SS20

Nouvelle Vague. Chanel SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

The first model who opened Chanel‘s spring-summer 2020 show, Maike Inga, looked like Jean Seberg from Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless film with her blond pixie-cut and long-sleeved, red tweed dress. Other models had their hair undone and seemed to be make-up free. The collection’s faux setting – a stereotypically Parisian rooftop landscape with dove grey sky in the background – added up to the mood of French New Wave (‘La Nouvelle Vague’) mood. Virginie Viard‘s first ready-to-wear collection for the brand feels like a Parisian postcard, but comparing to Karl Lagerfeld’s emphasis on creating memorable moments, it’s much more low-key. There’s something comforting about her take on Chanel: it’s simple, not show-y and far from any sorts of excess. At some point, the line-up made you yawn with its monotony – too many nearly identical tweed mini-dresses and Chanel logo prints. The eveningwear lacks spark and excitement as well. My favourite look was the most casual one: a breton stripe top, a matching jacket, high-rise denim pants and flats. Very Chanel. But I wonder whether Viard’s easy, approachable and at times flat vision for Chanel will do.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Easy Gestures. A.P.C. SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

“The older I grow, the less subtle I want to be,” Jean Touitou said at his spring-summer 2020 A.P.C. show. He was speaking over a microphone in a courtyard on the Rue Cassette near his headquarters, during the laid-back garden show/presentation. He also added that he was thinking about communist events in the 1970s and nighttime gatherings in city squares. Theory aside, the collection was all about summer colors and easy silhouettes. A tangerine swing coat, a pastel paisley minidress and grass green dinette dresses are the highlights. He clashed this all together with quirky styling tricks, like thick knit socks, backpacks worn on the chest and A.P.C. quilts held up like banners (hand-made by Jessica Ogden). Minimalism and purity of form are main codes at A.P.C., but as Touitou ages, his gestures are becoming easier and more free. On the backs of some pieces he had written slogans in an all-caps font: RADICALLY MINIMAL, POSITIVELY NORMAL. A.P.C. continues to be one of the best labels for daywear.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

1990s. Givenchy SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Givenchy‘s Clare Waight Keller tries new things, leaving behind her past aesthetic of flou dresses and flowing, feminine silhouettes. This English designer moved to New York in 1993 for a job at Calvin Klein. At the time, Kate Moss was on the runways wearing slip dresses and streamlined black tailoring, and studio assistants wore Birkenstocks. Helmut Lang was the city’s growing obsession. “When I arrived in New York, I was very much a tomboy, and there was this raw, boyish energy,” Waight Keller said backstage of her spring-summer 2020 line-up. Givenchy being a French house, she’s set up her new collection as a conversation between the minimalist New York she remembers circa ’93 and the much more exuberant Paris she visited at the time, which was still recovering from the couture excesses of the ’80s. Her new season line-up is good enough to exist without that background: slim jackets paired with Bermuda-length shorts; denim, from short shorts to holey jeans to a V-neck dress made from two different colored washes (the show notes described the jeans’ ’90s vintage upcycled fabric “pointing to a conscious future”); turtleneck blouses in shades of curcuma and lilac; beige leathers used in tank-tops, coat-dresses and maxi-skirts. Apart for florals, this was an unexpectedly minimalist version of Waight Keller. As always with Claire, I’m not sure what exactly her distinct Givenchy look is (the collection’s appeal is mainly caused by Suzanne Koller’s eternally chic styling). Still, it’s not bad.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Marie Antoinette. Thom Browne SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

If you’re looking for a show (and equally spectacular clothes), go to Thom Browne. Just beware of killer heels he’s offering his models every season. For spring-summer 2020, the designer was drawn towards the unabashed decadence of France before the Revolution. With models in Marie Antoinette-esque wigs and powdered pink faces, Browne’s vision of the 18th-century silhouette aligned most closely with the historic original. Anna Cleveland walked down the runway in a dress that owed its waist-whittling line to traditional corsetry. There was often a layer cake of prettiness underneath the rigorous feminine architecture: petticoats and ruffled bloomers in the softest pastel shades, for example. Browne’s signature gray flannel suits were stripped back to their red, white and blue lining in places, revealing traditional men’s boxer shorts that were buoyed by suspenders. But mostly, those looks said one thing: “let them eat cake!”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Classics. Valentino SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

There was something very calming and classical about Pierpaolo Piccioli‘s spring-summer 2020 offering for Valentino. The designer dedicated the whole opening section of the show to white, sending out 12 looks that rotated around the idea of a shirt. “I wanted to work on something universal, to get back to the essence of shape and volume,” he said. “So I worked on the idea of the white shirt, but treating it with a couture sensibility.” The dresses didn’t only look airy and feminine, but very comfortable. And one can’t help but notice the nod to  aesthetics of Renaissance. The collection as well had splashes of noen (the green, chiffon number is exquisite) for balance. Any prints? Jungle prints via the naive vision of 19th-century artist Henri Rousseau – perfect for summer. The line-up ended with couture-ish, tulle gowns. This wasn’t a ground-breaking collection from Piccioli, but a pleasing one. His consistence keeps on attracting customers, who know they will look flattering in a Valentino dress. While everyone’s re-inventing themselves to be relevant, it seems that Pierpaolo doesn’t have that problem.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.