For The Walkers. Ganni SS19

August 11, 2018August 11, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Indisputably, Ganni made Copenhagen fashion week a thing. Today, Danish designers and brands are nearly as important as the names we know from the four capitals – New York, London, Milan and Paris. Just see how many people you follow on Instagram went to Copenhagen this week! There’s even the Danish it-girls clique, that has a distinct, eclectic look. I mean the most unprecedented (and sometimes simply ridiculous) combinations of floral tea-dress, plastic bags, hair scrunchies and kitschy, vintage mules.

But back to the topic. Ganni’s spring-summer 2019 was the show that every ‘influencer’ went to. This clothing label, founded by wife-and-husband duo Ditte and Nicolaj Reffstrup, brings an alternative version of Scandinavian style – a ‘no no’ to cold minimalism. Ditte, who is the creative director, likes florals, slip dresses, ruffles and big knits, and tends to balance all those with heavy, off-duty accessories. Shortly, Ganni follows every trend alert, does good styling tricks and keeps it all quite affortable (the price point is slightly below Acne Studios). That’s why I’m on fence with the label’s phenomenon – it’s not as much fashion, as a thoroughly considered image of the so-called ‘Ganni girl’. Spring-summer 2019 wasn’t different in that aspect. Inspired by camping and travelling by foot in overall, Ganni went for bucket hats, sporty outerwear (made in collaboration with 66 North), trekking boots, prairie dresses, dyed denim and camo backpacks. The venue, done under the direction of Ana Kras (you might know her as @teget on Instagram), as well suggested something connected to travelling: cars and boats covered with nylon canvas, and the huge space filled with transport containers. It all worked, and you surely will want to pull off every second look next summer. But somehow, I can’t help, but think of Ganni as of a very Instagrammable and undemanding label.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Prettiness. Cecilie Bahnsen SS19

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Cloudy. Soft. Fragile. The Beguilded cast’s wardrobe in 2018. Feminine. Light. Should I continue with other phrases and associations I’ve got with Cecilie Bahnsen’s fashion? The designer has just presented her collection during the Copenhagen fashion week and made it clear that no one else does a dress like her (well, except for Molly Goddard). Cecilie likes her silhouettes to be full, but not overwhelming – no dramatic ball gowns here, but rather everyday-princess ensembles to love and wear. Pouf sleeves and peplums are always on Bahnsen’s runway, just like spaghetti straps. For spring-summer 2019, she as well added a bit of florals and the very unexpected dad sandals, which well balanced all that prettiness. At one point of browsing the collection, you might feel that you’re seeing the same dress, just in different modifications. Well, this repetitiveness isn’t to the Danish designer’s disadvantage. There’s consistency flowing from one collection to the other, which is especially valued among emerging designers. Wait, but can we call Bahnsen a classical case of an emerging designer? If only every big brand could boast with so many sold out dresses in every single, major on-line store…

Collages by Edward Kanarecki.

The Designers of SS19

August 9, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who to watch in the upcoming fashion month? I’ve decided to select the six designers that you’ve got to keep on your radar for spring-summer 2019. So, while we’re all waiting for September (and it’s lovely breeze), take a look at the names that will be everywhere in just a couple of weeks!

Richard Quinn

His autumn-winter 2018 show in London was attended by the Queen, while the statement floral prints and exaggerated, lady-like volumes are the season’s absolute best-sellers. Those scarf maxi-dresses and puffas are the new classics. Yes, they are! Richard’s show in September is highly anticipated, just as the major debuts at the historical maisons (which I’m quite sceptic about…). Can’t wait to see which direction the designer takes this time. One thing’s quite sure – Quinn’s love for prints, which he produces himself at his studio, isn’t a one-time phenomenon.

Pyer Moss

Kerby Jean Raymond makes activism a crucial component of his brand, Pyer Moss, being vocal about current problems that America faces today – from the current president to widespread social injustice. In his autumn-winter 2018 collection, the designer took black cowboys of the 19th century, including one of the first rodeo stars of the era, Bill Pickett, as inspiration. Moreover, that was the first season where Kerby sent out a line-up of womenswear, which consisted of streetwear sensibility, enormous knitwear and Wild West shirts. AND, that yellow Goddess dress as well. So good. But what else makes Pyer Moss a label to observe is the cultural diversity it embraces, not just in terms of model casting. Others are more than welcome to follow that path.

Matthew Adams Dolan

Dolan’s denim jackets and signature shirt-dresses with exaggerated cuffs are perceived as the new ‘basics’. Why? Noting their couture-level tailoring, Matthew’s fashion is realistic and wearable, but far, far from trivial. It’s not about few good styling tricks or a thoroughly contrived Instagram ‘image’ that fuels the label. Dolan let’s the clothes do the talking for themselves, which is especially rare in the industry. The talented, young designer as well revises American fashion, creating the ultimate classics of 2018 (and for years ahead). SZA and Rihanna approve, just as the fact that Matthew became one of the finalists of this year’s LVMH prize. You better watch that spot.

Molly Goddard

While looking at Molly Goddard’s last collection, I was just impressed with the way this young designer does everything so effortlessly, with so much joy. During the autumn-winter 2018 show, models stopped for a bottle of wine or a chat, in the middle of the kitchen-themed venue. Few seasons ago, Molly stormed the London fashion week with her over-sized tulle dresses and a cool, ‘what a girl likes’ mood. Now, the designer moves towards new territories of 90s crop-tops and gingham, so that she doesn’t feel trapped by her already beloved signature.

Marine Serre

Manic Soul Machine is how the designer intriguingly titled her first runway collection – a cross-cultural, cross-everything dialogue. While demanding fashion seems to be a deficit today, Serre wants you to reflect on everything, from politics and spirituality to sex and society. Her distinct crescent moon print appeared on nearly everything (athletic bodysuits, shoes, headbands), but the designer’s ‘Futurewear’ as well involved plastic raincoats and motocross jackets.  There’s something elusive about Marine Serre’s fashion – it’s hard to explain in one word. It’s ‘love’, ’emotions’, ‘future’, ‘intelligence’ – words that rarely can be used to describe clothes. However, they fit Marine’s work perfectly. Can’t wait to see what’s coming from this designer, really. Paris fashion week, prepare yourself!

Magda Butrym

Although this Polish designer releases her look-books near the time the clothes hit the stores, I still consider her to be one of the names to watch for spring-summer 2019. Butrym’s autumn collection is largely inspired by the Wild West style and country music, but nothing’s too literal in here. The floral mini-dresses with over-sized shoulders and feather stoles are just a slight node to Dolly Parton’s over-the-top style. Rather think of a prairie girl hitting Paris (but this Paris, not the one in Texas). Other than that, we’ve got red velvet, meticulously embellished coats and gorgeous boots with attachable brooches (!). Hot.

That’s my list. And how about you? Have you got a name (or two) that you’re very keen to follow this season?

All collages by Edward Kanarecki.

Georgia. Vetements SS19

July 16, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

This was Demna Gvasalia‘s most personal Vetements collection up to date, and definitely, the one that had an extremely powerful meaning. Or rather meanings, since the number of messages the designer and the anonymous fashion collective sent out this season is far from being singular. If you’ve been obsessing over Gvasalia for a couple of seasons now, you surely know his background, the war-torn Georgia. It’s here where Demna and his brother Guram grew up together in the ’90s, and all the atrocities happened – specifically, in 1993, when the Gvasalia family had to flee their home in Sukhumi after the entrace of soldiers and bombing.

“I tried to face this angst and fear and pain in this show. I didn’t want to remember before, I didn’t want to go that far.” Something changed. With more than half of the models coming from Georgia, an extremely long wedding table set up under a bridge in Périphérique (an area in the outskirts of Paris, where migrants live in encampments along the highway) and music blasting, anything could happen in the middle of the haute couture week. But nobody expected that there will be war on the runway. From sweatshirts with the most vulgar Russian slogans (even though these words are quite very justified in case of the suffering Georgia went through) and lots of camo prints to masked men in leather gears and over-sized jackets covered in Georgian, Ukrainian, Turkish and USA flags (a nod to current nationalist tendencies across the world?), one sees lots of untamed aggression in this collection. Moreover, Demna commented on the current national affair in contemporary Georgia, connected to clubbing. One of the pieces had a phrase on, this time in Georgian, saying: “God Forgive Us.” The designer noted that “they’ve recently closed down clubs in Georgia. A line of priests came out to block the protest against it.” Injustice and repression of the youth, that continues to strangle the nation up to today, frustrates the designer. No wonder why. After all, it’s Gvasalia who has contributed to the revival of that reckless, ‘whatever’ attitude in the fashion industry since the first moments of Vetements’ existence.

But other than the history-heavy feelings, there were garments that respectfully nodded to Georgian heritage, like the fringed rug dress or the elegant, pleated bride (or widow) gowns. Still, everything had the stamp of melancholia, mourning. That wasn’t a typical Vetements collection that makes you want to go out for a major booze party. So, will the average Vetements customer, driven by the cult of sweatshirts, t-shirts and sneakers, get anything that’s deep about this intense collection? People don’t want to read long paragraphs about history, especially in the era of social media. Thankfully, the brand found a solution that will educate the eager ones. A Vetements app is about to be released, and it will teach the users on Georgia and such events like the “Ethnic Cleansing of Georgians in Abkhazia.” How promising is it to see that fashion is no longer just about clothes and revenue.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Not Your Average Ballerina. Acne Studios SS19

July 12, 2018July 12, 2018 | Design & Culture by Ed

I guess many designers, hearing the word ‘ballet’, would go for all shades of pastel pink, do fancy layers of tulle, or keep it ‘sensual’, yet coldly strict. Jonny Johansson, the mind behind Acne Studios, proved in his spring-summer 2019 collection that when fashion collides with ballet, the result doesn’t have to be one of those well-known clichés: or your average, pretty ballerina girl, or that kind of cigarette smoking, drowning in beige lady who’s in fact a ballet teacher. There was something of the incredibly colourful Ballets Russes and their distinct vibrancy; maybe, it’s Edgar Dégas’s Petite Danseuse gone very modern, wearing flip-flops and sneakers after the rehearsals in some other dimension; or maybe, the ballet mood got conveyed so smoothly thanks to the placement of Merce Cunningham posters on t-shirts and jackets. Well, whatever the secret is, Johansson captured the energy, the strength and the beauty of ballet in a very profound way. Also, I adored the way he divided the collection into four ballerina ‘stages’: rehearsal, onstage, off-duty, and evening. From flowing pleated skirts and bodysuits to tracksuits and tuxedos, it might be a wardrobe of a ballet dancer – but don’t take it too literal, as it all looks so approachable and realistic.