ed

We haven’t seen a Jacquemus collection since last summer. Just like some other brands, Simon Porte Jacquemus decided to ditch the traditional fashion calendar even further, getting closer to the “see-now-buy-now” model. His autumn-winter 2021 collection is already available on the label’s e-shop. Another change? The designer seems to leave behind his favourite sun-drenched, South of France theme, and takes a slightly more serious, utilitarian path this season. Don’t get me wrong – it’s still undeniably Jacquemus. Just a bit more streamlined and approachable. “The smell was like fresh grass. There were sounds like little birds when you went in. I wanted to make it like a green and blue bubble—nature but unreal. Like you go in, and you find yourself somewhere else.” The IRL show was called “La Montagne”, a title which set up the anticipation that it might have literally taken a crowd to the French Alpes-Maritimes, or another outdoor spectacular such as the epic lavender-field Provençal runway show he organized in 2019. But, no. Porte Jacquemus exclaimed: “That’s exactly why I didn’t want to do a mundane location or anything. I think a lot of people are doing crazy shows outside and I didn’t want to do the race of the most crazy spots of the planet. Because I wanted to focus on the clothes and on the design, and not repeat myself, into like a perfect formula.” In other words: Porte Jacquemus is still young enough to want to be a contrarian, to be the person who never gets caught into a trend or a stereotype. There was a lot of lockdown time with his team to think about how that would shape up. Giantly and tinily was the answer, a surreally playful over-and-under proportioning of garments. “The collection started really with the frustration of corona,” he said. “We had the option, you know, to repeat ourselves, to do a perfect jacket and a nice linen dress and stuff. That’s nice, it’s beautiful, but we were super-frustrated, so we wanted to explore more.” Notionally, the Montagne of his title might resonate with everyone who’s been on that vertiginous, lonely hike through isolation from friends all this time. In practice, it wasn’t at all about athleisure. “Because I know Patagonia does much better hiking clothes than us,” he said, laughing. “Because we’re a small brand doing fashion, and we wanted to mix that with, like French couture elements. So it was between that, and the naive, happy Jacquemus of before.” It was shot in profile, video-wise, mini and maxi pieces in the same outfit, randomly framing lots of skin. Cropped puffers and abbreviated tailored jackets over bras strung together with widely placed clips – abs on show, triangular slices of inner knee on show, all popping with shots of fuchsia, orange, red. Cool, not overly demanding, easy – sometimes you just need that.

“Live” collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Cozy. Asai AW19

February 15, 2019February 15, 2019 | Design & Culture by Ed

London born and based designer A Sai Ta launched his label Asai with Fashion East in February 2017. After graduating from his BA at Central Saint Martins, he gained experience at The Row – and was headhunted for a position at Kanye West’s Yeezy a year into his MA. However, the designer didn’t end on resting on laurels, and continues his own path in London. Today, he presented his first solo fashion show, and it was pure brilliance. Asai takes the familiar, and reimagines it iconoclastically by entering into nuances of his British-Chinese-Vietnamese cultural heritage as a second generation Londoner. Taking the craftsman’s spirit from his parents – a seamstress mother and a carpenter father – ASAI often employs surface decoration and fabric manipulation to create intricate textiles, which mirrors the designer’s appeal to disrupt familiar visual codes. For autumn-winter 2019, the designer went into something more cozy, even highland-ish. Ecru knits, beige puffer coats, brown, ruffled maxi-dresses, flurry slip-ons and fleecy crown-beanies felt like ready for high altitudes. The patchwork looks were insanely good, just the label’s already-cult Hot Wok Top, this time around kept in an earthy colour palette.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Bavaria / Tyrol

July 23, 2018July 23, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

On our road trip to Italy (and back home), we’ve stayed for a few days in the mountains. First, we stopped in a small Austrian town (stone throw from Innsbruck) to get that fresh, Tyrol air. And ride the funicular! We did the same in Bavaria, the Alpine region of Germany. Bayrischzell is a perfect place for long forest walks, goat milk (get in at Leitzachtaler Ziegenhof farm) and, in general, every other typically Bavarian activity like drinking beer (not for me, though!) and hiking. Oh, and taking a bath in front of a waterfall is nothing unusual here. If you’re here, hit the Wandelstein mountain that’s near – up there you might have a chance listen to local orchestra, eat the all-time classic wurst and fall in love with every single view. Well, maybe not ‘every’ – unless you’re into the current ‘fashion trekker’ look done by the locals and tourists.

For those planning to reach the top of any other mountain in Tyrol or Bavara this summer – in style – you might want to get hold of these Marni Olive neoprene sneakers and that Y/Project hoodie.