Founded by sisters Laila and Nadia, Gohar World‘s surrealist tableware celebrates “time, tradition, and humour.” Each playfully shaped piece is designed in the label’s New York studio and crafted by family-owned ateliers around the world. Here are my favorite items from the brand’s line that will elevate any food-related celebration!
I never really cared about what’s going on at Coach, but the resort 2025 lookbook has sparked my interest. Finally, a brand in New York that fills the blank space that Raf Simons left after creating the ambitious – and sadly aborted – Calvin Klein 205W39NYC project. Stuart Vevers similarly plays with the codes of Americana in a loveworn, weathered, and lived in way, with bits of cinematic, even horror-y drama. Vevers’s rather winter-ish resort collection is stuffed nostalgia-tinged fuzzy-soft cozy cable knits and full tweedy skirts with huge taffeta bows, rocking a Victoriana-goes-1950s vibe. Note how the oversized Argyle check knit polo shirts are designed to layer up at will, one of the many pieces in Vevers’ line-up denuded of gender specificity. Likewise the jewelry: diamanté bows and chandelier earrings to pin here, there, and everywhere, and single earrings with a delightfully kitschy quality to them – pumpkins, candy canes, essentially the John Waters-approved inventory of holiday tree decorations. For layering up with those sweaters Vevers suggests a ratty tee emblazoned with Popeye; it was inspired by a black and white image of Debbie Harry back in the day wearing a t-shirt with the pipe smoking, spinach loving cartoon character. Popeye isn’t the only pop cultural icon in play here as the designer was also looking at images of Twin Peaks stars Madchen Amick and Lara Flynn Boyle between takes, in their homespun, 1950s-esque looks warped by David Lynch.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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This week started with a sensational Marc Jacobs fashion show in New York. The designer is in such a great creative place right now: he doesn’t have to prove anything to anyone, doesn’t engage in New York Fashion Week, and just creates at his own pace some of the finest work in his career. As he wrote in the latest collection’s powerful note, “we use fashion to embrace bold and courageous self-expression to articulate and showcase our inner selves, allowing us to freely explore and display our thoughts, desires, and identities in a deeper pursuit of joy, beauty and personal transformation“. This isn’t another press release talk; this absolutely and truthfully sums up not only Marc’s work and contribution to fashion, but himself.
The show lasted just six minutes. Jacobs fancies this short, sharp-shock format, starkly contrasting to his past, excessive outings that featured entire runway productions. This “less is more” approach really gives so much more – intensely more. On the runway, a mosaic of all-time American symbols, hyperbolised and exaggerated as if they were Claes Oldenburg sculptures: Marilyn Monroe in her iconic subway grate dress from “The Seven Year Itch“, Minnie Mouse in her red and white polka dots (they also felt very Yayoi Kusama, the Japanese artist Marc collaborated with at Louis Vuitton), and princess gowns out of a fairy tale. Hyper-pop and vivacious: a bold act of resistance towards all the socio-political disasters going on in the world – and especially, in the U.S.? Maybe. But maybe the designer wanted to rebelliously commit himself to pure joy. And then you had the yellow polka dot bikini, several sizes too big. The proportions in this collection were distorted to perfection. The miniskirts’ ultra-short lengths, and the arcing hemlines of knee-length skirts, especially when they were higher in front than in the back, made models look like giants. “The future remains unwritten,” the designer concluded in his note. And maybe that’s a good thing?
How about some of my beloved pieces from past Jacobs’ Runway collections?
What I love about Rosie Assoulin is the fact she doesn’t follow trends and always does her own, distinct, joyful thing at her namesake brand. There’s just so much radiance and optimism in her clothes, and they also please with their day-to-night versatility. Her resort 2025 offering is “light and unserious, but with real construction, and subtle fabrics,” she said. “We are trying to still appeal to our luxury tastes, but with a more approachable, lighthearted feeling.” That ethos is encapsulated in the tangerine, floral-print column “Banana” dress affixed with two padded crescents at the neckline and hanging off the shoulder. Or in the entrance-making flamenco-inspired number with a vibrantly ruffled hem. It’s intriguing how Assoulin effortlessly matches (and clashes) gingham checks in canary-yellow and turquoise with florals in contrasting colours; not many designers would pull it off so gracefully. No wonder why: the New York-based designer is a colorist of the ranks of Dries Van Noten and Alber Elbaz. Her unique approach to garment-construction is phenomenally reflected in the beige, ruffled midi-skirt that opens the collection and in the same-colour peplum top with striped cuffs and collar; its hourglass shape resembles vintage jugs and vases that have a cameo throughout the lookbook. And this takes us to the theme of home that often inspires Rosie in her work. “The home is a very interesting place for me. Domestic life feels very rich: what are the things we’re surrounding ourselves with, wanting to surround ourselves with? It feels like a philosophy for us“, she summed up.
Garden parties and summer occasions ahead, I’ve got you covered with some amazing pieces by Rosie Assoulin you can shop now!
This Ralph Lauren collection had to grow on me for a moment. But when I saw Anok Yai in her finale look, consisting of a cowboy hat and stunning body-skimming sequined gown, being applauded by the all-American designer – who himself wore a blue western shirt, a pair of well-worn jeans and grey New Balance trainers – I was like “wow, this is it“! The pre-fall 2024 collection, which Ralph presented a couple of days ago in New York, is a reminder that he’s a great designer. One of the greatest. A living legend. “The woman I design for has a beauty that comes from an inner confidence,” he noted in his press release. “My collection is inspired by that woman, her sense of timelessness, her individuality – a style that is forever.” The show’s opening song, Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are,” seemed chosen to call attention to that constancy, as did the first model Christy Turlington, whose career began in the 1980s on Lauren’s runway. Turlington wore neat tailoring, a tie tucked into the waistband of her trousers, with an RL 888 leather tote in the same shade of buff gray as her clothing. Neckties and power suits were recurring sights on the autumn runways; for Lauren they’re not seasonal affectations, but rather pieces that he’s returned to over the years, sharpening and fine-tuning them. City sophistication and red carpet drama are essential parts of his repertoire, as well. These were represented by a chunky cardigan and cocktail dress combo (so good), the pinstripe jacket he threw over a silk charmeuse shirt and long skirt in gunmetal gray. Yes to all that, forever.
Here are a couple Ralph Lauren classics I fancy a lot…
Design & Culture by Ed 