Men’s – Back to Black. Bottega Veneta AW16

January 18, 2016January 18, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Tomas Maier, the creative director of Bottega Veneta, takes his man (and woman) to the darker side this season. But the colour of black had its function – Maier made it the leading colour of the show in order to present a contrast. “It’s about the silhouette. I felt it needed change. All the sportswear-inspired elements that we have been putting in: It’s time to move on. It’s becoming a trend, lots of people are doing that, I don’t need to do it forever.” Rather than reintepreting de luxe sweatpants, the collection was focused on the way the athletic, yet elegant clothes look on the body of both men and women. For guys, Bottega Veneta channeled a loose-fit chic, while girls looked soigné in their calfskin coats and relaxed skirts. Even though this collection is not a ground-breaking one, it feels like one of the best menswear outings by the designer up to date.

Nature Force and Fiorucci. Valentino Pre-Fall’16

January 16, 2016January 22, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Valentino‘s pre-fall 2016 collection delivered by Maria Grazia Chiuri and Pierpaolo Piccioli feels too good to be just a pre-collection. It has about 85 looks, and each of them tells a different story. The first series of looks were all about a pictorial, vivid scenario of a volcanic eruption – meticulously embroidered mini-dresses were styled with refreshing floral maxi-skirts and electric, blue high-knee boots. The force of nature, which was embraced by the designers this season was continued in the most romantic way – using the traditional, Italian way of fur-painting, the mink coats were blooming with delicate, white flowers. The Astrakhan skirt with fluffy cotton-flowers was genius, too, when styled with a classy, soft knit. However, the collection had its other side – the aim was, to make it span the worlds. The inspiration, as Maria Grazia and Pierpaolo explained in the showroom set up in Andy Warhol’s Factory in New York, was Elio Fiorucci. The Italian designer, who died last year, was focusing his fashion on influences which came from everywhere. “He was local and global,” said Chiuri, “and we think that fits with the way we work.” Moreover, the designers were drawn to Fiorucci for the 70’s lifestyle he represented in fashion, and his joy of discovery. I must admit, it was really hard to choose only a few, representative looks from this beautiful collection – so here are my definite favourites.

And if you are not familiar with Fiorucci’s pre-Instagram fashion…

He was the first designer to dress Madonna.

His work was captured the essence of Italian opulence and New York’s Warholian energy.

Elio used to have the most provoking advertisements in the industry – sexuality was his favourite element to play with.

Raw Girl. Acne Studios Pre-Fall’16

January 13, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

The newest Acne Studios collection for pre-fall 2016 is a perfect set of looks, which defines the current fashion obsession – so the raw girl, who is wearing her favourite, yet slightly dilapidated knitted cardigan, cowboy boots from a Los Angeles thrift shop (Gilda Ambrosio style, of course) and a satin slip dress, but in a very party-hard way. The grunge edginess of this Parisian outing is softened with toned and warm autumn colours of curcuma and dove grey, while the focus on knitwear (this green, super-long scarf looks perfect for a lazy, September day) felt like a fresh gust of air for the brand. If talking of the textures, one of the coats is a real, one-of-a-kind piece – the tartan check has a kind of an arty, hybrid contrast on the waist-line. The contemporary usage of velvet as a bra-piece of a slip-dress looks both dramatic and flawless with a delicate shawl tied around the neck of the model. Jonny Johansson, this collection is a BOMB.

Men’s – Contemporary Uniform. Casely Hayford AW16

January 10, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

If talking of London’s menswear brands, Casely Hayford is the closest to my heart, style and wardrobe. I just love how this fashion-family duo, Charlie and Joe, reconstruct daily basics into something exciting and beautiful. The best example is the MA1 inspired parka above. Definitely, this piece totally changes the meaning of a jacket / coat – it’s both functional and mind-blowing with its elongated silhouette and the “unfinished” manner. Masterfully styled with these sleek, burgundy pants and a simple black top, this look might be called the contemporary uniform. Just like most of the collection – see the patched-work denim, psychedelic prints on casual suits and uber-cool sweat-shirts. To give a military swing to the collection, Casely Hayford nailed two looks with an ornamented, officer collar – a bold detail which makes this collection blur the everyday clothes with something much more bold and unexpected.

Berlin. Givenchy Pre-Fall’16

January 7, 2016 | Design & Culture by Ed

Who would have thought that Berlin is suddenly becoming fashion’s favourite city? After Gucci presented its spring-summer 2016 campaign photographed by Glen Luchford (club WCs, peacocks and rooftops – see it here), the creative director of Givenchy, Riccardo Tisci, took the edgy streets of Kreuzberg by storm. The pre-fall 2016 collection is not only great because of the location, which I deeply adore – Riccardo comes back to his roots, which are all about fashion, and not the celebrity circus. Masculine pyjama layered with a lace skirt; sharp apparel channelled by Irina Shayk; “cheesy”, pink ankle-boots styled with romantic shoulder-exposing tops. Although there are no literal references of the city, the collection is very close to Berlin’s youthful attitude – the girls in here twist vintage looking suits with rock’n’roll biker jackets and simple, yet soigné spaghetti-strap tops. In other words, Berlin’s urban chic is getting a refined revamp by a French maison. Good try, Riccardo. I’m into it.