Moments from No21 Showroom

October 19, 2015July 27, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Beautiful moments from the No21 showroom, which presented their latest, spring-summer 2016 collection. I instantly fell in love with easy tank-top dresses that had white t-shirts under. Also, note the seductive and very chic cigarette prints on knitted tops and sweat-shirts. The cappuccino coloured denim flares gave a fresh air of French cool, looking off-duty with big, cabas totes. The tasseled, raffia sandals that have referenced to tribal Africa are killing it, just as the rest of the collection. As usual, Alessandro Dell’AcQua nailed it!

All photos by me.

Provoking Girl. Miu Miu SS16

October 14, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

I can’t believe myself – it’s the last post about the SS16 fashion month! And even though I am kind of sad that the spring-summer 2016 season came to an end, it feels like a perfect time to chill and look back at all the fashion moments that took place in September and at the beginning of October. The marathon of New York, London, Milan and Paris delivered so many gorgeous, amusing, shocking and effy collections, that it’s the perfect time to take a short break and reflect. However, there is never too much of Miu Miu – Miuccia Prada absolutely astonished me this time. The new collection is a bit confusing, but very appealing. The ugliness of the ballerina shoes with Comme des Garcons-like belt buckles and vichy checks are a loud nod to the beauty of ballet and its bad sides. Miuccia gave as some tulle skirts, too, keeping Miu Miu’s spirit girlie, but with a twist. The ruffled, organza aprons in courgette purple, mint green and cherry red looked provoking, when worn with the loosely fit pencil skirts. A Miu Miu collection is not a Miu Miu collection without eclectic wallpaper prints and fur stoles, which appeared to be worn extravagantly around the chest. I also loved the fur “tails” which dangled under the leather jackets and layered shirts. Feminine edginess wins the label this season, saying sweetly “I wear what I want, so don’t bother me“. A great collection that ends another nutritious season!

Cyber Luxury. Louis Vuitton SS16

October 13, 2015October 13, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Spring-summer 2016 season at Louis Vuitton is his best to date. Nicolas Ghesquiere really did show his refreshing stance at the maison – cyber luxury is the best term that reflects the mix of exclusive logo prints and pink-haired model wearing highly hype (whatever this means nowadays) clothes. Nicolas definitely had Japan on his mind this time – the Harajuku girls with manga-inpired robot tiaras and platform sandals make this collection sharp, but with a slight bit of kawaii flavour coming straightly from Tokyo. However, the collection had something more ethnical, too – note the lovely hand-stitched embroideries on suede biker jackets below. Or the feather details on mesh tank-tops and badass gloves. This how you do ethno, Valentino – keep it discreet, but appropriate. But what really hit me this time, is the amazing talent of fusing fashion history that the designer is known for – the Victorian blouses with leather vests and medieval inspired gowns have never, ever looked so modern as in Nicolas’ vision. These shirts, dresses, motorcycle leggings and, yes, jumpsuits (!) are highly in need. Also, I am drooling over these leather, pleated totes – the beauty of these accessories makes them conceptual objects, rather than just “bags”.

Ghesquiere, and his model casting director, Ashley Brokaw, have the most diverse set of girls during Paris Fashion Week. Louis Vuitton is a world-wide known brand, and it should be praised for having afro, bald, mullet and even pink-haired models (so Grimes, Nicolas’ muse and favourite musician of the moment!). Thanks to Nicolas Ghesquiere, Louis Vuitton became a label, that is more than clothes and a vast range of accessories – now, Louis Vuitton is an open-minded, lifestyle project. Bravo!

First Dibs – Paula Cademartori SS16 Accessories

October 12, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who doesn’t know Paula Cademartori, needs to quickly look her up and keep on the fashion radar! The success of Paula Cademartori‘s accessory line is based on an aesthetic vision focused on intense care for details, combined with the determination to carry out production in Italy. Each bag is conceived as a design object to own and love. The precious seal of each model is a metal buckle, personally designed by Paula supported by her background in jewellery and industrial design. Her new SS16 collection that was presented in Milan a few weeks ago tells one, major thing – fringes and colours will storm the streets next summer… in both, handbags and shoes!

Cultural Appropriation. Valentino SS16

October 12, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

The main inspiration behind Valentino‘s SS16 collection was the “wild Africa”. The house, however, sparked the cultural appropriation topic following their show. “Primitive, tribal, spiritual, yet regal”, the collection was a “journey to the beginning of time & the essential of primitive nature” as the show note said. Indeed, the collection was truly beautiful, and I appreciated it because I love ethnical fashion. Associated with the continent the collection included bone necklaces, Kikuyu textiles, raffia, belts made from African beads, embellishments, fancy embroidering, feathers and fringing. But Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli missed the point at some level – the collection was presented on a majority of white models. And this just reflects one more time the major problem in fashion industry – lack of diversity. Hopefully, the brand did not have any racist intentions – but for the next time, cast more models of colour!