Retrospection. Balenciaga Resort 2026

June 5, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Demna is in a retrospective mood – as he should. The visual language that he has created throughout the decade of working at Balenciaga is probably the style that will be the most heavily analyzed by fashion historians when dissecting the fashion of 2010s and 2020s. It’s era-defining, whether you love it or hate it. Resort 2026 isn’t his final collection for the house – it’s the highly-anticipated haute couture line-up in July, where you can expect the least expected – and I’m glad he chose to look back at his biggest Balenciaga hits. From oversized duvet jackets and coats-worn-over-coats to super-mini tea-dresses and something’s-off-looking hoodies, this collection sums up Demna’s ready-to-wear for the maison in the most straightforward, clear way (with a Britney Spears cameo on the prints and the BFRND soundtrack, just to spice things up). In his subversive oeuvre, the designer has an affection for studying archetypes: think art curators, bikers, fetishists, politicians, soccer players. The “Exactitudes“, named after a series by photographer Ari Versluis and writer Ellie Uyttenbroek, who have also worked on this lookbook, inspired Demna’s approach to fashion up to this point. “Working on this collection felt like a homecoming after all these years, a very formidable experience of love for fashion and dressmaking,” Demna said. “It is the end of a wonderful era that I wanted to capture and celebrate by creating the Balenciaga ‘archetypes’ – the people, the silhouettes, the vibes, and the ideas that have all been fundamental in my work for this amazing house.” Come September, a radically new methodology is set to reanimate Gucci. Is Milan ready?

ED’s SELECTION:

Balenciaga Oversized Asymmetric Cotton-twill Trench Coat

Balenciaga Draped Plissé-crepe Midi Dress

Balenciaga Technoclog Rubber Mules

Balenciaga Bow-detailed Layered Lace-trimmed Satin And Jersey Top

Balenciaga Rodeo Large Leather Shoulder Bag

Balenciaga Lace-trimmed Wool Midi Skirt

Balenciaga Bat Cat-eye Acetate Sunglasses

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Her World. Tory Burch Resort 2026

June 4, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

If you’re reading me, then you know I’m obsessed with Tory Burch‘s renaissance. It seems the fashion industry is catching up, too. Last New York Fashion Week, of all collections that were presented, it was Tory’s line-up that received true acclaim. Burch and her talented design team are studying in-depth what femininity means in the modern world – and elaborate on whether it should be one thing or another. As a result, the brand offers an intriguing outlook that clashes Claire McCardell’s all-American 1940s forms, uptown New York primness (gracefully embraced by @ladiesofmadisonave) and a quirky twist that makes Burch’s designs feel so desirable. For resort 2026, the designer serves a cocktail of her tasteful affections, from unmistakable pencil skirts to delightfully prim cardigans and colorblocked sweaters. A major sensation is stirred by the collection’s biggest novelty: a semi-sheer skirt, layered up, draped and knotted to create a cascading, highly-feminine effect. It comes in delightful tones of red and mustard; the latter is styled with maroon-ish blouse and fish-net tights. It’s a look that balances sophistication, playfulness and sensuality in the most effortless, satisfying way. It’s Tory’s world, and she knows what she’s doing.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Grace. Dior Resort 2026

May 29, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Today, Lorde released Man Of The Year, her second single from the highly-anticipated Virgin album. The song is heart-and-gut-wrenching in the most Lorde way you can imagine: raw, vulnerable, unfiltered. By the time we reach the outro, Let’s hear it for the man of the year, there is a subtle shift from mourning to ecstatic celebration. The phrase is repeated like a sarcastic toast, both honoring and burying (burning alive!) the man who inspired the deep, painful turmoil. But ultimately, Man of the Year is not really about him. It is about Lorde reclaiming the narrative, re-emerging from ego death and heartbreak with sharpened clarity.

Quite coincidentally, it was officially announced today (after months of speculation) that Maria Grazia Chiuri is stepping down from Dior. Social media raved: finally!; fashion gods heard our prayers; the end of a nightmare. Voiced especially by men, you just can’t not agree with @lewissmag that there’s a tinge (or even plenty) of misogyny sparking that excitement of a woman departuring a maison like Dior after a decade of immense volume of work. A reminder that the fashion males, queer or not, had a very similar blast when Virginie Viard left Chanel. They were in heaven.

Now don’t get me wrong: I’ve never been a number one fan of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s work at Dior – just not my cup of tea, aesthetically. But I do realize that all the logo totes aren’t her sin: it’s in fact LVMH and Bernault Arnault’s endless financial insatiability that powered Dior’s horrific merchandise in the last decade. Just think of the once sophisticated and chic Dior boutique on Avenue Montaigne that now looks like a massive, tacky department store. It’s also not Chiuri’s fault. Unfortunately, creative directors really don’t have all the power when leading a brand.

What this female designer managed to make out of Dior is turning it into a brand that’s in a way similar to Giorgio Armani’s universe: you don’t have to follow it from season to season, because you won’t really see a revolution on the runway – but there’s always a beautiful dress, a great coat, a proper jacket. A continuity that has its rhyme and rhythm.

In a way, it seems to me that Maria Grazia Chiuri truly refound herself at the very end of her tenure at Dior. Her pre-fall 2025 show in Tokyo had a spark. Her swan song outing, for resort 2026, presented in the enchanting garden of Villa Albani Torlonia in Rome, was powerful in its grace. Those velvet column gowns are pure delights, just as the remarkable fur coats that are actually made from plume. The collection’s opening look, a masculine white tailcoat worn with a maxi-length, matching skirt, is the absolute essence of Maria Grazia Chiuri’s contribution to fashion, in past misguided by unfortunate styling or simply obscured under all the gimmicks of fashion show spectacles. This ideal, minimalist yet sumptuous simplicity was followed by many variations on the theme of the long, slim, semi-sheer dress. The lace effects were almost countless – 3D florals, rivulets of ruffles, leafy cut-outs, wavy art deco frills, gilded latticework covered with silken fringe. Underwear visible, shoes flat. A statement.

And then, the haute couture finale featuring caviar-beaded, trompe l’oeil-effect dresses that looked like statues dating back to Ancient Rome. Male statues, to be precise. Torsos, like armors (a theme moved very literally by Nicolas Ghesquière at Louis Vuitton just a week ago). Going back to Lorde, Man Of The Year’s cover art is a Talia Chetrit photograph of the singer’s bust, covered with duct tape. Now, do you see the connection between these two?

Will Maria Grazia Chiuri return to fashion in the near future? Probably she will spend her time on cultural initiatives, like the Teatro Della Cometa she renovated and reopened to the public a couple of days ago. And who will lead Dior’s womenswear now? Probably Jonathan Anderson. Another M.O.T.Y.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Medieval Chic. Louis Vuitton Resort 2026

May 23, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

You know I’m pretty much always on fence with Nicolas Ghesquière’s Louis Vuitton. But the collection he presented yesterday at the 14th century Palais des Papes in Avignon? It was brilliant. The Ghesquière-for-Balenciaga kind of brilliant.

The designer’s far-flung destination shows have consistently outshone his Paris ready-to-wear collections. Remember that time he whisked his guests away to Palm Springs? When Rianne Van Rompaey (who retired from modeling this year) wore a billowy, 1930s-inspired maxi dress and dramatically cranked up the high-end loudspeaker as the show began? Not only was that défilé spectacular, but the clothes were equally impressive – both inventive and cool. The Avignon collection had that signature edgy NG flair, the one that we all so sorely missed in the past few seasons or so.

For resort 2026, Nicolas embraced Medieval dress and transformed it into a surprisingly modern proposition. We live in an era where wearing an armor would come handy. Women’s rights and bodily autonomy continue to face threats, from Trump’s administration in the U.S. to rising conservative movements across Europe, including in France. Whether through a literal interpretation of chainmail in the form of a tasseled, metallic top, or via rounded, architectural capes – and in some cases, curtain-like mini-capelets worn over mini-dresses – this show offered plenty of armor. These pieces didn’t just look protective and built-up; they were, in their own way, chic. Ghesquière even seemed to pay homage to his spiritual predecessor, his alma papa, Cristóbal Balenciaga, sending down the runway several intricately embellished, t-shirt-like mini-dresses that felt like modern descendants of the Basque designer’s iconic sack dress.

I also sensed a hint of time travel back to the 1968 Paris protests. The Sorbonne students’ anti-bourgeois style – ironically lifted from their parents’ wardrobes – surfaced in elements like newsboy caps, fur-collared jackets, and a layered skirt made from plaid blanket fabric. The collection’s hero motif – paisley – looked like something salvaged from a thrift store and revitalized with edge. Meanwhile, a wool cape adorned with cartoon-strip flames seemed to leap from Pierre Cardin’s studio, where the designer once dreamed up a bright, space-age future.

Louis Vuitton is a brand that sells bags. Ready-to-wear – especially the one presented on the runway – isn’t it’s bread-and-butter. Nicolas Ghesquière occupies a uniquely rare position of creative freedom – and commands a vast platform – to make fashion that doesn’t need to sell, but rather to spark conversation. This collection was certainly his brightest, envelope-pushing moment in the past couple of years.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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New Old New. Gucci Resort 2026

May 17, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Gucci is going through a financial annus horribilis, but its creative studio is working hard. Yesterday’s resort 2026 outing in Florence – first previewed at the brand’s Palazzo Settimanni archive, then presented outdoors on Piazza Santo Spirito – was a deep departure from Sabato De Sarno’s era of blandness, and a subtle introdution to Demna’s rapidly-approaching era (his debut will hit Milan in September). Many think that the latter was already present in the execution of this collection, at least in accepting the final looks – but I honestly doubt it. That would be a false-start I truly can’t imagine Demna would allow himself. Expect the most unexpected once he really enters the office.

This new Gucci collection is a creation of a smart design team that knows Gucci codes (and archives) through and through. With Suzanne Koller’s styling help, the line-up had chic charisma: think big, faux-fur-collared coats worn over tight pencil-skirts and the general 1980s vibe, the stylist’s signature touch. She did go a little too far with the haphazard way of carrying bags at the very tip of the strap – make it make sense, please. The collection can be read like a mix of new and old of the Gucci semiotics: Tom Ford’s whiff of sexy and Alessandro Michele’s knack for vintage-y eclecticism (as a result, the eveningwear looked like the current Valentino offering).

This collection won’t end up in a fashion history book, that’s for sure, but at least it resuscitated Gucci as a brand that has an identity. Or identities one can play around with. Also, it makes you want to browse vintage Gucci online and create a look that has that Florentine sciura glam…