Modern-Day Witch. Gabriela Hearst SS24

September 14, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

For spring-summer 2024, Gabriela Hearst was talking about the Druids and quoted a wicca handbook. But the designer’s clothes really don’t need that much background and explanation. The collection’s highlight dress, made from black cashmere linen gauze, had the long draped sleeves of a high priestess robe. Witchy lengths and layers reappeared all over the offering, but there was a contemporary feel to them. The designer cut a couple of very elegant pantsuits, of course in responsibly sourced or deadstock materials. As usual, she’s also passionate about craft. There was an extraordinary white poncho and dress in this collection whose elaborate patterns were hand-crocheted and hand-macraméd by Bolivian artisans after a painting by the Haitian artist Levoy Exil, whose work draws inspiration from voodoo. The poncho took over 1,500 hours to complete. Beaded mesh dresses, while simpler, require their own time-consuming steps; to make the yarn, the glass beads are first strung on silk, which is then spun with cashmere. Heart will show her last collection for Chloé later this month; that match just didn’t click, even with the designer’s best intentions. At least now she will have more space for perfecting her vision at her New York-based label.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Retro-Tinged Chic. Tory Burch SS24

September 13, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Tory Burch keeps on thriving. It’s a real pleasure seeing how this designer evolves creatively throughout the last couple of seasons, all thanks to her thorough study of Claire McCardell’s all-American, elegant designs. Spring-summer 2024 is a beautiful continuation of Burch’s take on femininity, through a slightly retro-tinged lens. There were bits of space-age sensibility: crinoline rings that formed the bouncy hems of viscose knit dresses, in the uniform-like sensibility of the collarless bonded jersey jackets she paired with super-short minis, and in the ergonomically designed molded plastic handbags. The designer said she’d been thinking about what “effortless” means now. She liked the idea of clothing that “frees up your mind.” Clothes should unencumber you, not complicate your life. The thigh-high hems conveyed a carefree, youthful attitude, especially since they were paired with flat shoes, but the plunging U-necks, held in place with what looked like tie clips, might not prove as easy to wear. Nylon taffeta zip polos worn with tech-y pants got closer to the effortlessness she said she was aiming for. A coat, coatdress, and skirt suit with stand-away collars had a more vintage-y look, in keeping with the ’60s influences we’ve seen elsewhere this New York Fashion Week – like at Altuzarra.

Twisted Lady. Altuzarra SS24

September 13, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Second season in a row, Joseph Altuzarra delivers one of the best collections of New York Fashion Week. His winter offering was a refined look-back at his signature, urban elegance; for spring-summer 2024, the designer nods to Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby and Miuccia Prada’s style, an aesthetically-ecstatic combination of references. The film’s haunting undercurrents felt close to the surface of Altuzarra season, with tulle veils and matching 1960s babydoll dresses and the she’s-come-undone details, like the crushed textures of everything from slipdresses to A-line coats, gauzy organza slips peeking out from underneath the hems of pencil skirts, and the DIY-ish embroideries on other skirts and dresses. Miuccia’s spirit could be perceived all over the bourgeois lady-likeness, which is never obvious; there’s always a sexual tension behind it. To tempt the clients who want to play around with uptown sexiness, Altuzarra had satin coats in red, butter yellow, and ivory that were A-line and somewhat oversized, “almost as if you took a doll coat from the ’60s and blew it up a little bit,” and a strapless polka dot trapeze dress straight out of 1950s couture. There was also a pair of gowns, one black with thin straps, and the other a white tank style, that looked neither twisted, nor bourgeois; they were simply striking.

Sweet Melancholia. Sandy Liang SS24

September 13, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Sandy Liang is known in New York for her sweet spot for cinematic nostalgia. For spring-summer 2024, the designer looked at her cult-favorite film for inspiration: Sophia Coppola’s directorial debut The Virgin Suicides. The film actually doubles as the name of her collection, an assemblage of hyper-feminine garments that the Lisbon sisters themselves may have worn if not for their tragic fates. Showcased at the garden of the Cooper Hewitt Museum with music from Parker Radcliffe, the ultra-feminine collection featured taffeta dresses, pleated skirts and bows, both in hair and on clothing. It was naturally in tune with Liang’s blend of balletcore and pageantcore with some 1970s twists that appeared n the form of peter pan collars, cropped capri pants and pant suit jackets worn as tops. Models also wore necklaces and earrings constructed out of freshwater pearls and seashells dipped in metal. Playful and whimsical, tinged with melancholia: that’s how you can describe Sandy Liang’s womenswear. Meanwhile, I can’t wait for my copy of Coppola’s latest “Archive” book to arrive.

Primal Instinct. Area AW23

September 12, 2023September 12, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

While other designers in New York get nostalgic about the 1990s, 70s, or 20s, Piotrek Panszczyk looked back a couple of thousand years, BC, for his latest Area ready-to-wear and couture collection. He’d been “thinking about prehistoric times and how pelts and bones were kind of the first things humans had to build an identity around. It started with this idea of the primal instinct that through the centuries morphed into desire, and then eventually a kind of excess and the life cycle of luxury.” The unsettling ambience of the fashion show, plus the inventive, at points bizarre “bone-y” silhouettes, eventually delivered one of the strongest and intriguing collections coming from the label in the last seasons. The idea was cleverly developed: there were “fur pelt” coats made from fur-printed denim in a variety of colors that delivered runway drama, fur-print, low-slung jeans, and a mini dress with bulbous little godets that spoke to Panszczyk’s commitment to offering real-world alternatives to fantasy. The collection’s highlight: models in big-shouldered jackets or slinky jersey pieces punctuated by beastly rips, the gold-embellished bones of their attackers still elegantly attached to their clothes.