For some reason, every year, somewhere mid-August, I’m going through Ralph Lauren‘s 2000s collections. Maybe it’s the thought of September approaching; there’s an autumnal feel about Lauren’s runway collections. And they are very inspiring, styling-wise. In the autumn-winter 2000 fashion show, “there’s a new kind of glamour that’s polished, sleek and sexy,” said the designer about his offering of simple, elegant American classics. Suits played a key role for Lauren that season – black, fitted jackets and sharply detailed trousers and skirts were worn with casual cashmere crewnecks and ivory silk blouses. Fair Isle sweaters accompanied comfortable Donegal tweeds and steely leather pants. Striking crocodile car coats and broadtail trousers added a shot of opulence to the presentation, as did the evening dresses: there were body-conscious satin and jersey gowns, as well as Persian-motif embroidered gowns. Honestly, if I saw this collection during a 2023 New York Fashion Week, I would be very pleased.
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“I get uncomfortable when there are too many things in the collection that aren’t pieces that I love. So I’ve really tried to make it what I want to wear now.” Meaning: Batsheva Hay has a colour palette of black, white and gray on her mind, and likes to wear variations of dresses in 1950s style. That’s clearly reflected in her resort 2024 offering. In recent seasonsBatsheva has been experimenting with various directions she can take her New York-based brand without completely abandoning what has made her successful in the first place. For this season that meant vintage-y silhouettes and barely any printed cotton. “It’s really all about different fabrics,” she said. Highlights included a black velvet long sleeve dress with a white lace-up detail running from bust to shoulder; a streamlined maxi dress with flared sleeves and a slight mockneck in shiny black sequins, and a long ruched body-con velvet dress in a dark wine color (one of three colorful pieces in the collection) with a high neck and a slightly padded shoulder. Hay may be queen of the dress, but she loves a matching set, and she had some great options, including a black high waist a-line skirt and button-down with a “funny firework embroidery” in sequins; a four-button jacket with dramatic ruffled sleeves and a matching maxi skirt in an abstracted floral silk jacquard; and a black taffeta button-down and matching cropped bootcut trousers decorated with all-over rhinestones. Though it skews more serious than her usual offerings, resort still bears her off-beat charm.
A couple of my favourite Batsheva pieces you can shop now:
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
Resort is the moment for Catherine Holstein to explore the more laid-back aspect of Khaite, the New York-based brand that keeps on stealing women’s hearts across the world. Super-chunky cashmere hand-knits and impressive sweater dresses clash with fluid sheer evening dresses and billowy ruffles. A stretch jersey henley bodysuit worn with high-waisted leather pants just might be the star of the season; it’s sexy in the offhand way of that virally famous Khaite cashmere bra that Katie Holmes wore a couple of seasons ago. You’ll also find the jeans that are a foundational part of the business – the silhouette of the moment is ’90s-ish, full-legged and relaxed – and an array of leather jackets that are unmistakably cool. A group of silk twill pieces in a souvenir print with depictions of New York City landmarks was a surprise, a charming one. Holstein likes an exaggerated shoulder and a defined waist, or a cropped one, and she experimented with military-style buttons on some styles. The coat silhouettes are oversized and commanding.
And here’s a couple of my favourite Khaite pieces you can catch now:
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
Whether Emily Adams Bode Aujla shows her collections on a runway in Paris or as a lookbook, the New York-based designer always manages to capture a true feeling, a notion of a fleeting moment. For spring-summer 2024, Bode seeks inspiration in the Crane Estate, the residence in Massachusetts owned by an eccentric 90-year-old woman where her mother worked back in 1976. This appeared to be a perfect backdrop for Emily’s recently found obsession. Since her wedding last year, the designer is interested in investigating eveningwear. “It’s something that I’ve become quite passionate about because it’s really picked up for us,” she said. It’s evident in menswear pieces like the translucent-and-black all-over-sequin-embellished jacket, the navy blue suit with goldenrod crochet embroidery, and the white suit worn with a gorgeous blue and white striped pajama top with frog closures (you can also get the matching pants). It’s also apparent in pieces from her nascent womenswear line, like the sheer green dropped-waist dress studded with seed beads and the cream brocade midi-length jacket with three oversized satin bows for a closure. She called it a wedding jacket. “I love this idea,” Bode Aujla said. “I didn’t get to wear a vintage jacket like this for my wedding, but I thought that’s what I would wear. In my head, after the ceremony, this is what you put on; or maybe it’s worn at the courthouse wedding.” She continued, “Or you could wear this with black tuxedo trousers and have a really elevated evening look that’s not a dress. I could easily put that in men’s, but I think I wanted this and I think our girl wants this.” Although women have been buying and wearing Bode since the beginning, womenswear officially debuted last season in Paris. Those who expected it to look exactly like the menswear but with a slightly different fit were in for a surprise; the range is decidedly sexy. This came across in the knit panties and matching T-shirts, tanks, and bralettes; in dusty blue crochet dresses, and in the thin-as-air fish-print printed caftans. The designer added, “people commented about this on our runway show too. A lot of people expected it to be one way, and it’s like, the Bode woman compliments the Bode guy, she is not the Bode guy.”
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
The 29 models did two finale laps (which took about three minutes) and then Marc Jacobs was out taking his bow. The defiant scarcity and razor-like sharpness of the designer’ latest fashion show is just so refreshing in times of endless fashion weeks and flashy presentations – where the clothes are no longer the main focus. Jacobs’ clothes – some of his most powerful designs in seasons, less couture-ish, more ready-to-wear-ish – themselves looked indebted to the 1980s, the last analog decade before the internet went wide, and the one when Jacobs came of age in New York City. But the show notes were written by the newly launched Open AI Chat GPT in a noticeably bland, monotonous style. Sample line: “The Marc Jacobs fashion show mesmerized its audience with an awe-inspiring fusion of masculine tailoring and feminine elegance.” The surprise of the experience, a rewriting of the show rules, made you wonder if Jacobs is onto something. As brief as they were, the back and forth of the two finale walks colored in the broad strokes of the show notes. The models’ cyberpunk bowl cuts conjured Pris, Daryl Hannah’s pleasure model replicant from Blade Runner, which seemed like another clue about what Jacobs was up to. They wore the masculine tailoring the Chat GPT described with overscale shoulders and high-waisted deeply pleated pants, as well as femme minidresses that showed off lots of leg–black stockings sliced at the calves over white ankle socks, and pointy-toed flats. The black-and-white palette and the body-conscious attitude of the little nipped waist dresses made the collection seem more essential, more New York, more… Marc Jacobs. To sum up: the designer’s last few collections were true eye-candies, but the most recent one is a true triumph.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!
