Hillier Bartley

August 27, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Hillier Bartley’s advertisement campaign photographed by David Sims.

Ladies & gentlemen, welcome Hillier Bartley – a new brand coming from the British designer duo, Katie Hillier and Luella Bartley. After closing the sister line of Marc Jacobs, MBMJ, these two truly unique personalities decided to open their new chapter in fashion! Firstly, in February, Hillier Bartley was quietly presented to few buyers; then, a mysterious Instagram account appeared. And now it is the time to see, what they are really up to – edgy, slightly decadent style that celebrates English tailoring with feminine twist. Warm wool coats, fringed bags, satin blouses and lady-like silk gowns – and all of that kept in a cool, quite nostalgic manner. No wonder why you can find Tracey Emin, David Bowie and Debbie Harry in the brand’s AW15 moodboard. Also, Hillier’s signature bunny motif appeared in the collection in form of adorable clutches.

The collection will be exclusively available at Matches from September 2nd.

In September issue of Vogue US by David Sims.

Post Anti-Fashion

August 22, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Vetements in French means clothes – but Vetements goes far beyond the meaning of clothes in today’s fashion industry. It exaggerates clothes. It elongates the sleeves, gives volume to cowboy boots and makes floral grandma dresses look provocative, and kind of sexy. Led by Demna Gvasalia and six other anymous designers, who met while working as design team at Maison (Martin) Margiela, Vetements is the new force which makes fashion rules feel even more useless than ever. Even their AW15 fashion show wasn’t a typical event where clothes were celebrated in a traditional way. But don’t think it was done in a buzzy, Chanel way – oh no. The “creative network” of the brand took their guests to Le Depot, a sleazy sex-club, where everybody felt a mood of anti-fashion. At first sight, you might not really understand the collection – but in reality, it is not that deep in its meaning as you might think. These clothes, even though look pretty grotesque, are wearable. Gvasalia claims “as long as we can make clothes that people want to wear and they find them cool and relevant, that’s my understanding of hype”. Although the styling is complicated and well-considered (or not), separately the clothes are easy. Take the over-sized trench coat. You can wear it with everything – even if you might look like a hobo, you look like a anti-fashion person. But the thing about Vetements is, that you need to feel this anti-fashion thing. And live in it, consciously.

Vetements’ AW15 collection seemed to have a brutal, violent attitude in it, too. But this can be easily explained. Raised in 80s Soviet Union Georgia, Demna’ childhood was shaped by the aggressive gang youth culture, and the certain censorship of the USSR. The topic of Soviet youth is also repeatedly presented by another Paris-based designer, Gosha Rubchinkiy. In fact, both of these designers develop a new movement in fashion, which you might like or not – post anti-fashion. “Yeah, I like that. No one knows what it means” Gvasalia said with a laugh while being interview for i-D. In other words, Vetements should be kept on the radar during the fashion week in September, folks, because it is truly intriguing.

Photography by Harley Weir

Interview with This Is Not A Tie

August 4, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

François Guillaume is not a street-style photographer who seeks the most fancy, Instagram-worthy handbag in a person’s outfit. On his independent blog, This is Not a Tie, François presents his photographs of people through the lense of his Leica.

By looking at your photos, there is this very Parisian mood about them. In a way, your photos translate the amazing aura of Paris, but not in a literal way. Could you describe your feelings towards this city?

I didn’t grow in Paris, but in a really small town. I dreamed a lot about cities and Paris when I was a child. After my studies, I began to work there, it was 11 years ago… Even after struggling for years and walking its streets tirelessly, I still feel like a stranger in Paris. When I work on a manuscript (I’m a book publisher now) in some café, I enjoy the view, the constant agitation, the passerby, the noise, the grace, the lights and the dirt…

How is your street-style photography style different from all the others?

Well… The outfits are completely secondary for me. And “This is not a tie” is a personal project… I try to shoot something real, beautiful, funny, or powerful, well composed, or even blurry if it makes me feel something. In the end, it’s a lot like an exercise for me, and it’s liberating because I get to work oustide. To be honest, I don’t believe in “street-style photography” as a genre in itself, It feel it’s not that interesting. It’s more of a way to get a pass at shooting total strangers, when they ask “why do you take my picture ?”, You have the “street style” alibi, and it makes it OK every time. I remember the words of Robert Capa when he was talking to Cartier-Bresson : “Never say you do Surrealist Photography, they’ll never hire you ! Do what do you want but label it as photojournalism”. At this time, it was the best thing to say to be able to work, whatever your style really was.
Other than that, obviously, contrary to other photographers, I shoot only with analog cameras, most of the time with black and white Kodak TriX. I also allow myself to post a lot of out of focus and underexposed shots!

What do you search for in an outfit, person or a situation when you take a photo?

Sometimes I see a good background, with a beautiful light, an interesting pattern on the wall, a striking contrast, and I just wait for a character to pass by. It can take some time, but I’m kind of a patient guy. Every photographer want some life, a lot of action, dramatic gestures, but most of the time you’re stuck with a discreet movement, a fading shifty look, people simply walking or looking at their phones. But even in these moments, you can sometimes find something worthy of a shot.

When you take a photo of a person, what makes you want to photograph him or her? Is it an impulse or something further?

It’s sad you cannot stop a stranger in the street, a man or women, a kid or and old grand-pa, and tell him you find him or her beautiful. Taking a pictures of them is my direct way of telling them I find them radiant or graceful or stunning.

Could you tell me about your personal style, “finds” that you were, want or collect?

This week I have bought a red Filson trucker hat, a vintage Batman T-shirt with a drawing of Gene Colan, looked up a black or grey Arc’teryx Veilance jacket, and stole a book from my wife (The Master and Margarita by Bulgakov, I bought a copy 14 years ago but I loaned it to a friend who ended up killing himself. As you might imagine, I never asked for the book back, even if the irony might have made him laugh in his tomb)… And I also want to buy new running shoes for my weekly 45 kilometers, but I’m too broke for that right now… Wanting to buy sneakers and having an empty wallet, It’s like being 15 years-old again! In a way, it’s absurd and that’s a good feeling.

More of François’ photography on thisisnotatie.com

Dance. Rachel Comey Resort’16

July 13, 2015July 13, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dance! Use your body language! Resort 2016 by the New York-based favourite, Rachel Comey, is a blast. The looks were documented through a dance performance from the Robbins Child company – women who love dancing simply showed the clothes they wore through movement. While listening to various music on their headphones, the dancers looked more than refreshing in colours of curcuma, lemon and red chilli… Comey said that she’d been looking at shots from Kingston, Jamaica circa the 1970s as a way of exploring a loose “street style” theme, and though her homage was indirect, the collection’s prints and colors made the reference clear. With a cool 70’s twist, these dresses are definitely the ones you want to try out at Saturday night dance-club.

Proportions. Sacai RE16

July 5, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Over-sized yoga pants. Masterful layering. Smart fabric usage. This is what Chitose Abe of Sacai offers us for Resort 2016. Volumes, which remained fearless in the matter of sweaters and dresses, is as always a signature of this Japanese brand. In addition to all the familiar A-line variations and balloon-bomber jackets, Chitose explored longer lengths in this collection, whether with modern-day transparency or in the same manner as her chic collars. This new, easy softness will not go unnoticed among those who admire but feel overwhelmed by Sacai’s unusual, but comfortable silhouette. A great collection with great clothes – and with great styling.