All-American Elegance. Brock Collection AW17

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

In a few words about Brock Collection, New York’s new go-to luxe brand: it’s designed by husband-and-wife duo, Kristopher Brock and Laura Vassar. With love. Last November, the couple won the CFDA / Vogue Fashion Fund, which enabled them to expand and develop their cozy womenswear label known for great denim and top-notch quality essentials.

About the autumn-winter 2017 line-up – you just feel it’s a collection created by two individuals, who are in a passionate relationship! It’s impossible not to fall in mutual love with those easy fur dresses and shawls, statuesque dresses or fleecy, soft knits. Rustical prints on pencil skirts and belted beige cardigans remind me of early Ralph Lauren and Donna Karan. It’s an all-American, luxurious wardrobe of a woman, who knows what she wants from life. She loves everything about the word ‘comfort’. But Kristopher’s and Laura’s fashion isn’t exactly falling into that well-defined box of New York-based designers, who are pure minimalists and less-is-more fanatics. The new collection is filled with more flirty options, like strap dresses or chic leopard-printed coats. That’s why I listed Ralph above – Brock Collection smartly conveys ageless elegance, but to contemporary times.

Phoebe’s Spring

February 4, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

The meaning behind Céline’s spring-summer 2017 has been already conveyed in the soundtrack of the noisy city traffic and joyous children laugh. Loosely fit pastel top, indigo skirt and white sneakers – is there a better and more comfortable outfit for a day filled with errands, like picking your kids up from school? Or rushing to the office? The runway wasn’t a usual aisle, squeezed by editors and buyers. Models walked in random directions, sometimes in little groups, presenting a range of different personalities. A Céline woman isn’t only one type of women: Phoebe Philo proves that.

From masculine coats to intriguing dresses, nothing seems to look pointless here. Even though A LOT happens in this one specific collection. Her venture into sex-appeal is non-conformist and elusive, resulting in a dress with faux-corset, and a pair of sandals. Man-repelling? Depends on the guy. Speaking of the shoes, there were a lot of great heels and boots, worn two colours at a time. The colours were mixed up, ‘cuz “why should our shoes always match?” There isn’t one word to describe it all – it’s rather about understanding Phoebe’s “woman for women” world, which is far from trends, but always a step ahead from the others.

Stereotypes. Vetements AW17

January 28, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Last week was about so many things going on in Paris. Menswear shows, which were especially good this season; haute couture collections that were so boring or, hmm, boring I just couldn’t find the energy to write about them. And then there was Vetements autumn-winter 2017 collection for both men and women – this one sparked the discussion immediately. At some point Demna Gvasalia and his collective had to slow down with doing viral sweatshirts, or else a day would come saying the brand burnt out. Good for them – the latest collection distinctly differs from the previous ones, in its structure and the idea behind (no sleazy sex-clubs; no Juicy Couture collabs).

Vetements is a brand, which authentically origins from the streets, and this season the collective literally took all their urban observations to the Centre Pompidou venue. There was the emo girl with her black hair, black-everything gear; a Milanesa, an elderly lady who knows what’s chic in her fur coat; chavs in tracksuits and football-team scarves; corporate secretary aka Lotta Volkova; Coco ~~Chanel~~ lady in her pearls and tweed; IT nerds and perversely looking geeks. There was even a badass bride – a nod to the glossy anti-Vetements world of couture. Stereotypes function in our society and no wonder why Gvasalia decided to mess up with them. If you want to push Vetements’ AW17 into any trend report, good luck then – start from ‘military’ and end on ‘German tourists’.

Men’s – Sober and Grounded. Dries Van Noten AW17

January 24, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Autumn-winter 2017 wasn’t just another brilliant men’s collection chez Dries Van Noten. 99 is quite a number – and presenting your 99th collection is a big deal. Other designers would do a big party after the show, while Dries, in his manner, took a moment for reflection. “I wanted it to be grounded.” Deciding on what’s essential for him in a men’s wardrobe, the Belgian designer took a spin on basics, keeping them slightly more sober than usual. Wool coats with boxy shoulders (sounds Balenciaga, but looks much more refined); a great line of denim pants (!); Dr. Martens-like boots. Van Noten doesn’t play 70s-that, 90s-that trends: actually, these were the clothes he used to wear in his early days, and continues to wear on daily basis up to now. You will wear one of those big Peruvian-wool knits forever, just like the grey cardigan or oldie-but-goodie logo sweatshirt. There’s this sense of timeless in Dries’ latest collection and t’s real. No place for cliché here.

Men’s – Existentialism. Lemaire AW17

January 19, 2017 | Design & Culture by Ed

Yolk-yellow peeked out beneath coffee-brown. Dove-grey and camel-beige. Poetic black and elegant indigo-blue. As you can see right away, Christophe Lemaire‘s autumn-winter 2017 collection for men was a beautiful conversation between colours. And the clothes were beautiful too, in every meaning of this word. I’m absolutely a Lemaire-type of person and I would wear anything coming from this collection right now. The loose-fit of pants; perfectly tailored pea-coat; parka jacket that would stay in my wardrobe for ever. Aah. Yet, it’s all distinctively French, and the collection quietly nods to the existentionalist-writer style. Albert Camus, for instance.