Pastel Life. Derek Lam AW15

February 17, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Pastels are always a good choice. In my opinion, Derek Lam is seriously underrated – he is a master of colour combination. He can easily mix unobvious camel with teal or rust with yellow, creating a simple, but interesting look. AW15 is one of the most genius collections Derek showed in his whole career – the way of wearing coats, the “whatever” mood brought by the XXL-sized sweatshirts and pantalons – created a smart and sophisticated collection which allows women to style their clothes however they want to. No big theme is imposed – it’s all about pastel-coloured basics!

Party Girl. Victoria Beckham AW15

February 17, 2015February 17, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Victoria Beckham which you knew during her first years of fashion career and Victoria Beckham that you know now are two, utterly different women. The one in the past wore super high heels and slim cocktail dresses; the one now prefers flats and comfortable, over-sized clothes in which she feels best. Beckham’s AW15 is just the right reflection of how she, herself, feels – easy, feeling happy with her kids and life. Slouchy knits, carrot-shaded midi skirts, wearable boots and cobalt coats are all, as she said, so beautiful, that you can wear them for a very long period of time. Also, Victoria experimented with textures and layers – the last two final looks had long, cut-out skirts which were definitely a new field of discovery for the designer. This collection easily proves, that Victoria Beckham really feels well in her own skin.

Classy, Chic, Love. Altuzarra AW15

February 16, 2015February 16, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Although you might assume I didn’t like Altuzarra’s collection by looking at the picture above, you’re mistaken. The shoes on the left are the original Altuzarra lace boots that walked the runway two days ago; while the ones on the right are the super kitsch shoes from faszynfromraszyn.pl, where I sometimes compare fashion trends… but back to the collection – the shoes are the only thing that felt bad in the entire collection. Rest? Best collection by Joseph Altuzarra up to date of his career. It perfectly highlights his biggest signatures – femme fatale mood, feminine silhouettes, chic must-have clothes. With a dose of appealing masculinity for AW15 (tweed!), Altuzarra mixed tailored trousers with collared sheer shirts fox-fur jackets. Fur is a big thing in the collection, too – the super fluffy jackets look like clouds elevated around the models! Anna Ewers look (the pink one, you are going to spot it easily) wins everything.

A major thing for Altuzarra are the bags – with a Woodstock festival attitude, the fringed leather bags definitely will be everywhere – possibly, a significant and iconic bag from America is going to conquer the world? Gucci, take notes. Hah, even the sex-appeal of the clothes slightly remind that Tom-Ford-at-Gucci look… definitely not the gender-fuse one which is boosted by Alessandro Michele at the moment. Coming back to Joseph – now, he’s earning the higher level in the international fashion. Delightful.

50 Shades of Black. Alexander Wang AW15

February 16, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Our customer wants black, so why not do an all-black collection?” Oh dear. It’s the most commercialised sentence I ever heard from anyone in the industry since I started writing. Alexander Wang, really? REALLY? Does this mean, that the label totally went for the masses and decided to be ruled by the customer? Creativity means, that you give an idea to people – this means, that your idea is accepted or not by the person buying, analysing or observing your work. But saying that if they want black, then lets give them black makes me want to puke. Well, the Alexander Wang X HM capsule was already a bad sign (lets not deceive ourselves – the logomania prints and all that polyester & neoprene stuff was dumb). But after this totally black collection (except few pairs of jeans and one white sweater) I lose any respect for Wang. Aside from those Frankenstein boots, everything is so retail-friendly. Every rich teen girl would die to look like Kendall Jenner in one of these black dresses… and, she is going to get it, ’cause Wang knows that the “customer’s always right”.

Minimal Bouquet. Adam Lippes AW15

February 16, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Florals? For spring? Ground-breaking. But effective. And not for spring, in reality, but for winter. Adam Lippes, the master of modern sportswear from New York bloomed this season. Known for minimal silhouettes, Adam had a dose of printed flowers there and there – on the jackets and dresses, for example. But what seriously makes me excited for this collection are the sweaters, which are made from 10 different gauges of wool! That’s a lot. And the effect is as impressive as the numbers – this knitted piece of art seems to be so soft and fluffy that you just want to wear it and hug people around… what else caught my eye? The mink fur coat. Styled with those masculine trousers, this piece of clothing seems to be timeless and never out of fashion. You might think that the collection works totally on fashion basics – but in overall effect, it has much to say this winter.