Cuban Heat. Proenza Schouler Resort’16

June 10, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Boys from Proenza Schouler heated up their dress-code after their trip to Cuba in March. There, they became inspired with vibrant movement of the streets and feminine silhouette of traditional dresses. The dresses, which were the main components of the Resort 2016 collection, were made in a great, over-sized fit. They definitely can be worn for a hot flamenco. A sleeveless red tweed dress with a handkerchief hem and a gentle ruffle down the front (another nod to Cuba) was one of the best pieces, as elegant as it was effortless. The exposed shoulders gave a subtle sex-appeal, too. That was a good, good collection.

The Big Ruffle. Rosie Assoulin Resort’16

June 10, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ruffles! Everywhere! On trousers, on shirts, on dresses – a ruffle mania. Rosie Assoulin presented a playful collection, which fused her all-time signatures with new ideas. The statement culottes had those huge daisy shaped cuts while her classy dresses smartly flipped into a fancy party or a friend’s brunch at the same time. Also, the Woodstock-like dyed over-sized trousers had a moment. But again, the ruffles were really the stars of this collection – the Curcuma coloured top with ruffled sleeves was everything. Just like the pink top which surrealistically reminded an ethereal waterfall made of ruffles. Although all of that might sound very “couture-ish”, mostly all of the clothes designed by Rosie are wearable and, definitely, ready-to-wear. Even though they might be really arty (but then, why they shouldn’t have a creative soul?).

Tropical Escape. No21 Resort’16

June 9, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Alessandro Dell’Acqua is the rising star of Milan and there no wonder why – his collections for No21 are always fresh and cool, but in Itlalian way. For Resort 2016, Alessandro fused many themes at a time – the marine chic which involved stripes; ethnic prints; oriental textiles (look at the canvas shoes!). All of that brought on the idea of perfect “tropical escape” wardrobe. The midi skirt with a sexy cut looked truly gorgeous with that over-sized chunky sweater while the warm colour of curcuma gave a laid-back mood. In overall, Dell’Acqua is known for his talent of mixing feminine silhouttes with masculine forms – the sailor jacket is the must-have of the collection, combined with one of these crispe checked skirts. This collection is an essential highlight of Alessandro’s fashion career becuase it smartly shows No21’s signatures in a very refreshing order.

Comfort Zones. Creatures of Comfort Resort’16

June 9, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Creatures of Comfort as a brand, concentrates on edgy clothes which, as the name suggests, are comfortable. Jade Lai, the designer of the brand, shared cropped, wide-leg trousers; boxy outerwear and fantastic, artsy layers. Among other ideas, we had a clash of two denims: a snowy fabrication from the storied American Cone Mills and a Japanese deep indigo. Both were used in a way that was pure Creatures of Comfort: Lai made the American fabric into a tank with a “fraying” peplum detail, while the Japanese denim became an oversize jacket and pants.

Panama & Spring. Altuzarra Resort’16

June 2, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Joseph Altuzarra has his ups and downs. This time, it is definitely an up. For Resort 2016, the New York-based designer offered his women a heat-wave of bold shirts and beach-worthy skirts. That’s definitely essential to mention what he had put on his lovely dresses – stitches with swags of beads strung in the style of the Kuna tribe in Panama. Each string showed a different order of beads, but when they were arrayed next to each other creating a graphic pattern. “A black-and-white woven leather coat with color-blocked, chevron suede pockets required an equally astounding amount of handwork.” Altuzarra explained that it was the result of a branding project with the French art director Thomas Lenthal in which they stacked all the letters of A-L-T-U-Z-A-R-R-A into squares, creating a new dimension for the logomania trend.

Although it might be to early to tell, but the bags seem to be already the must-haves of Resort 2016 (note: we will see them really not soon in stores). They have that sophisticated luxury touch, combined with leather fringes. And the shoes, appliqued with feathers, were there too to make the entire collection be even more interesting than usual at Altuzarra.