Ease of Today. Carven Pre-Fall 2024

July 11, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

The best indicators of whether a brand is taking shape under a new creative director are not the runway collections, but the pre-collections. Judging by the pre-fall 2024 lookbook, Louise Trotter‘s Carven certainly is on the right path to be your new favorite Parisian brand. “It is not a nostalgic or particular prism of a woman,” said the British designer, when asked how the heritage of Carven informs her approach. “It’s that sense of silhouette and sense of proportion with an ease of today.” Comparing to other designers in Paris who struggle with reviving historic Parisian maisons (think Nina Ricci and Rochas), Trotter isn’t stepping into the trap of the archives. She isn’t pulling out a mid-century dress and trying to make it look somehow relevant in 2024. But she smartly deconstructs elements of Madame Carven’s sensibility, and incorporates them into contemporary Carven. For instance, the 1950s column silhouette is revisited in a tank dress worn over a t-shirt. For pre-fall, the designer is gravitating towards a more masculine wardrobe; think sweatshirt in sheepskin or a technical Prince of Wales trouser. The softly tailored coat that comes in either double-face cashmere or chocolate wool gabardine is phenomenal. “I want to find solutions for her life, as I do for myself,” Trotter noted. “It’s instinctive for me. These are pieces that I appreciate and want to wear.” Other women will, too.

Here are some of my favorite pieces from Trotter’s debut collection for Carven. Last sizes left!

ED’s SELECTION:

CARVEN Striped Tech-shell Shirt

CARVEN Pleated Satin Midi Skirt

CARVEN Strapless Twill Maxi Dress

CARVEN Oversized Embellished Tulle Top

CARVEN Satin Shorts

CARVEN Leather Mules

CARVEN Oversized Satin-twill Jacket

CARVEN Striped Shell Tote Bag

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Femme-hood. Saint Laurent Pre-Fall 2024

July 3, 2024July 2, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

It sometimes seems Anthony Vaccarello is more YSL than Yves Saint Laurent ever was. The Belgian designer has formed an immensely razor-sharp image of the contemporary maison, smartly constructed out of Saint Laurent archives and refreshed with modern-day approach to glamour. For pre-fall 2024 – that is now hitting stores – there are plenty of great weathered leather coats, blousons, and belted utility jackets. There are also two absolutely to die for le smokings, particularly the one suit whose tux jacket was faced with lace. But there was also the body-revealing part, one that caused a stir in Vaccarello’s winter 2024 collection we’ve seen in early spring. It was built on sheer stocking dressing, with fake furs casually thrown over it all. The story is here too, emphasized by lingerie-esque pieces and styled with black lace hose with just about everything – such a classically, somewhat naughtily playful Parisian gesture. The boudoir vibe was played up with a slew of gorgeous screen siren satiny long dresses, sinuous little slip dresses, and a new iteration of the jumpsuit, conjured out of a skinny-strapped lace-edged camisole, all of which were variously worn with stacks of chunky bangles and pointy satin-y sculpted shoes. You better don’t mess up with that femme.

Shop my favorite pieces from the collection…

ED’s SELECTION:

SAINT LAURENT Satin-jersey Midi Skirt

SAINT LAURENT Lace-trimmed Ribbed Silk-jersey Mini Dress

SAINT LAURENT Faux Fur Scarf

SAINT LAURENT Lace-trimmed Ribbed Silk-jersey Tank Top

SAINT LAURENT Hall Satin Mules

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Stimulating. Bottega Veneta Pre-fall 2024

May 3, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Bottega Veneta has released a stunningly stimulating, pre-fall 2024 collection. It’s so evident that Matthieu Blazy found his groove at the brand: his last runway shows are delightful to the senses. But it’s the pre-collections that really validate whether a designer has formed their vocabulary for a house, and Blazy definitely knows what his direction is. While other brands try to propose total looks and stay in one aesthetic lane, the Belgian designer rather pursuits the idea of style that’s diverse and truly authentic. Bottega Veneta isn’t a brand that intentionally creates Instagrammable products – even though social media is increasingly raving about Blazy’s take on the brand. People are catching up with his celebration of humanity which is conveyed in the striking artisanship Bottega stands for.

For pre-fall, “the initial talk I had with the team was what would’ve been the ready-to-wear of Bottega when they started to make the bags in the late ’60s and ’70s. Of course, the idea was almost to work on something anachronic – we don’t want to go too literal, it was the idea of a modern time traveler.” The development process involved lots of photo research, including in old Interview magazines – “Andy Warhol loved Bottega,” he explained – to see “how people layered and mixed and matched.” It led to results like the suede skirt layered over suede pants, and the trim crewneck and striped collar shirt tucked belted gray jeans. The spirit he was channeling was “bourgeois, but decontracté,” he suggested, pointing to a checked button-down worn with a leather bomber and a khaki twill pencil skirt, and another checked button-down with a full skirt. There is much more to restlessly drool over in this lookbook: the pastel pant suits, the colorful suede intrecciato separates, the homoerotic-coded bandana bag, and a vibrant horizontally striped knit dress with the nubby pile of a carpet. Each piece is a wearable, meaningful artwork – that might be the ethos of Blazy’s Bottega Veneta.

Need a Bottega wardrobe fix?

ED’s SELECTION:

Jodie Mini Knotted Leather And Shearling Tote

Printed Leather Straight-leg Pants

Canalazzo Striped Intrecciato Leather Pumps

Printed Denim Shirt

Layered Cotton-blend Poplin And Bouclé Shirt

Small Solstice Shoulder Bag

Jacquard Feather Midi Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Great. Ralph Lauren Pre-Fall 2024

May 2, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

This Ralph Lauren collection had to grow on me for a moment. But when I saw Anok Yai in her finale look, consisting of a cowboy hat and stunning body-skimming sequined gown, being applauded by the all-American designer – who himself wore a blue western shirt, a pair of well-worn jeans and grey New Balance trainers – I was like “wow, this is it“! The pre-fall 2024 collection, which Ralph presented a couple of days ago in New York, is a reminder that he’s a great designer. One of the greatest. A living legend. “The woman I design for has a beauty that comes from an inner confidence,” he noted in his press release. “My collection is inspired by that woman, her sense of timelessness, her individuality – a style that is forever.” The show’s opening song, Billy Joel’s “Just the Way You Are,” seemed chosen to call attention to that constancy, as did the first model Christy Turlington, whose career began in the 1980s on Lauren’s runway. Turlington wore neat tailoring, a tie tucked into the waistband of her trousers, with an RL 888 leather tote in the same shade of buff gray as her clothing. Neckties and power suits were recurring sights on the autumn runways; for Lauren they’re not seasonal affectations, but rather pieces that he’s returned to over the years, sharpening and fine-tuning them. City sophistication and red carpet drama are essential parts of his repertoire, as well. These were represented by a chunky cardigan and cocktail dress combo (so good), the pinstripe jacket he threw over a silk charmeuse shirt and long skirt in gunmetal gray. Yes to all that, forever.

Here are a couple Ralph Lauren classics I fancy a lot…

ED’s SELECTION:

“Ralph Lauren: A Way of Living” Book

Driss Distressed Straight-leg Jeans

Nancie Cotton Poplin-trimmed Floral-print Silk-gauze Shirt

Fringed Leather Jacket

Niles Strapless Bow-embellished Velvet Gown

Gregory Double-breasted Satin-trimmed Velvet Blazer

Cotton Straight-leg Pants

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Girl is Back. Chloé Pre-Fall 2024.

April 22, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Chloé girl is so back, baby. Chemena Kamali‘s pre-fall 2024 collection – a prelude to the runway line-up we’ve seen in the end of February – proves that the designer is confident about her vision of the Parisian maison. Kamali knows the history of the brand inside out, and worked there as a Chloé-obsessed junior designer in the noughties under Phoebe Philo’s creative direction, and then again under Clare Waight Keller. Nobody comprehends better than Kamali the spontaneous feeling of it-ness that belongs to the female-centric Chloé philosophy; a power recharged through so many generations since the house was founded in the 1950s by the Jewish-Egyptian emigré Gaby Aghion as a free-spirited ready-to-wear antidote to Parisian haute couture. “I really was thinking a lot about the Chloé wardrobe, what it should consist of, just, quite frankly, why do I want to wear it? What do I think is important to have in terms of essential pieces, things that go well with other silhouettes that you have at home already?” It’s the balance of carefree romance and pragmatism that’s run through the house since Karl Lagerfeld’s tenures in the ’70s, ’80s, and late ’90s; what Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, and Hannah McGibbon ignited in the aughts; and Kamali’s consciousness of what contemporary women need (she herself is a working mother). Customers will soon come across hot wardrobe staples at Chloé boutiues: a navy gabardine jacket with an elongated “Karl collar“, hanging next to a pair of white jeans with scalloped edges, and a soft navy blouse. Then, there’s an array of perfectly-cut trousers hang with slim cognac leather maxi coats, blazers, and caped “highwaywoman” gabardine trenches. Silk slip dresses elude with hyper-feminine energy, contrasting with utilitarian button-on capes on the raincoats. As for accessories, Kamali offers some of the chicest pieces in the brand’s recent history, instant best-sellers: the spacious “Camera” bag, classic wedges and timeless, suede over-the-knee boots.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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