New York

Easy Formality. Proenza Schouler AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

Here we go – it’s New York Fashion Week, the most IRL one since the start of pandemic. This season it’s opened by a very New York collection, coming from Proenza Schouler. And this isn’t just another line-up, but a collection that celebrates Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough‘s 20th year in business. Take a look back at the Parsons graduation collection that started it all for them in 2003, and you will notice that much has changed in the intervening decades. The brand had its ups and downs throughout the years, and for a couple of seasons now it consequently heads towards a sort of sophisticated, yet aesthetically minimalist formality. “Comfort” and “ease” are fashion’s buzzwords of the moment, relics of a lockdown that remain even as the emergence we’ve been hoping for starts to take shape. The corseted silhouettes that were the first Proenza Schouler signature, however, have been completely rethought for today, constructed from machines that knit in circles, allowing for a seamless, molded look. Can a strapless dress with volume evocative of 18th-century panniers really feel effortless? Yes, if it’s in sculpted knitwear with a circular bias-cut skirt. Hernandez and McCollough gave their tailoring the same waisted look by accessorizing suits with torso-spanning body shapers, or by cutting jackets and coats to wrap across the midriff and button off to the side, the cloth equivalent of a firm hug. If this outing was a reappraisal of their past, it wasn’t reliant on it. A loose-fitting shirtdress with a fluid looped hem stood out for its color, a vibrant purple that they’ve avoided before. The animal print is another new indulgence – here it was deliberately glitched, as if the color didn’t take in the folds and creases of the fabric as it went through the machine.

It’s a strong collection coming from the Proenza boys, yet I just can’t get rid of the impression I constantly have with them since a couple of seasons. The brand had its Phoebe Philo’s Céline phase, then a New Bottega obsession, and now… The Row era? That’s the thing – in the beginning of Proenza Schouler, the brand was so distinct you just couldn’t mistake it with any other brand. Now, it echoes those brands-of-the-moment that emphasize the less is more rule in the most refined and luxurious ways. Is it really what the brand stands for? Does it have to fill that (heavily oversaturated) niche? If there’s one thing to reflect on while celebrating the anniversary, then it’s retrieving the label’s real, authentic voice.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Dancing Silhouettes. Rosie Assoulin Pre-Fall 2022

| Design & Culture by Ed

Dancing and the beauty of the body in motion definitely had to be on Rosie Assoulin‘s mind for pre-fall 2022. The pleated celery green ensemble looks even more phenomenal when you’re twirling in it, while the watercolour blue ball-skirt in plaid just begs to dance the night away. These ultra-feminine silhouettes feel so light and expressive, but are far from non-sense. Actually, this collection is a harmonious balance of the dramatic and functional. Even though she’s known primarily as an evening wear expert, Assoulin is a master of convertibility. “I like the idea that a woman might at some point change her mind later on,” the designer said. Examples? The white cloqué henley dress with a black bra insert can be buttoned up or down to show as much of the undergarment as you wish. A plaid blazer comes with removable sleeves that can give the look of opera gloves. Assoulin’s commitment to convertibility and adaptability under all the glamour prevails in her new season designs. “The appetite I have is definitely for exciting graphic, dramatic pieces, but it’s not my life,” she said. “So I have to find how I can bring [ease and drama] together.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

E-Girl Knitwear. Paolina Russo AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

“When I started this collection I was reflecting on who I wanted to be as a designer,” reflects Paolina Russo. “In the past I’ve been the sporty colorful girl, but I didn’t really get to show the breadth of my world.” Google Russo’s name and the sporty, colorful ethos definitely dominates her results. It’s what has made retailers like Ssense buy into her collection and megabrands like Adidas seek her out for collaborations. But there’s more than meets the eye to Russo’s oeuvre. Born to a family of collectors in Canada, Russo inherited a certains sentimentality and nostalgia. For autumn-winter 2022, she’s plumbing her youth, morphing video game heroines with aloof suburban teens. Knitwear is a main focus, with fully fashioned wool pieces in tonal colorways. Russo is a master of the stitch, turning cable knits into corset boning and draping a midi-skirt to hang from slinky hip bone cutouts. She’s pulled on her snowboarding past to create padded sleeve jackets that evoke ski gear. The few cut-and-sew pieces have a video game look, with neon insets and pleated skirts. On the whole, her collection pushes the Paolina Russo brand to a more essential level – not just show pieces but real everyday clothes. Let’s see where she goes next.

Elevate your wardrobe with some Paolina Russo greatness right now: Paolina Russo SSENSE Exclusive knitted skirt, Paolina Russo SSENSE Exclusive t-shirt, Paolina Russo SSENSE Exclusive bucket hat & Paolina Russo SSENSE Exclusive bralette.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Back To Life. The Row AW22

| Design & Culture by Ed

The latest The Row collection is so, so good. Even with office life curtailed and many industries extending their work-from-home policies well into the new year, the Olsen sisters are loyal to their impeccable tailoring. This season’s proportions are vaguely mannish: oversized and boxy or cut with a slouch, an attitude that’s accentuated by the sneakers that they pair with everything from a belted leather trench to a three-piece pantsuit. The big novelty this season is Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen‘s palette – the offering is awash with color. The look book opens with just a peek – their new trainers are green on the bottom – but come the end, that green turns up on a cardigan jacket and fine-gauge sweaters, and it mingles with equally vibrant shades of orange and purple. They use these brights like the minimalists they are, by avoiding prints and patterns in favor of big blocks of color, layering an orange turtleneck under a white button-down under a purple V-neck under a tan three-button coat, or assembling a long, lean silhouette from a gray ribbed tank on top of a red crewneck and white turtleneck, all of them paired with an ankle-length black skirt. There are also more muted shades of navy, bordeaux, and forest green, for clients not ready to embrace the more extroverted colors. A couple of other notable developments: picking up the gesture from their last collection that saw them swaddling a model’s head with a sweater, they twisted and wrapped fabric at the waist and hips and tossed extravagant scarves over the shoulders of coats, moves that added interest and personality to their looks. There was also a touch of embellishment: enamel discs decorate the hem of a duster coat, and a pair of skirts are naively tiled almost like a mosaic. But it’s colorful sportswear that is this collection’s key message: It’s the one that could make women rejigger their back-to-work wardrobes when offices finally reopen.

Collages by Edward Kanarecki.

Signatures. Thom Browne Pre-Fall 2022

| Design & Culture by Ed

People might find Thom Browne’s work monotonous, if they look at it superficially. Gray wool suit, pleated skirt, rakish tie – these distinct Browne signatures are always there. However, Browne rarely does the same thing twice. Sure, he has a very stable gray wool core, but each season he delights in trying out an outrageous new silhouette, a clever in-joke, or a cheeky rethink of an American staple. While this women’s collection carries over motifs from Browne’s men’s pre-fall, including lovely jade floral intarsias inspired by his bedroom wallpaper and a fixation with lobsters resulting in an exceptional Shetland wool lobster skirt – he introduced new whimsical proportions here. A cropped puffer was so short and bulbous it almost looked like a mushroom cap atop slender black trousers. Browne has never made a womenswear silhouette that exaggerates the upper body in this abbreviated way before. Elsewhere, khaki shorts do the opposite for a woman’s lower half; they’re cut wide, loose, and sexless enough to look dementedly funny. The signature Browne suit has evolved, as well: The shoulderpads and the canvas are cut out of the brand’s cropped blazer so that it’s as soft and snuggly as a cardigan, constructed from an elegant black-and-white tweed. The check gray skirt suit in look 28 might seem standard, but look closer and Browne is doing something strangely new: here is a single-breasted blazer with a vest long enough to be worn as a dress and a loose, almost shapeless skirt. For a designer with famously strict tailoring, silhouettes that skim the body and waft in the breeze are practically revelatory. Browne says the suit is “the most important look” of the collection, unlocking an idea that will carry to the silhouettes we’ll see in his autumn-winter 2022 outing in a couple of weeks.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.