Italian Simple. Bottega Veneta AW15

February 28, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

When I first saw Tomas Maier’s AW15 for Bottega Veneta, I fell something positive. Although we’ve got polka dots there and there, the collection is kept in simple way – the silhouette is very graphical, but at the same time feminine. The 60’s and 70’s are revisited, but in modern, contemporary way. And what else is exciting about the entire collection, is this beautiful, Italian mood – Bottega Veneta’s woman for fall loves a cappuccino in the morning and enjoys a glass of red wine in the evening. She does everything in slow way, but with grace and elegance. She’s mysterious, but friendly. And she has days which are black & white, and days which are full of stripes and colour block!

I thought this might catch the constantly changing mood of Bottega Veneta woman…

Swiss Cool. Bally AW15

February 28, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

“I didn’t think I could do another beige trench,” Bally’s creative director, Pablo Coppola explains the vibrance of color in his new Fall collection. When he arrived at the Swiss brand just over a year ago, Coppola set a challenge for the old classics. Before he got there, the 150-year-old company didn’t have much of an identity – it attempts to revive it were usually too weak. Timelessness is a reliable route to timeliness these days. “You do a camel cashmere sweater and nobody says anything, but do it in fuchsia and they all want it,” Coppola explained. The olive-green alligator trousers are amazing, too. The eclectic chic – a bit vintage, a bit modern – was perfectly framed with geometrical prints on silk shirts and handkerchiefs. Bally gets hot. And Swiss fashion starts to be cool, too.

Macaron Pastels. Prada AW15

February 27, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Oh, Miuccia. What have you done. This collection is unfortunately, one of the weakest for a long time. This was Miuccia Prada’s “Synthetic Fantasia”. Inside a series of macaron-shaded pistachio green and powder pink rooms connected with industrial grills, Miuccia explored themes that are different to her. What are our ideals of beauty? Are they real? What are the fine lines between fantasy and reality? What lies beneath a saccharine surface? These 50s-60s debutantes in all shades of pastel certainly had something cute about them. But… is it really what we need? Maybe it’s the fault of the styling. These ultra-long gloves and the horrible Geox-like stompers destroy everything. The ostrich leather, which I usually like, feels awkward with all that tweed. Definitely, that’s another vision of Prada. But not visions are always good. This one’s certainly too eye-catchy and twisted.

Blush Beauty. No21 AW15

February 27, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Alessandro Dell’Acqua is called the modern-day Italian fashion genius. And I totally approve that statement. This guy knows, how to mix contemporary with opulent – a tweed pencil skirt worn with gold-patent jacket; olive green hoodie styled with hand-embroidered dress – those are just few examples of how Alessandro rolls in fashion. For AW15, the designer of No21 brought a lot of blush pink into the collection, which felt super lovely. The two snow-white looks were excellent, too – the embroidered flower appliqued coat is dreamy… and the tune of “Let’s Dance” by David Bowie perfectly fit the entire scene. Romantic, but with a sharp masculine contrast.

Colorful Volumes. Marques Almeida AW15

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marques Almeida is super cute this season. The rising-star label shows off with their signature denim, but also brings a lot of new “things” – bright knitted dresses, brocade and fur (possibly faux) and polished leather accessories. Models marched to the no-nonsense sounds of Bjork’s 1995 “Army of Me”, their hair hanging in undone grungy locks. The attitude reminded me of Corinne Day’s photography from the 90’s, “It was a lot about those shoots where you would have these really expensive garments with a wrecked sofa” said Paulo Almeida. The final result? A very #funkyoffish collection. It’s cute and it definitely stole the hearts of London fashionistas.