Les Amours Perdus. Lemaire AW16

March 5, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Christophe Lemaire‘s utterly French outing for his autumn-winter 2016 wasn’t just about models, who presented the clothes. The girls at Lemaire show glanced at the audience in a naturally captivating way – as if they weren’t models, but women who wear Christophe’s seductive dresses, felt wool pants and low-heeled shoes on daily basis. Lemaire isn’t the type of designer who changes his attitude season-to-seaon. The approach stays always the same, with just a few additions to the line. This season, the chic wardobe of his Parisian, intellectual female (supposedly his life-parter, Sarah-Linh Tran?) was expanded by cable-knits and blouses with Elizabethan sleeves. V-neck, black dresses were effortlessly styled with these nostalgic shirts, while the sophisticated all-black looks were contrasted by curcuma yellow shoulder bags and voluminous pantalons. Your clavicles will surely love the feminine satin top, and the outerwear lovers will have an affair with the shearling jacket. The delicate braids and simple, red lipstick are the lifelong companions of a Lemaire woman – just like the clothes she loves so much.

Mankind Chic. Dries Van Noten AW16

March 4, 2016March 4, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Let Dries Van Noten teach what’s the definition of chic. It’s about decadence. Aristocratic suits, piqué shirts, gold lamé shoes, leopard-spot pantalons and the radiating soigné manner surrounding the smoky-eyed women. It’s a story reviving Marchesa Luisa Casati, the woman with her iconic pet-cheetahs obsession and a memorable collection of pearl necklaces. “She pushed decadence as a lifestyle, but was never happy” – indeed, the collection was shrounded in melancholic mystery. The masculine coats, celebrating Casati’s lover Gabriele D’Annunzio, and white shirts tucked in tweed pants were all about Dries’ imaginary woman, who shares her man’s wardrobe and reads, maybe, books about existence. The acid-green dress, worn by the one and only Molly Bair, had a sharp V-cut – quite unusual to see at Van Noten, who is rather into boyish elegance. But still, it felt infinitely him. From the very Parisian, velvet gowns to sexy pajamas the clients of the label have dozens of reason to shop here next season – and the fans, like me, will surely put this collection on the “autumn-winter 2016 favourites” list.

Bravo, Dries.

Generation’s Wardrobe. Y / Project AW16

March 3, 2016December 14, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Just after reviewing Koché, Y / Project is the next clear prove that Paris looks forward to labels found by new-gen talents, and those who made the cut in the LVMH Prize Awards. Ideas proposed by Glenn Martens blur between the terms feminine and masculine, but also, reflect on the generations’ love for Scream Queens pastel-pink trashiness, Cher’s good, old looks and this neo-goth, neo-grunge mood (which appears repeatedly this season). To an extend, the collection reminds me of Vetements, with its focus on denim (here, it’s all about the slouchy, elongated length of pants as seen above) and a kind of anti-fashion attitude. But you can’t compare Glenn Martens’ label to the fashion collective lead by Demna Gvasalia – the philosophies of these two brands are totally different, just like the approach. At Y / Project, drama plays a role – bishop sleeves worn loosely with pencil skirts; sheer robes with ruff-like collars ooze with ethereal elegance, but with a modern-day twist. The list of must-haves keeps adding up, and curiosity of what’s to come at Y / Project makes me wonder.

Street Attitude. Koché AW16

March 3, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s hard to be a young and independent fashion designer in Paris, fighting for attention in the crowd of Chanel-s, Balmain-s and Saint Laurent-s. Surprisingly, Paris Fashion Week starts with a day of fresh and trending labels – meet Koché, the creation of Christelle Kocher, the new girl in the schedule and a second-time LVMH finalist .“I’m sharing my Paris with other people,” is how she described the unusual venue of her fashion – the 18th-century Passage du Prado, which nowadays is adopted by African hairdressers and little mobile phone shops. So, no – it’s not Grand Palais or a Rue Saint Honore showroom.

However, the spirit of a Parisian atelier is not left out at Koché. Christelle collaborates with Maison Lemarié, which does mesmerizing, artisan detailings using feathers and plume only – and the way she implemented haute couture into her hoodies and tees is just mind-blowing. The contrast is stunning, just like the models’ cast. Doing it in Eckhaus Latta way, the designer invited professional models (Karly Loyce, Soo Joo), friends and people she met on the streets, breaking the convention of an ordinary line-up. Although this stuff will be expensive (velvet skirts, shearling jacket patchworked with layers of white lace), Koché is already stirring the industry with its unique, yet über-cool attitude. I wonder where will the designer lead her brand – biting the dust and taking it on a mainstream path, or rather keeping it off-beat? Hope for the latter.

Unbiased Italian. Stella Jean AW16

February 29, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s easier to mention what didn’t inspire Stella Jean this season. From Christmas nutcracker and plastic-cover sandals to Italian patriotism in form of carabiniere pants and ethnical nods to African masks, this season was filled with randmomness. Unlike spring-summer 2016 collection, filled with Tehuanian dresses and Andean references, the winter collection feels influent and busy, as if the designer wanted everything at a time. Surely, a stricter edit is needed here, even though there are some remarkable pieces. Note the stunning knitwear with Ndebele patterns and the dresses with raffia-applied mask motifs.

Moreover, Jean went off the rails with “Made in Italy” undermining statements backstage of her show – “we used the fluffy technique, entirely recycled from industrial mass-market rejects, whose identity we’ll keep secret in order not to influence judgment but also to prevent that attitude that inevitably discriminates against any garment that is not produced in Italy.” Surely, there is a seed of truth in the fact that the Italian fashion industry is not as “fairy-tale” as everybody thinks – and surely, this one wasn’t positively seen by the Italian fashion VIPs. Prime Minister Matteo Renzi opened Milan Fashion Week with a lunch attended by, to mention a few, Donatella Versace and Diego Della Valle, all with the initiative of praising Italian craftsmanship and the importance of the industry. Maybe the new collection didn’t make a fashion cut this season, but it definitely left few questions connected to the whole, inflated “Made in Itlay” matter.