Queer & Chic. Vivienne Westwood SS26

June 27, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

For spring-summer 2026 menswear, Andreas Kronthaler returned to Milan Fashion Week – and it did good to Vivienne Westwood, the brand whose soul was kind of devoid in the past few seasons.

The collection blended Kronthaler’s affection for fluid silhouettes and Milano’s sartorial heritage. Tailoring was slouchy and nonchalant, but utterly chic. The coats were broad-shouldered or leopard-printed, and full of Milanese charisma. Hunky men in dresses and killer-high platforms were an exuberant view – especially when seen in a passeggiata through a San Babila café and then out on street side marble-floor arcade. A rose-embroidered tabard with a mid-calf red satin boot was a look that was both ecclesiastical in its clerical regality and campy in its unabashed queerness.

This collection felt like one created in the presence of Vivienne’s spirit – or even blessed by her, straight from the fashion heaven.

ED’s SELECTION:

Vivienne Westwood Doll XL Embellished Tote

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Slipcovers. Marie Adam-Leenaerdt AW25

June 12, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt is a Demna’s Balenciaga alumni. As the former creative director of the maison is departing for Milan to lead Gucci, fans of the style so synonymous with that era can with no hesitance head to Adam-Leenaerdt’s eponymous label. Her contributions to Balenciaga, like tea-dresses, boxy envelope skirts and sharp tailoring, are now all under her name. But the designer isn’t stuck in one place – her work is continuously updated with innovative thinking about dressing. Her mathematically-precise, sophisticated autumn-winter 2025 collection, shown back in March during Paris Fashion Week, at first seemed like a Joseph Beuys tribute (coats, suits and dresses in felted gray wool, all somewhat oversized and kept in bold geometric shapes). When the models came back around again, they had added a top layer to the garments, sort of like slipcovers for furniture (hence the show’s location in a home furnishings gallery). A coat was enlivened with a leopard print shell, a Margiela-ist triangle skirt got an electric blue gloss, and a super-chic mini shift became a trompe l’oeil cardigan coat in the vein of Coco Chanel. Marie Adam-Leenaerdt champions clothes that aren’t only modern-looking, but are also intelligent.

ED’s SELECTION:

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Oversized Scarf-detailed Gathered Wool Cardigan

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Double-breasted Wool-twill Blazer

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Bow-embellished Leather Slippers

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Checked Wool Midi Skirt

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Lace-trimmed Satin Blouse

Marie Adam-Leenaerdt Gathered Cotton-jersey Midi Dress

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Madame Minimalism. Carven Pre-Fall 2025

June 11, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Carven‘s pre-fall 2025 collection, officially credited to the brand’s studio, is a good-looking transition moment between Louise Trotter’s work at the maison and the brand’s current creative director – and long-time collaborator of Trotter – Mark Thomas. The line-up, offering garments and accessories so wearable and easy-in-approach that it’s hard not to fall in love with their daily allure, is informed by blousy smock tops, wraparound apron shapes and a penchant for fabrics that appear structured to the eye yet soft around the body. One of the dresses with flannel on front and crushed lining in the back reminisces a 1950s couture dress with its strikingly simple, yet chic silhouette. Then you’ve got all the bubbly, t-shirt-inspired dresses and tops, minimal, timeless, versatile. The knits and cashmere shifts are pieces to be grateful for when you need to leave home looking pulled together. Carven became a go-to brand for less is more women who aren’t after The Row’s sophisticated oddness or Phoebe Philo’s contemporary strictness; the brand offers a warmer, cozier approach to minimalism. A madame minimalism.

ED’s SELECTION:

CARVEN Layered Cotton-gauze Gown

CARVEN Tie-detailed Cashmere Cardigan

CARVEN Organza Midi Skirt

CARVEN Louise Leather Clutch

CARVEN Oversized Satin-twill Jacket

CARVEN Wool-twill Mini Dress

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Retrospection. Balenciaga Resort 2026

June 5, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Demna is in a retrospective mood – as he should. The visual language that he has created throughout the decade of working at Balenciaga is probably the style that will be the most heavily analyzed by fashion historians when dissecting the fashion of 2010s and 2020s. It’s era-defining, whether you love it or hate it. Resort 2026 isn’t his final collection for the house – it’s the highly-anticipated haute couture line-up in July, where you can expect the least expected – and I’m glad he chose to look back at his biggest Balenciaga hits. From oversized duvet jackets and coats-worn-over-coats to super-mini tea-dresses and something’s-off-looking hoodies, this collection sums up Demna’s ready-to-wear for the maison in the most straightforward, clear way (with a Britney Spears cameo on the prints and the BFRND soundtrack, just to spice things up). In his subversive oeuvre, the designer has an affection for studying archetypes: think art curators, bikers, fetishists, politicians, soccer players. The “Exactitudes“, named after a series by photographer Ari Versluis and writer Ellie Uyttenbroek, who have also worked on this lookbook, inspired Demna’s approach to fashion up to this point. “Working on this collection felt like a homecoming after all these years, a very formidable experience of love for fashion and dressmaking,” Demna said. “It is the end of a wonderful era that I wanted to capture and celebrate by creating the Balenciaga ‘archetypes’ – the people, the silhouettes, the vibes, and the ideas that have all been fundamental in my work for this amazing house.” Come September, a radically new methodology is set to reanimate Gucci. Is Milan ready?

ED’s SELECTION:

Balenciaga Oversized Asymmetric Cotton-twill Trench Coat

Balenciaga Draped Plissé-crepe Midi Dress

Balenciaga Technoclog Rubber Mules

Balenciaga Bow-detailed Layered Lace-trimmed Satin And Jersey Top

Balenciaga Rodeo Large Leather Shoulder Bag

Balenciaga Lace-trimmed Wool Midi Skirt

Balenciaga Bat Cat-eye Acetate Sunglasses

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Her World. Tory Burch Resort 2026

June 4, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

If you’re reading me, then you know I’m obsessed with Tory Burch‘s renaissance. It seems the fashion industry is catching up, too. Last New York Fashion Week, of all collections that were presented, it was Tory’s line-up that received true acclaim. Burch and her talented design team are studying in-depth what femininity means in the modern world – and elaborate on whether it should be one thing or another. As a result, the brand offers an intriguing outlook that clashes Claire McCardell’s all-American 1940s forms, uptown New York primness (gracefully embraced by @ladiesofmadisonave) and a quirky twist that makes Burch’s designs feel so desirable. For resort 2026, the designer serves a cocktail of her tasteful affections, from unmistakable pencil skirts to delightfully prim cardigans and colorblocked sweaters. A major sensation is stirred by the collection’s biggest novelty: a semi-sheer skirt, layered up, draped and knotted to create a cascading, highly-feminine effect. It comes in delightful tones of red and mustard; the latter is styled with maroon-ish blouse and fish-net tights. It’s a look that balances sophistication, playfulness and sensuality in the most effortless, satisfying way. It’s Tory’s world, and she knows what she’s doing.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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