Phoebe’s Spring

February 4, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

The meaning behind Céline’s spring-summer 2017 has been already conveyed in the soundtrack of the noisy city traffic and joyous children laugh. Loosely fit pastel top, indigo skirt and white sneakers – is there a better and more comfortable outfit for a day filled with errands, like picking your kids up from school? Or rushing to the office? The runway wasn’t a usual aisle, squeezed by editors and buyers. Models walked in random directions, sometimes in little groups, presenting a range of different personalities. A Céline woman isn’t only one type of women: Phoebe Philo proves that.

From masculine coats to intriguing dresses, nothing seems to look pointless here. Even though A LOT happens in this one specific collection. Her venture into sex-appeal is non-conformist and elusive, resulting in a dress with faux-corset, and a pair of sandals. Man-repelling? Depends on the guy. Speaking of the shoes, there were a lot of great heels and boots, worn two colours at a time. The colours were mixed up, ‘cuz “why should our shoes always match?” There isn’t one word to describe it all – it’s rather about understanding Phoebe’s “woman for women” world, which is far from trends, but always a step ahead from the others.

Get The Party Started. Marc Jacobs Resort’17

June 9, 2016June 9, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Winning a CFDA Womenswear Designer of the Year prize a day before means something. But for Marc Jacobs, it’s just a great reason to celebrate with a new collection. For resort 2017, Marc and his team prepared a mini-show, which appeared to be more than a dose of extreme opulence and surely in Gucci’s Alessandro Michele Italian-splendour taste, who took a seat in the front row. “We took Fall and made it kitsch, and went from YouTube back to MTV,” the designer said backstage, cheerful after his psychedelic outing of models wearing their hair tightly crimped, and storming the runway in already desirable MTV-logo sweatshirts. The voluminous silhouettes and platform boots from AW16 stay for good, but now, they are all splashed in fluo colours of shocking pink and electrifying blue. In some of the most Instagram-ed moments, the outfits looked as if they were straightly taken out of my all-time favourite “Sorry” music video by Madonna – note those varsity jackets, disco jumpers with sequins and, yes, cargo pants. Marc Jacobs makes me want to hit the dancefloor right now, even on a Thursday evening.

But the collection was not only about making 2005-and-so pop music relevant. Paradise was patched on the dresses, and it had a meaning in the entire show. “Just paradise, this fictitious idea” was on Jacobs’ mind. Zebra stripes, hula dancers – it’s rather like an old-school postcard from Hawaii or one of these must-go “kitsch” party outfit tips. Cool pussy-bows (also all in stripes!) styled with Barbie-pink sweatshirts would make it for a great, one-in-a-life-time club nights in the 80s. And undoubtedly, this bold bricollage of ideas and textiles, prints and embellishments, will nail it in this 2016.

Tulle as Women’s Best – Friend. Molly Goddard AW16

February 22, 2016February 22, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Molly Goddard‘s girlie, pastel-pink tulle frocks are not only the street-style phenomena, but also a new, essential addition to women’s wardrobe. You might think that a tulle dress might be only destined for an eternal-ballerina soul – but the London-based brand, which produces each of their pieces by hand, proves that this sweet and light textile is also for the everyday princesses. Molly doesn’t rest on laurels, though – for the autumn-winter 2016 presentation, which featured her diverse model casting, she looked forward towards new, risky fields of her feminine fashion – together with her dreamy fairy dresses, we had an orange taffeta skirt, floral corduroy mini-dress and even those lovely, transparent lilac tunics which obscured the soft, satin pants. But what really left everybody in awestruck was the elegant black gown with shoulder exposing sleeves (below) and the impressive, pink ball-dress which was sewn from approximately 40 metres of tulle (above). I must admit that I have never liked or appreciated tulle – but the stuff Molly does is stunning.

Baby Boom. Simone Rocha AW16

February 21, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

I am always praising Simone Rocha for being a young and independent designer, who doesn’t fall into the trend of having pre-collections. And that’s truly rare in today’s fashion industry – even though there are a few exceptions in this case, like Gareth Pugh or Vetements collective. Two collections a year give Rocha the time for the creative process, which is so in need at the moment, and lets the designer convey her vision to the fullest. And, as her gift keeps on giving, it’s a good occasion to congratulate the designer – she has just given birth to her baby, Valentine! And, to a surprise, this event gave Simone a creativity boost this season, looking deeper into the meaning of “baby-boom”. “I started to do this wrapping and swaddling with stoles. There’s something a bit surgical and matronly going on—sick-y nudes, the lilac of the uniforms that nurses used to wear. Medical aprons; knitting as women do when there’s a baby coming; schlumpy, relaxed shapes—and a little bit of trauma!” Yep, this doesn’t sound like your average post-pregnancy reflection.

Indeed, the autumn-winter 2016 collection had a lot to do with nurse uniforms, being psychedelically revamped with a various shades of pink. The fur stoles and fluffy Mary-Jane flats gave the feeling of babyish innocence, but that can’t be said of the darker dresses and coats – Rocha’s “matrons” with strict black bows lurk from the Victorian history of hospitals that up to now haunt Irish tales and stories. The woman behind AW16’s plot is both, sweet and sour – she might be Lolita, Mary Poppins or Jane Eyre one day – and she is blooming just as the designer herself.

Ryan Roche

May 29, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ryan Roche is the go-to label if speaking of luxe knitwear. Her fabulous AW15 look-book is filled with a perfect amount of fleecy cardigans, fluffy dresses, warm socks and cloudy v-cut sweaters. Roche works predominantly in a palette of pinks lovely enough to seduce even the most pink-resistant people, with an eye for wearable, tonal dressing. The New York-based designer perfectly masters the “chic-everywhere-I-am” look – Ryan’s knitted piece could be worn with grace by a fashion journalist just like by a rural loving woman. Ryan Roche is the name, which should rather be added to the list of new favourites!