New York

Sustainable Elegance. Proenza Schoulder Resort 2021

| Design & Culture by Ed

The whole crisis of 2020 appears to work well for some creatives. This sort of reset was really needed. Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough of Proenza Schouler have released their spring-summer 2021 look-book not a while ago, and it was brilliant. Now, as the new season clothes are gradually arriving to stores, the boys dropped their resort 2021 line-up, which is equally great. It seems that the designers took a deep breath, reflected on their work from the last couple of seasons, and returned to Proenza Schouler’s core, but in a contemporary, thoughtful way. The resort collection is very much a product of lockdown time. The designers spent the early months of the pandemic talking business. The fashion industry was essentially at a standstill in that moment and the new normal had them reconsidering the issue of sustainability. “As a brand with a voice it’s our responsibility to address these things,” McCollough said. Over the years, they’ve amassed a huge archive of fabrics and they created parts of this pre-spring offering out of those deadstock materials. “It’s not a patchwork vibe, but it’s fabrics we’ve done before, and it’s been game changing,” said Hernandez. They’re also introducing a core offering with this collection that won’t be subject to markdowns, and hope to expand it to up to 30% of their business. “It’s relevant now, but it’s not going to be irrelevant six months from now,” Hernandez continued. “It’s a black sweater, wool suitings, nylon gabardines. So it’s sustainable also in that regard.” Browsing the lineup, it has a certain earthiness, but it hasn’t lost its cool. The palette is warm, and the smocking details feel crafty, almost homespun even on leather. As with the main collection, there’s an emphasis on easy-wearing knits. But all that is counterbalanced by minimal, ’90s-ish tailoring, which is elegant and chic.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

The Look(s) – The Row AW20

| Design & Culture by Ed

The Row‘s autumn-winter 2020 collection is a line-up you want to return to once in a while. Especially, when it’s getting colder outside. As the models skimmed quickly by in flat slippers and boots, the thrill behind Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen’s line-up was in the finesse of the cuts, precise but relaxed, especially with the addition of turtlenecks layered under silk button-downs or worn solo under jackets. The tailoring is refined and subtle in shilhouette, and the outerwear is a sure winner of the season. It’s quite clear that the designers looked at Martin Margiela’s Hermès years for inspiration – especially the layered knits and long, grey gloves that seemed to blur with the clothes. But I’m fine with that.

Collages by Edward Kanarecki

Effortless and Warm. Proenza Schouler SS21

| Design & Culture by Ed

In the absence of a New York Fashion Week show, the Proenza Schouler designers – Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough – made their first-ever book with the photographer Daniel Shea. Shot in August, it pairs expressive model shots with even more evocative images of the city: the skyline at sunset, the Empire State building seen through a tangle of power lines, a super-tall tower on Billionaires’ Row. It’s an ode to their hometown in a year when they’ve spent very little of their time in it. In the early months of the pandemic they were up at their place in the Berkshires. They spent March and April on Zoom business calls trying to figure out how to make it through this unprecedented situation. When they finally turned to their next collection, their normal processes weren’t possible: no research trip, no dips into their archive, no silhouette studies on a model. “All we walked into the studio with was a feeling. We wanted something that felt effortless and warm; we wanted to get rid of the sharp edges. It just had to make you feel good. For us that’s what fashion should be at its most successful. It should make one’s life easier and feel good,” Hernandez said. “A forever quality,” McCollough elaborated, “something that lasts.” There are decorative treatments for both night and day here; allover sequins cover a straight-line shirtdress, and the shoulders of a button-down shirt and waistline of button-fly trousers are graphically dip-dyed. But the big story is really the attitude adjustment; without being boring the clothes feel simpler than what they’ve put on their recent runways. They emphasized easy-to-wear ribbed-knit separates and dresses, and stripped any artifice from their tailoring, which is just slightly oversized and mannish save for the suits’ soft pastel colors. Putting the accent on silhouette, they made a dress with a choker collar, a cut-out asymmetrical neckline, and voluminous sleeves, then cut the drama with puffy slippers. Those flat shoes are a key to the season’s new mood, a timely nod to our more circumscribed lifestyles and the renewed value that women are placing on comfort. It’s looking more and more like we’ll be staying homebound well into 2021. The collection’s knockout dress in stretch jersey with circular cut-outs on the bodice will be similarly comfortable, but the reason that women will really respond to it is because it looks like a guaranteed good time.

Collages by Edward Kanarecki.

One Grand Gesture: Carolina Herrera x Elizaveta Porodina

| Design & Culture by Ed

I can’t recall the last time I was so moved by an ad campaign visual coming from a brand. And I would never expect such pleasure to come from Carolina Herrera. To celebrate the label’s autumn-winter 2020 collection, inspired by the works of Spanish Baroque painter Francisco de Zurbarán and the idea of ‘One Grand Gesture’, creative director Wes Gordon collaborated with Russian artist and photographer Elizaveta Porodina to create a portfolio of images shot entirely over Zoom (!!!), capturing ballet dancers around the world in fearless and fabulous movement and color. Elizaveta captured six dancers around the world from their homes and studios throughout the quarantine: Natasha Diamond-Walker, soloist at Martha Graham Dance Company, Ako Kondo, prima ballerina from Melbourne, Misa Kuranaga, principal dancer at San Francisco Ballet, Inès McIntosh, quadrille at Opéra National de Paris, Claudia Monja, the principal dancer of Joburg Ballet, and Wendy Whelan, the associate artistic director of New York City Ballet. “The winter collection was about the idea of One Grand Gesture – a billowing sleeve, the most pigmented color, an unforgettable silhouette. The fine line between drama and restraint. I wanted to further explore this concept with photographer Elizaveta Porodina, whose work I have always admired“, Gordon sums up. Here’s a sublime feast for your eyes and mind after a rather stressful week of uncertainty and frustration…

All photos by Elizaveta Porodina – discover her work here!

For Her, For Him, For Us. Maryam Nassir Zadeh SS21

| Design & Culture by Ed

And just like that, it’s mid-autumn, and we all dream of (a care-free, mask-less, never-ending) summer. Maryam Nassir Zadeh made that desire even more burning with her spring-summer 2021 look-book, which she shot in Turkey this September (skipping New York Fashion Week altogether). But this season is different for one more reason: there’s Nassir Zadeh’s debut menswear, which is as good as her womenswear. Which basically translates to ultimate heaven. In general, the designer has been feeling a more relaxed, unprecious look these days, usually involving a men’s button-down, silver jewelry and her dad’s vintage leather jacket. It’s an easy, just-odd-enough mix that feels right for the moment. Surely there are guys (me!!!!!) who want that, too – vintage-tinged treasures and refined basics, without logos or sky-rocket price tags. She explained that she’s long been inspired by the men in her life – her father, boyfriends, husband, and longtime stylist Thistle Brown, whom she worked with this season – and dreamed of making men’s clothes for years. The uncertainty of the pandemic made her stop waiting for the “right” moment. The debut line is fundamentally MNZ – the tweaked proportions, soft fabrics, and touches of sensuality – but without the occasional metallic flash or neon blazer of her women’s line. It’s quiet, almost delicate menswear, the kind you’d like to swipe from your boyfriend’s closet and keep forever. That was intentional, of course: Zadeh designed it with guys in mind, but also her close female friends. What kind of shirt or pant or jean could live in both closets?A few pieces were shown on both her female and male models to drive the message home: she wore the hip-slung pleated khakis with a baby tee and shell bra; he wore them with a beige button-down and sandals. Both wore the V-neck sweater vests with nothing underneath: her with a mini skirt, him with over-sized pants. And those enveloping leather jackets were tossed over jeans and lace dresses alike. Buttery-soft, free of hardware, and perfectly anonymous, they might be the ultimate investment piece of 2021. The best part: You can split the cost with your partner.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.