Paris Fashion Week

End Of An Era. Saint Laurent SS27

| Design & Culture by Ed

The first days of Paris Fashion Week are already lined with a growing feeling of melancholy. The “Roaring” Twenties are slowly approaching their end. Will the Thirties be the new Great Depression?

Anthony Vaccarello’s not-yet-officially-final collection for Saint Laurent felt like a heartfelt good-bye, but to me it also read as the final ball. Nobody knows what tomorrow will bring, so let’s just have a party. The collection was to-the-death 1980s, walking a thin line between high-octane glamour and numbing tackiness. The overscaled chandeliers echoed those of the InterContinental Hotel, where Yves Saint Laurent used to present his collections (especially the very last ones, which were actually the least critically acclaimed). The little chanson Charlotte Gainsbourg sang for Anthony only added to the maître de cérémonie energy. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:


SAINT LAURENT Guermantes 95 Patent-leather Slingback Pumps



SAINT LAURENT EYEWEAR Sl 902 Howl D-frame Acetate Sunglasses



SAINT LAURENT Woven Midi Skirt



SAINT LAURENT Lace-trimmed Silk-satin Camisole



SAINT LAURENT Bo Coeur Fetiche Gold-tone And Crystal Clip Earrings

All collages 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.

Waters of The World. Hodakova SS27

| Design & Culture by Ed

Hodakova’s spring-summer 2027 was a bit of a mess – but sometimes, chaos is needed, right? It was particularly funny to see how infuriated the guests were as the venue’s sea-salt-covered floor heavily smeared everyone’s shoes. Fashion people like their comforts!

On the runway, Ellen Hodakova Larsson was channelling a lengthy story about the sea, sailors and sirens. Some pieces were literally wet – and made me think of going to a banya just to sweat it all out – while eveningwear was made out of fishing nets, both industrial and handmade. One all-black ensemble was cut from leather treated to resemble oversized fish scales.

This ode to the ocean came with an elusive melancholy that has become something of Ellen’s signature. That sadness has its roots in Hodakova’s sensitivity to the treatment of animals – and Mother Earth in general. The waters of the world are being exploited by humans more than ever, not to mention all the waste we keep dumping back into them. Something to think about amidst a fashion month that, overall, seems to pretend that everything’s OK.

ED’s SELECTION:


Hodakova Upside Down Trench Coat



Hodakova Upside-Down Pleated Bermuda Shorts



Hodakova Inside-Out Suit Reconstructed Sleeveless Midi Dress



Hodakova Argyle Knitted Draped-Sleeve Sweater Vest



Hodakova Flip Cotton Button-Down Shirt

All collages 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.

Home Duties. Julie Kegels SS27

| Design & Culture by Ed

Julie Kegels has just won this year’s LVMH Prize and today opened Paris Fashion Week. The business is growing, the brand is evolving, and with that comes a whole new set of duties for the Belgian designer – home duties, that is. At its core, Kegels’ label has always had a distinctly domestic feeling. She loves exploring intimacy, often through the things that surround us and the way we live. Her woman is constantly caught between rushing and taking it slow. The lace-trimmed negligee is simultaneously done and undone; sheer underskirts are dusted with powder (who hasn’t had a make-up malfunction?), while she remains perpetually ready to leave, jewels already in place.

There is also Kegels’ very Belgian affection for trompe l’oeil and optical illusion. The tights have dropped crotches, the trousers seem to be slipping down, and dresses are abruptly cut in unexpected – and increasingly risky – places. This season, some are quite literally slashed as if by a serial killer. It is this kind of perplexing oddness that makes Julie Kegels’ work so intriguing: it constantly plays with what we think we are seeing, refusing to settle comfortably into any one category or definition.

All collages 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.

Cocky! Jean Paul Gaultier AW26 Couture

| Design & Culture by Ed

What I love most about Duran Lantink‘s debut haute couture collection for Jean Paul Gaultier is that it doesn’t seek approval. It’s unapologetically cocky- and fashion has become strangely afraid of cockiness lately. More importantly, it makes you believe that Lantink might just be the designer to reinvent the wheel – or at the very least, come up with a piece of clothing you’ve genuinely never seen before. He’s certainly on that path.

The weirdness and abstractness of his couture prove he’s no longer just the guy fascinated by Rei Kawakubo’s lumps and bumps, churning out inflated silhouettes (although he refines them here into something even more otherworldly – and delightfully bouncy). His understanding of silhouette and texture extends far beyond that, allowing him to experiment with remarkable confidence.

Looking at the collection, you stop wondering whether it fits within the Jean Paul Gaultier universe. Somehow, the internally corseted, sideways-melted body carapace worn by Leon Dame, feather-covered tubes knotted into a dress, or those enormous ball gowns wrapped in Versailles brocade all feel unmistakably enfant terrible. I suspect Gaultier himself wanted a successor who wouldn’t treat the archives as sacred scripture, but would think wildly outside the box – and reinvent. Reinvention has always been the designer’s ethos, and Duran understands that instinctively.

This couture season has been a rather safe one, with a few highs and plenty of middling moments along the way. Then Lantink’s Jean Paul Gaultier came along, changed the trajectory, and spiced things up. More than anything, it left me eager to see what else emerges from that brilliantly fearless mind.

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.

Instinct For Restraint. Armani Privé AW26 Couture

| Design & Culture by Ed

Sometimes all you want from a haute couture collection is a goddamn great evening dress. Armani Privé, under the helm of Silvana Armani, delivers exactly that. Of course, Mr. Armani’s niece won’t escape living in the maestro’s shadow. There’s a peculiarly Italian curse surrounding family-run fashion houses: the successor always seems destined to struggle against the legacy of their blood predecessor. Just look at Versace, Missoni, or Etro. Wild rumours are already swirling about who might become the next creative director(s) to steer the Armani empire. But, much like Leo Dell’Orco‘s excellent recent menswear collection proved, why change something that already works?

Some of Silvana’s instincts do feel slightly dated, but that seems more like a styling issue than a design one. Give her someone like Suzanne Koller to shake things up, and the conversation could be very different. Once again, Armani Privé excels where it matters most: the dresses. A sequence of sculptural evening gowns, their fluid lines offset by architectural necklines, delivered a genuine frisson of drama. The restraint and confidence of these silhouettes are virtually beyond criticism. And Silvana clearly has a taste for something with a little more swagger. Just look at the velvet-skirted look with its sheer leopard bodice. It’s easily one of the finest looks of this haute couture season.

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.