The Designers of SS19

August 9, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who to watch in the upcoming fashion month? I’ve decided to select the six designers that you’ve got to keep on your radar for spring-summer 2019. So, while we’re all waiting for September (and it’s lovely breeze), take a look at the names that will be everywhere in just a couple of weeks!

Richard Quinn

His autumn-winter 2018 show in London was attended by the Queen, while the statement floral prints and exaggerated, lady-like volumes are the season’s absolute best-sellers. Those scarf maxi-dresses and puffas are the new classics. Yes, they are! Richard’s show in September is highly anticipated, just as the major debuts at the historical maisons (which I’m quite sceptic about…). Can’t wait to see which direction the designer takes this time. One thing’s quite sure – Quinn’s love for prints, which he produces himself at his studio, isn’t a one-time phenomenon.

Pyer Moss

Kerby Jean Raymond makes activism a crucial component of his brand, Pyer Moss, being vocal about current problems that America faces today – from the current president to widespread social injustice. In his autumn-winter 2018 collection, the designer took black cowboys of the 19th century, including one of the first rodeo stars of the era, Bill Pickett, as inspiration. Moreover, that was the first season where Kerby sent out a line-up of womenswear, which consisted of streetwear sensibility, enormous knitwear and Wild West shirts. AND, that yellow Goddess dress as well. So good. But what else makes Pyer Moss a label to observe is the cultural diversity it embraces, not just in terms of model casting. Others are more than welcome to follow that path.

Matthew Adams Dolan

Dolan’s denim jackets and signature shirt-dresses with exaggerated cuffs are perceived as the new ‘basics’. Why? Noting their couture-level tailoring, Matthew’s fashion is realistic and wearable, but far, far from trivial. It’s not about few good styling tricks or a thoroughly contrived Instagram ‘image’ that fuels the label. Dolan let’s the clothes do the talking for themselves, which is especially rare in the industry. The talented, young designer as well revises American fashion, creating the ultimate classics of 2018 (and for years ahead). SZA and Rihanna approve, just as the fact that Matthew became one of the finalists of this year’s LVMH prize. You better watch that spot.

Molly Goddard

While looking at Molly Goddard’s last collection, I was just impressed with the way this young designer does everything so effortlessly, with so much joy. During the autumn-winter 2018 show, models stopped for a bottle of wine or a chat, in the middle of the kitchen-themed venue. Few seasons ago, Molly stormed the London fashion week with her over-sized tulle dresses and a cool, ‘what a girl likes’ mood. Now, the designer moves towards new territories of 90s crop-tops and gingham, so that she doesn’t feel trapped by her already beloved signature.

Marine Serre

Manic Soul Machine is how the designer intriguingly titled her first runway collection – a cross-cultural, cross-everything dialogue. While demanding fashion seems to be a deficit today, Serre wants you to reflect on everything, from politics and spirituality to sex and society. Her distinct crescent moon print appeared on nearly everything (athletic bodysuits, shoes, headbands), but the designer’s ‘Futurewear’ as well involved plastic raincoats and motocross jackets.  There’s something elusive about Marine Serre’s fashion – it’s hard to explain in one word. It’s ‘love’, ’emotions’, ‘future’, ‘intelligence’ – words that rarely can be used to describe clothes. However, they fit Marine’s work perfectly. Can’t wait to see what’s coming from this designer, really. Paris fashion week, prepare yourself!

Magda Butrym

Although this Polish designer releases her look-books near the time the clothes hit the stores, I still consider her to be one of the names to watch for spring-summer 2019. Butrym’s autumn collection is largely inspired by the Wild West style and country music, but nothing’s too literal in here. The floral mini-dresses with over-sized shoulders and feather stoles are just a slight node to Dolly Parton’s over-the-top style. Rather think of a prairie girl hitting Paris (but this Paris, not the one in Texas). Other than that, we’ve got red velvet, meticulously embellished coats and gorgeous boots with attachable brooches (!). Hot.

That’s my list. And how about you? Have you got a name (or two) that you’re very keen to follow this season?

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

Colour. Calvin Klein Resort 2019

July 20, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Raf Simons’ resort 2019 collection for Calvin Klein 205W93NYC feels like a remix. It’s a smooth continuation from the line’s remarkable autumn-winter 2018 collection (note the fireman jackets and heavy knits), a reminder of the designer’s classics for the brand (polished cowboy boots) and a start of something totally new. Colour blocking! The clingy, maxi-length knitted dresses in bold yellow, pink or blue are feminine, but not banal (and are an echo of Simons’ work for Jil Sander, which makes this addition even more special for the fans). That major play of colours jumped into menswear as well. Other than that, we’ve got America’s most renowned university logos, all over varsity jackets, handbags and pockets of blazers. Personally, I think that’s the weakest point of the collection, but the one that will sell best. Still, it’s consistent to Raf’s thorough examination of the Americana theme he moves every season, in various aspects. Pre-collections are not main collections, so you know, Raf couldn’t go too far. But it’s a proper balance of commercial and daring.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Joy. Rosie Assoulin SS19

June 12, 2018June 12, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

The fashion week calendar gets blurrier and blurrier with designers like Rosie Assoulin, who has presented her resort 2019 and spring-summer 2019 as one, fluent collection, long ahead of the usual schedule. The designer is planning to make two collections a year, keeping it at her pace – so, forget any ‘see now, buy now’ strategies here, or other confusing business tricks. For Assoulin, it’s the time that matters: to design and to produce her garments. And that’s quite visible, when you take a moment to look at the clothes.

For instance, a coat hand-painted with watercolours; intricately beaded midi-skirts. Note the pin-striped suits. As Vogue reports, “instead of engineering a print, each pinstripe was actually a space-dyed yarn that almost shimmered”. Indeed, not that simple as it seems. Not forgetting about the fantastic jug bags, one of Rosie’s well-known signatures among the New Yorkers. This time they come in even bolder colours. What makes Rosie Assoulin’s brand so distinctive is the joy and humour that are inseparable from the clothes. And what else could highlight that this season? The presentation’s venue, Raquel’s Dream House. It’s Raquel Cayre’s space, where the design lover exhibits some of the most iconic pieces – Masanori Umeda’s Tawaraya ring sits, Shiro Kuramata’s famously fragile Glass Chair and Ettore Sottsass’s Ultrafragola mirror, to name a few. A set that matches Assoulin’s arty gowns, skirts and outerwear just perfectly.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Melting Pot. Alexander Wang SS19

June 10, 2018June 10, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

It seems that the New York fashion calendar is about to break down entirely. Some major designers show in Paris; some are coming back home, and to the regular schedule (Proenza Schouler is the latest); and some, like Alexander Wang, decide to show ahead of all, in the Big Apple, and persuade us, the confused viewers, not to call it spring-summer 2019 – but rather, the enigmatic ‘season 1’. Yes, I know that might be too much. But surprisingly, all those switches did good to Wang. Not that I adore his latest collection, but it’s so much better than his last seasons. At least, it’s not trying to mean too much as it did the last time with the Matrix-CEO theme.

The inspiration started with Alexander’s mum and dad taking a trip together, and their immigration to America. Still, the collection wasn’t meant to be overly political, so migration wasn’t the ultimate key here. The designer focused on the notion of more dynamic, risk-involving travelling, or rather riding. Maybe the attitude close to Lana Del Rey’s Ride music video might be a clue. In overall, the collection felt like a creative melting pot shaped from Wang’s experiences, fascinations and aesthetics. We’ve had the Axl Rose bandanas; motocross gears; leather mini skirts and ‘piercing’ tops made of pins; football jerseys. Is that the today’s grunge according to Alex? Who knows. Definitely, Wang felt a lot of joy, while designing the collection, as all of that is truly, but truly him.