Like Champagne. Area SS18

September 10, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Area is getting better with time, just like wine. By that, I have no intentions to say that Beckett Fogg‘s and Piotrek Panszczyk‘s label gets boringly mature. It gets fun! And braver! Yesterday’s fashion show was literally a blast – the richness of colours, the frivolity, all that glam in form of bold red dresses and shoulder-exposing tops. The entire show was an extremely bright moment, full of joy and happiness, which is quite rare to see during New York fashion week, where designers mostly send down beiges and whites. And pastels, duh. What I also liked about the show was that every woman might find something for her here – fashion with allure and expression is not for young-only and Insta-models. A laid-back suit (in fluorescent fabric), minis, maxis. Being the Area girl must be a very good, good feeling. Like a glass of summer wine! Or better – out-of-fridge, bubble-exploding champagne.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Confidence. Eckhaus Latta SS18

September 10, 2017September 10, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

The thing about New York Fashion Week is that most of young designers, who show this time around are a) not standing for anything substantial or b) do The Row / Céline knock-offs. Eckhaus Latta, however, is far, far different. Maybe because Mike Eckhaus and Zoe Latta are originally from Los Angeles? Maybe. But coming back to NYFW, their fashion show had messages. Be confident. Be yourself. And respect your body. Transparency and volume play made the silhouettes of sheer dresses look radical, while various knits clung the body comfortably. One of the models was pregnant, and the designers embraced that in a beautiful manner by dressing her in a button-down dress that exposed her belly. The models varied in age as well as in gender and race. Full diversity isn’t a trend, but the ultimate truth for Eckhaus Latta.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Two Faces. Creatures of The Wind SS18

September 10, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Although not much was going on at Creatures of The Wind‘s spring-summer 2018 fashion show, one specific piece of clothing stole the spotlight. The ‘stoner’ shearling coat, embroidered with cannabis leaves all over it. Looking back at Shane Gabier and Chris Peters‘ creative career, their Creatures of The Wind women is under a constant style/mental dilemma. Is she an edgy, hippie girl who adores eclecticism? Or is she an already established New Yorker career-woman with a thing for ‘arty’? This season, there’s a compromise, and the cannabis motif is a sign that the girl has a wilder side, while wearing office-ready white dresses or empowering leather trenches that had been re-dyed and painted.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki (I kind of see that coat being worn around tipsy Amsterdam…).

American Horror. Calvin Klein SS18

September 8, 2017September 10, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

First thing you notice in Raf Simons‘ spring-summer 2018 collection for Calvin Klein is that he’s the man of consistency. The first looks – the new CK uniforms – were the cowboy shirts in heavy colour block, the same as we’ve seen in his debut collection last March. The shoes haven’t changed dramatically, too. The venue took place in Calvin Klein’s headquarters and it was again covered with Sterling Ruby’s installations, but the main motif was actually quite disturbing- knife and blood. Were horrors and criminals on Simons’ mind?

At Klein, he’s a fan for American symbolism, and thrillers are very well rooted in American cinema – wherever we speak of mid-20th century or 2017. To grasp the idea of crime-drenched drama in his new season evening wear, he pulled off 50s looking ball gowns (surprisingly constructed using vinyl). Some of the leather coats looked as if they were blood-stained, which gave the audience a thrill. Horror film vibes got even more serious when latex gloves emerged down the runway – the high fashion reminiscent of Jason’s mask from Friday 13th, some noted. But that wasn’t the end of the American obsession. For this season, the brand collaborated with Andy Warhol Foundation on prints, using some of the lesser known elements of the artist’s works on trousers, t-shirts and dresses. Simons shakes things up again, in a very sinister (even as for him) manner.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

You Do You. Tom Ford SS18

September 7, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Wherever I look, I see a long feature about the importance and potential of Tom Ford. Business of Fashion did one recently. New York Mag had it in August, exclusively sharing bits on the designer’s work behind the spring-summer 2018 collection. All of the magazines praise Tom Ford for his work at Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent, for his venture in the film industry (like Nocturnal Animals) and most of all, his own brand with commercially succesful beauty line, men’s ready-to-wear and growing womenswear. Is Tom Ford’s PR working night and day, lately? Or maybe just in the year of 2017 the fashion industry decided to agree on one thing – Tom Ford is boss. And his fashion, season-to-season, wherever he designs, says you do you. Really, no else does Tom Ford as well as, gasp, Tom Ford.

There were rumours that Ford is planning to do a loud 90s revival – and that was certainly true. Backless jumpsuits, shoulder pads in denim, killer puchsia and lots of bling-bling were present, giving New York fashion week a glamorous kick-off. Don’t think it was nostalgic, as nostalgia in fashion often ends looking dusty and pretentious. That was a sleek line-up of ultra-glossy and great-body-demanding clothes, with no deeper meanings. That’s a collection that you look at with a relaxed, optimist eye at the beginning of the fashion month triathlon. Surely not like at a show of the last few days that you would confuse with Balmain and rather skip. But still, Ford is in a very, very good form, and what’s more, on his own terms.