Tropical Escape. No21 Resort’16

June 9, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Alessandro Dell’Acqua is the rising star of Milan and there no wonder why – his collections for No21 are always fresh and cool, but in Itlalian way. For Resort 2016, Alessandro fused many themes at a time – the marine chic which involved stripes; ethnic prints; oriental textiles (look at the canvas shoes!). All of that brought on the idea of perfect “tropical escape” wardrobe. The midi skirt with a sexy cut looked truly gorgeous with that over-sized chunky sweater while the warm colour of curcuma gave a laid-back mood. In overall, Dell’Acqua is known for his talent of mixing feminine silhouttes with masculine forms – the sailor jacket is the must-have of the collection, combined with one of these crispe checked skirts. This collection is an essential highlight of Alessandro’s fashion career becuase it smartly shows No21’s signatures in a very refreshing order.

Comfort Zones. Creatures of Comfort Resort’16

June 9, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Creatures of Comfort as a brand, concentrates on edgy clothes which, as the name suggests, are comfortable. Jade Lai, the designer of the brand, shared cropped, wide-leg trousers; boxy outerwear and fantastic, artsy layers. Among other ideas, we had a clash of two denims: a snowy fabrication from the storied American Cone Mills and a Japanese deep indigo. Both were used in a way that was pure Creatures of Comfort: Lai made the American fabric into a tank with a “fraying” peplum detail, while the Japanese denim became an oversize jacket and pants.

Eclectic Girl. Gucci Resort’16

June 5, 2015June 5, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Yesterday’s Gucci show was not only a surprise due to its appearance in New York. It was intriguing. And Alessandro Michele knows that. The new designer, who left the sex-drived Tom Ford and Euro-sleek Frida Gianini behind, makes Gucci a brand, which is rather all about eclecticism and vintage. The word “eclectic” came up constantly when Michele was talking about the collection backstage. He also talked of “love” fuelling the collection, which incidentally appeared on a sweater in French –”aveugle par l’amour”. So hippie and optimistic, which is what Michele’s vibe is all about. “I’m inspired by a lot of things – from the street, antiques, vintage wardrobes. It’s impossible to explain the exact point of inspiration. It’s about being free to love, free to express, free to show who you are through the way you dress,” said Michele. “Luxury means that you show the way you dress with eccentricity. It’s almost like a new kind of jetset – instead of roaming around the world, you’re roaming with your clothes.” As you see, even the approach to luxury, which is up to now an essence of the brand, has changed.

But coming back to the venue matter. Gucci chose a gallery space in New York’s Chelsea, furnished with Persian rugs. As a remix of orchestral soundtracks started up, the garage doors to the gallery were raised up and the models walked in from the street, where outside Glen Luchford was shooting a film. And the street is certainly where Michele sees his eclectic cast existing. No wonder why the clothes might (or even should) remind you of Williamsburg’s thrift shops and Milanese flea markets, where the clothes are all about kitschy embroidery and cheesy patterns. But in case of Alessandro Michele and his mesmerizing Gucci affair, it was all about hand-made embellishments (the snake!), gold glitter on the shoes, soft lace and imperial Astrakhan jackets.

Although the collection might seem to have many overkilling details, I am happy Michele is in the game. I am a bit fed up with all that “ugly chic” and minimalism which is practically everywhere. I felt a lack of beauty, romance and that 70’s freedom in fashion for a while. However, the new Gucci delivers that in a very proud, brave way. Interesting how the retailers are going to deal with all that sheer artistry.

Panama & Spring. Altuzarra Resort’16

June 2, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Joseph Altuzarra has his ups and downs. This time, it is definitely an up. For Resort 2016, the New York-based designer offered his women a heat-wave of bold shirts and beach-worthy skirts. That’s definitely essential to mention what he had put on his lovely dresses – stitches with swags of beads strung in the style of the Kuna tribe in Panama. Each string showed a different order of beads, but when they were arrayed next to each other creating a graphic pattern. “A black-and-white woven leather coat with color-blocked, chevron suede pockets required an equally astounding amount of handwork.” Altuzarra explained that it was the result of a branding project with the French art director Thomas Lenthal in which they stacked all the letters of A-L-T-U-Z-A-R-R-A into squares, creating a new dimension for the logomania trend.

Although it might be to early to tell, but the bags seem to be already the must-haves of Resort 2016 (note: we will see them really not soon in stores). They have that sophisticated luxury touch, combined with leather fringes. And the shoes, appliqued with feathers, were there too to make the entire collection be even more interesting than usual at Altuzarra.

Bubble – Trouble. Dior Resort’16

May 12, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Pierre Cardin’s famous Palais Bulles was fashion central yesterday with celebrities, journalists, and Cardin himself gathered for Raf Simons’ Dior Resort 2016 show. Le Palais Bulles is just that—a palace of terra-cotta bubbles set into a cliffside halfway between Cannes and Monaco. It’s utopian and kind of goofy in its infantile design .”Playful, sweet…childish, almost,” said Raf Simons, as he reflected on a venue he fell in love with five years ago, when he was first brought here. “The house is big but intimate, and it doesn’t behave like an authority,” he continued. “And Dior can do that sometimes, especially if you look at it from an architectural point of view.” But coming to the clothes – the warm, chilled-out shade of terra-cotta was mostly everywhere, on the silk mini-skirts to checked blouses. My total favourite was this dress above – made out of mesh and knitwear, it seems to be light, soft and fleecy. And the shoes which were inspired by Marie Antoinette are great, too. That was a lovely collection, Raf.