Small Can Be Mighty. Comme Des Garçons AW25

March 25, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Let me tell you.. fashion month exhausted me to such extent I had to take a teeny-tiny break and I’ve missed a couple of shows in my usual reporting. This also made me realize, why the hurry? Before Instagram, you had to wait at least a month for any (printed) magazine to deliver a proper fashion month coverage. I remember those times, so I officially feel old.

Comme Des Garçons was an important moment. Rei Kawakubo’s wearable shapes and constructions were slightly (just slightly) getting daunting in the past few seasons with their amorphism and assamblage-ness, but for autumn-winter 2025, the designer went back to making clothes – or rather, concepts of clothes. Not that they were in any way normative. But you could see substantial ideas behind multiple cocktail dresses topping a black tutu base, or in the massive velvet crinolines. There were many layers of pink, red, and watermelon duchess satin bodices and skirts, smashed and clashed together, looking like some kind of couture godzilla. Meanwhile, on the soundtrack, the recording of the Bulgarian singers – as Adrian Joffe, Rei’s husband, shared – was of “workers in the fields, harvest, families, getting things done together.” This holds symbolism for Rei Kawakubo and for Joffe about the independence of Comme des Garçons and Dover Street Market – the two rare, assertive, yet thriving enterprises in an increasingly mega-corporation-dominated world.

Small can be mighty.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Phoebe Philo Collection C

March 19, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

On a slow, unassuming Tuesday afternoon, without a single teaser or notice, Phoebe Philo has released her new season lookbook.

Philo’s third full act – titled “Collection C” – is a line-up coming from a confident, assertive woman who knows what she wants. I was just thinking out loud which designer this fashion month got it right in terms of the eternal question: what do women really want from fashion? Well, I think that Phoebe has an absolutely convincing answer. An entire collection of answers.

The collection (that will hit the stores in the second half of 2025) further explores the theme of continuality, something that the British designer introduced in her debut. There are elements that we saw in her previous offerings, but styled differently, more spontaneously: as if a real woman was about to run her errands, and the clothes were the supporting characters, not main heroes. Leather bomber jackets (the label’s major seller) returns in new earthy shades, just like the XXL cabas bag or pajama-like sets in subtle checks. Note how fresh and current these items look. It’s really not about the next new thing, but perfecting what you’ve already got. But there are also exciting new additions, like all the delightful teddy coats or fringed leathers (I wonder if it’s a shawl or an oversized clutch?). Philo also re-owns the modern-day pannier she did in her swan song collection for Céline, this time in a delightful, russet jersey skirt in floor-sweeping length.

But what strikes most in the new release is the overall mood switch. The nay-sayers of Philo’s eponymous endeavor used to point out how distanced and stern the woman she envisioned felt in her first collections. That’s definitely not the case in “Collection C”, where the models charm us with smiles, flowing hair and spilling bags (note the cabas in acidic green and fluffy texture!). The brand is growing organically, and women resonate with its ethos. A sense of celebratory joy is certainly in the air.

Phoebe Philo is in her element, and that shows.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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A Real Dream. Undercover AW25

March 15, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Jun Takahashi’s Undercover collection – which celebrated 35 years of the Japanese brand’s business – didn’t pretend to know it all about contemporary women, but it did deliver a substantial offering with a pinch of dream. The casting featured a number of mature women as well as industry professionals, like Lolita Jacobs. They all looked completely at ease in Takahashi’s romantic layers made out of richly-embellished cashmere knits, vintage-y jackets decorated with talismans and sparkly-hemmed coats. The poignant romanticism combined with inimitable sense of chic made Jun’s creative effort look – and feel – outstanding. For me, personally, this collection is up, up in this season’s list of top moments (and there really weren’t that many).

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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The Debut. Givenchy AW25

March 15, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Many designers in Paris asked the eternal question: what do women want? What do they really want? Not many know the answer. Some are finding out by the trial-and-error method. Some prove how out of touch they are with the world. But a couple of creatives seemed to have caught the idea, or rather a vision of a contemporary woman, made from flesh and blood, living a real life and wanting to dress well.

That sense of assuredness was present in Sarah Burton’s debut collection for Givenchy. It was a confident outing, one that put the brand back on the fashion map – and into conversations. But it doesn’t mean it was flawless. The opening look, an open-work bodysuit, would be just fine if not the tacky, in-your-face logo. The over-sized suits would feel a bit more powerful if they had a more distinct cut. The eveningwear was neither sharp or soft: it was somewhere in-between, subtly inspired by the couture history of the maison, but also trying to look modern. I was never a big fan of Burton’s work at Alexander McQueen, especially as her last years for the brand unfurled. Although her Givenchy offering feels less superfluous and more directed towards a real woman, I can’t help but see cues taken from Phobe Philo’s eponymous brand. Just look at the asymmetric, high-neck dress or the leather-wear.

Also, I asked a couple of women what they thought about this collection. All of them said nearly the same thing: it looked mild and plain to them.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Rough. Hodakova AW25

March 13, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

I really loved Hodakova’s collection for its roughness. Just like at The Row and Balenciaga, the line-up carried a sense of highlighting the mundane, the unfiltered reality. Ellen Hodakova Larsson’s interest in the theoretical concept of new materialism defines her brand – and has been her main focus ever since launching her eponymous label. Her garments, often made from pre-existing objects and materials, are full of personality. Coats made from upcycled fur and leather belts aggressively sticking out of sheath dresses are Hodakova’s most intriguing new-season experiments. The very riskily cropped pants gave the line-up sleazy sensuality… all that felt truly cool, yet somewhat disturbing – just like contemporary life. The penultimate look featured the base of a snare drum, which could have been an accessory or a skirt, and the finale was a model somewhat suffocatingly confined in a double bass, with her head and legs free. Cate Blanchett (who regularly wears Hodakova on the red carpet) playing Lydia Tár comes to mind immediately.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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