SS25

The Quotidian. Carven SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Louise Trotter‘s Carven is easily one of the best designer-and-brand pairings in a while. The spring-summer 2025 collection, which opened with a minimal dress in shade of champagne and constructed to hover just slightly away from the body, was about sense of an intimate world taking shape in unexpected ways. While the shoes were slippers and puffy mules, there was nothing sleepy about the collection as it beautifully balanced easy nonchalance with sophisticated chic. Trotter – just like Phoebe Philo or the Olsens – understands that dressing women means understanding their relationship to their clothes; her silhouettes are considered yet never overworked. The intriguing ambiguity of a rounded trench on Marte Mei and the extended white tuxedo shirtdress topped with an ample collarless black jacket on Jessica Miller were both standouts. Wherever the Carven woman is wearing these looks (you can imagine them in different circumstances), for Trotter they represent “the quotidian, the rituals.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Flashy. Schiaparelli SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

At Schiaparelli, I feel like Daniel Roseberry doesn’t have a clear idea of what the brand’s ready-to-wear line should look like. For a consecutive season now, it’s more of an after-thought of his haute couture that was forced to be less in-your-face, more “commercial”, but at the same time still look flashy and rich. In a way, Schiaparelli ready-to-wear is giving Olivier Rousteing Balmain or something Alexandre Vauthier-ish. Paris is overfilled with fashion like this, and Roseberry’s is just adding up to that certain not-so-niche niche.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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New Avant-garde. Duran Lantink SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Duran Lantink is one of the most exciting names in Paris. His bigger-than-life clothes are editorial favorites, and innovative approach to fashion – an actual rarity. His extremes of silhouette shaped an avant-garde aesthetic that is already being picked-up by the establishment. Still, nobody has mastered the Duran method, and he’s the beautiful outlier.

This season, the designer went to the beach, inserting inner tubes of padding in one-piece swimsuits and adding several cup sizes and generous uplift to bikini tops. Full-body bodysuits, meanwhile, were padded at the joints, making the models resemble insects or aliens. Other looks were accessorized with handbags worn as bonnets, the straps tucked under the chin. “It was really important to think a bit more about wearability, but still in a very fun way,” he said. The exceptional silver jewelry belonged to Carla Sozzani and was made by her companion, Kris Ruhs. The sculptural necklaces claimed space in a similar way to Lantink’s bold designs. It all worked.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Gimme More. Balenciaga SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

Something was definitely off about this Balenciaga outing by Demna. Not in a conceptual or ironic way – this would be make the collection spark with the designer’s signature knack for disruptiveness. What worries me is spring-summer 2025’s flatness of meaning behind the clothes. The models – who walked on an extra-long, wooden table – opened the show with lingerie, which was actually an illusionist layering of bras and garters on flesh-colored body stockings. Then, the collection shifted to Demna’s well-known twisted take on streetwear. Shrunken polos, garments made out of stitched together hoodies, well-worn baggy jeans… we all know this story. The finale was about eveningwear that was totally mild and whatever. The show was accompanied by a remix of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More“, the ultimate anthem of over-consumption of mass media and pop culture. When I heard it, my first thought was: Demna’s exhausted. We kind of all are.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Nostalgia. Valentino SS25

| Design & Culture by Ed

I found Alessandro Michele‘s runway debut for Valentino a disappointment on many levels. I don’t get the reasoning behind sending down the runway over 80 looks that are so terrifically archaic and deadly retro. Yes, it’s Michele’s prime aesthetic, but it can easily (and quickly) get exhausting. Near the end of his tenure at Gucci, you literally felt an overdose of nostalgia. I really hoped Michele would channel his quirk for the past it in a contemporary-looking way. Let’s remember his Gucci debut was an unexpected gender revolution. But at Valentino, he totally missed the opportunity to show a breakthrough. Also, what’s the actual point of remaking Valentino Garavani’s 1970s and 80s garments in 2024? First, there’s a vintage market for that. Second, it looks absolutely stuffy and dusty without even a drop of irony in the styling.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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