Spanish Lesson. Louis Vuitton Resort 2025

May 25, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Twelve years ago, in his final show for Balenciaga, Nicolas Ghesquière referenced Spanish culture with finesse and grace by revisiting the famous, stiff ruffles from a Cristobal Balenciaga dress circa 1968. This was one of the greatest Ghesquière collections ever, and an absolute sublimation of his tenure at the brand. In 2024, the designer returns to Spain again, physically, and with Louis Vuitton. The Hypostyle Room of Antoni Gaudi’s Park Güell in Barcelona was a fitting background for Nicolas’ off-kilter take on Velazquez, Goya, as well as the legendary filmmaker Luis Bunuel – even though the results felt a bit heavy-handed (which was never the case at his Balenciaga). The resort 2025 collection began with a parade of tailored, mostly neutral looks, all worn with straw gaucho hats and mirrored racing shades. Ghesquière said that the first exits were modeled on the sailor’s traditional vareuse – note their wide collars – but their broad shoulders and upside-down triangle shapes borrowed equally from the 1980s silhouettes of his youth. By the end, though, the strictness of his jupe tailleurs and coat dresses was replaced by the voluptuous drape of silk skirts and trousers, their chiaroscuro folds of silk nodding in the direction of the Spanish masters he referred to. The white cloak made you immediately think of the architectural habits of priests captured by Francisco de Zurbaran. Meanwhile, pops of polka dots and ruffles nodded more to the culture of flamenco, than Balenciaga’s heritage. When Ghesquière comes to work, he delivers collections that have all these Easter eggs to decipher.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Is Gucci Really A Feeling? Gucci Resort 2025

May 16, 2024May 16, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s really interesting to observe how badly Sabato De Sarno‘s Gucci tries to force everyone into thinking the brand – in its current situationship – is a “feeling“. You rather catch feelings, especially the good ones, instinctively and spontaneously. Genuinely. Not when somebody signals it in such a straightforward manner. De Sarno’s first resort collection traveled from Milan to London, and it aimed to somehow tell a story that connects the city and the Italian brand. I didn’t grasp that press release blah-blah at all. Just like I didn’t entirely get the point of the location – Tate Modern – and the plant-filled runway setting. If you want to position a brand as an art-loving platform, instead of stripping a London museum to bare walls and place tons of greenery inside, why not focus around some actual artworks that are contextually or emotionally close to the designer?

And now the clothes. Yes, resort 2025 is in some way better than De Sarno’s previous attempts, because at least it’s not repeating three styles throughout 50 looks. And there’s finally some range in terms of style. But here’s where the real problem starts. If not for the eventual Gucci logos and appearance of Jackie and Blondie bags, it’s really difficult to catch where the actual Gucciness is hiding in this collection. Not to mention De Sarno’s footprint which still feels blurry and indistinct. Some of these 1970s-inspired looks gave hints of Miu Miu and Coach. The pleated finale dresses could easily be Victoria Beckham (ironically a designer who often has trouble with finding her own voice – at least the eveningwear is emblematic!). The denim part of the line-up felt like the many iterations Pierpaolo Piccioli used to deliver at Valentino (where Sabato worked at before Gucci). Some of the outerwear and pieces covered with sequin-embellished checks could equally have a Burberry tag on and no one would question that. What was most confusing however were the vintage-y pussy-bows that instantly made you think of Alessandro Michele’s highly-memorable debut for Gucci, an instant breakthrough for not only the stagnating brand at the time, but 2010s fashion in general. Their presence seemed to say that there’s a large Gucci client base that wants that kind of style back as they don’t identify themselves with De Sarno’s reductive minimalism. So… I think Gucci fails to be a (good) feeling. Especially in times when the demand for luxury is decreasing and people investing in fashion want ingenuity and authenticity.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Time. The Row Resort 2025

March 6, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

People went wild when they learnt about The Row‘s photo ban at their Paris Fashion Week show. Well, they didn’t know Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen were preparing the most beautiful lookbook shot on film by Jamie Hawkesworth that would do absolute justice to their new season offering. Patience pays. In general, time is a big theme for the Olsens. Their garments are so timeless, their look is simultaneously contemporary and as if from another decade.

For resort 2025, the designers – who are having an seismic impact on other brands – eschewed some of their more intense experiments in cocooning and draping, replacing them with a gorgeously thoughtful ease. That was well represented by the likes of the oversized and all enveloping comfort of two masculine-inflected coats, one black, one navy, and popped by the surprise of their accessories; a knitted hat encrusted with silver metal embellishments with the former, ginormous gold and ebony hoop earrings with the latter. Vintage-tinged hats with character are having a huge comeback, all thanks to the Olsens. That easiness was also evident in the way a burnished tan leather blazer was popped over another, with black lean pants; ditto the perfection of cut and fabric evident in a charcoal gray pantsuit. But things took a bit more of a daring turn, too. The ivory shaggy robe coat, with its richly unfettered texture, secured with a knit sash belt whose tassels had been dyed red, somewhat redolent of north African Berber craft. Another robe coat, in the kind of black plissé fabric Issey Miyake might have used back in the day, had a whole lot of volume without weight. The frayed fronds on a rawly woven ivory dress which slinked its way to the floor, or a fluid black top and pants embroidered with a gazillion shimmering beads, were eveningwear specials. And then, just to bring us back to what always seems to last and last and last, what the Olsens have made their life’s work at The Row, out came a simple gray cashmere sweater worn by Malgosia Bela, slouchy, tactile, desirable, and a pair of simple gray pants, a look accessorized by what looked to me to be their now-classic Margaux bag.