Slipcovers. Marie Adam-Leenaerdt AW25

June 12, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt is a Demna’s Balenciaga alumni. As the former creative director of the maison is departing for Milan to lead Gucci, fans of the style so synonymous with that era can with no hesitance head to Adam-Leenaerdt’s eponymous label. Her contributions to Balenciaga, like tea-dresses, boxy envelope skirts and sharp tailoring, are now all under her name. But the designer isn’t stuck in one place – her work is continuously updated with innovative thinking about dressing. Her mathematically-precise, sophisticated autumn-winter 2025 collection, shown back in March during Paris Fashion Week, at first seemed like a Joseph Beuys tribute (coats, suits and dresses in felted gray wool, all somewhat oversized and kept in bold geometric shapes). When the models came back around again, they had added a top layer to the garments, sort of like slipcovers for furniture (hence the show’s location in a home furnishings gallery). A coat was enlivened with a leopard print shell, a Margiela-ist triangle skirt got an electric blue gloss, and a super-chic mini shift became a trompe l’oeil cardigan coat in the vein of Coco Chanel. Marie Adam-Leenaerdt champions clothes that aren’t only modern-looking, but are also intelligent.

ED’s SELECTION:

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Oversized Scarf-detailed Gathered Wool Cardigan

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Double-breasted Wool-twill Blazer

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Bow-embellished Leather Slippers

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Checked Wool Midi Skirt

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Lace-trimmed Satin Blouse

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Gathered Cotton-jersey Midi Dress

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Modern Concept. Julie Kegels AW25

April 26, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Julie Kegels, an Antwerp-based fashion designer, found inspiration for her third collection after stumbling upon Judith Price’s 1980 book “Executive Style: Achieving Success Through Good Taste and Design” at a Los Angeles flea market. Fascinated by its view of modern design as a tool for corporate ascent, Kegels crafted a witty, layered exploration of late 20th-century aesthetics, branding, kitsch, and male “power dressing” drag. She staged her presentation in a Parisian theater, where a model dressed live onstage in a “tech bro” look – monogrammed Fair Isle sweater, undone blue shirt, and oversized navy trousers – all laid out on a caramel leather lounge chair she designed herself with Belgian label HARMO. A clever twist closed the show: a model zipped into a trompe l’oeil jumpsuit mimicking that first outfit, emphasizing how clothing shapes identity. Between these moments, Kegels showcased slouchy blazers, polo-knit dresses, wood-grain printed skirts, and playful deconstructions like waistbands stitched onto shirts. With her bold ideas – including a sensational evening dress made from wood veneer – Kegels connects the dots of concept, craft, and curiosity in a striking way, taking over the baton from Hussein Chalayan.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Boutique Pleasures. Abra AW25

April 9, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Abra – the brand name, but also Abraham Ortuño Perez‘s widely-known nick among industry insiders – grew from an accessory label to a ready-to-wear obsession. The designer, who did some of the biggest footwear hits for the likes of JW Anderson, Loewe and Jacquemus, is on a roll with his (very) personal endeavor. The autumn-winter 2025 collection is dedicated to the very pleasurable feeling of wanting to dress and look like those mythical, sophisticated city folk do in big fashion capitals, that he and his mother used to dream up in “fashion boutiques” when he was a child. “It’s this whole feeling of being from a small town and buying something imported, something from Paris!”, he mused. A nostalgic spark ignited Ortuño Perez’s whimsical yet sincere collection – a cheeky ode to peripheral boutique “hits” reimagined for the woman who dreams in fashion, not trends. His muse? Storefront mannequins of the late ’80s and early ’90s, dolled up in glitzy metallic lamés and over-the-top wigs. Perez gave us all that – and more. The show kicked off with faux-fur coats sculpted into giant roses. Only Perez’s playful lens could render them so fantastically offbeat. Then came hybrid coats – fur, gabardine, and suiting – riffing on “Working Girl” power dressing, now with rounded shoulders and leggings replacing pencil skirts. Closing the show was a trio of lamé dream dresses: one unraveling in fluid drapes, another with an off-kilter crinoline, and a third bursting with ruffled tiers. These were certainly THE boutique showstoppers.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Coarse Sensuality. Rick Owens AW25

April 1, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

There’s something definitely intriguing about Rick Owens’ recent collection. The designer dialed down on the performative and returned back to his core, dating back to his 1998 debut, “Monsters” – his first complete collection, a pre-runway line-up that marked the birth of a new era in fashion. Not that the designer is retrospective in any way (although he take over the Palais Galliera from June with a retrospective exhibition). But you can see and sense that certain coarse, undone beauty of his long, draped jersey dresses reflected in the new season evenigwear, covered with thin laser-cut leather fringes that rippled like gills as the models moved down the runway. Rough sensuality was also embedded in the breath-taking mille feuille tops (that looked as easy to wear as a t-shirt) and the oversized, fringed leather jacket worn by Kristina Nagel (have you seen her recent shoot for i-D featuring Rick and Michele Lamy? Obsessed). On the collection’s ambiguous power-dynamic between the elusive and the bold, quiet and loud, he said: “it’s a constant, trying to keep that balance: of shock and wonder, but you can’t let people dismiss you as just being out of the question.”

ED’s SELECTION:

Rick Owens Wool-felt Cape

Rick Owens Luna Draped Crepe-jersey Mini Dress

Rick Owens Twisted Cantilever Suede Wedge Mules

Rick Owens Bias Ribbed-knit Trimmed Satin Wide-leg Pants

Rick Owens Sahara Asymmetric Paneled Gathered Jersey Gown

Rick Owens Minimal Grill Beatle Leather Platform Ankle Boots

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

New Softness. Balmain AW25

March 29, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Olivier Rousteing‘s Balmain collection was one of the most intriguing and pleasing surprises of the season. You might have noticed that I might not be the brand’s number one fan and I barely ever write about it, but the new energy that pulsates in Rousteing’s autumn-winter 2025 line-up can’t go unnoticed. No shoulder pads in sight. Instead, sensual gray melange, layers of fleecy knits and body-wrapping cashmere. “I want to make a new softness, with shapes that are cocooning,” the designer mused. An unexpected color palette, consisting of bold orange, and a splash of zebra print made the largely understated, yet still charismatic and vivacious Balmain collection feel Balmain… but not in the old way. I want more of the new Olivier.