SS20

Colours. Sies Marjan SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Colours are Sander Lak‘s element. The Sies Marjan designer proves that once again with his spring-summer 2020 collection, which mesmerizes with its colour palette and oozes with certain festiveness. Burgundy combined with denim blue, lipstick red mixed with emerald green, pastel lilac contrasted with sharp yellow. Here you can also notice Sander’s ventures into the art of draping. This collection isn’t a ground-breaker, but has lots of daywear that will help go through the sometimes grey routine. In general, there’s optimism all over the first days of New York fashion week, and the twirling models and confetti rain at the finale of Sies Marjan confirm that.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

You Will Be Noticed. Area SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Area for spring-summer 2020 is… a lot. Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk’s brand that’s all about “occasion-wear” continues to deliver the most bold, party-ready clothes in New York. Whether it’s an over-sized white jacket covered in gold chains, trompe l’oeil crotchet tops made out of colourful rhinestones, arty crop-tops made out of tubes (each finished with a crystal, of course) or a red-carpet-perfect, draped gown in peach, one thing’s sure: you will be noticed in Area wherever you go.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Urban Romance. Khaite SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Khaite had the best possible breakthrough moment to the wider audience about a week ago, when Katie Holmes wore that cashmere bralette-and-cardigan look and everyone went crazy. But the label’s founder and designer, Catherine Holstein, doesn’t rest on laurels and isn’t planning to sell knitted bras for the rest of her life. The spring-summer 2020 collection was all about urban romance, full of contrasts: suede fringed jackets and sheer tulle dresses, rhinestone embellishings and denim, sharp tailoring combined with sarongs. “I wanted it to feel more sensual,” Holstein said. “It’s a riskier take, especially for a line that’s kind of synonymous with ‘easy.’ But there’s a side of me that loves a sense of gaudiness and flash . . . I’m so much more into that than a minimalist approach, so I want to start incorporating those aspects into my work.” Khaite isn’t a brand that will shock you with something new (I wonder who does so today…), but it’s the place to look at when you’re not sure what’s relevant now. Looking at the brand’s new season, keep everything you’ve got in your wardrobe for the next summer – lace, tartan plaid, florals, ripped jeans, big shoulders, cowboy jackets, everything will work.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

A Gift. Tomo Koizumi SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

New York fashion week is in full swing. Tomo Koizumi, Marc Jacobs and Katie Grand’s protégé, had Ariel Nicholson do a theatrical performance in his new season ruffled Japanese polyester organza creations at Marc’s Madison Avenue flagship. The Japanese designer, who already amazed everyone with his work last season, explained his spring-summer 2020 process as the following: “I tried to make more 3D patterns with ruffles – it’s kind of like a boxy shape, because I wanted to make something like a gift box.” When he was sketching the designs for the garments, the designer drew inspiration from his own culture – using Lolita fashion as a primary reference, he also crafted the shapes of the dresses based on Japanese robotic cartoons, which he grew up watching. The looks – if you can even call them like this – really had something of gift wrapping, bold and knowing no borders of ‘too excessive’. Tomo doesn’t want to be commercial, and his costumes are for the most daring ones. You can hate it or love it, but this sort or joyous non-chalance is not only growingly rare in New York, but across all the fashion capitals.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Lady-Like & Cartoonish. Rodarte SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

So here we go again – the official (I emphasize ‘official’, as we’ve already seen Jacquemus in Provance and Vetements in McDonald’s two months ago as the aperitif of the season) fashion month triathlon is upon us! Lets start with Rodarte, which is a brand that navigates between Los Angeles and New York. Kate and Laura Mulleavy took a tactic they tried out for the first time a few seasons ago. No fashion show, but a look-book feauturing women they love and are friends with. This season’s bold, 80s-heavy sequins, ruffles and polka-dots are worn by the always amazing Kristen Dunst (I hope you’re watching On Becoming a God in Central Florida that’s airing now), Yalitza Aparicio, the sisters from Haim band, Margaret Qualley, Rowan Blanchard, Kiernan Shipka and basically all the girls Rodarte dresses for different occasions. All these women have a certain spark that feels so close to Rodarte and its dreamy womanhood concept behind. But put the look-book’s cast apart, there’s nothing ground-breaking about the collection – it’s a signature Rodarte line-up filled with couture-ish gowns. This time, though, the aesthetic feels more like Fragonard’s The Swing remixed with Slim Aarons’ photographs of rich, suburbian families having their garden parties. Lady-like combined with cartoonish. No other brand would pull this off without looking ridiculous.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.