Hustle, hustle honey! It’s Acne for SS15, and we’got a big hustler thing going on. Rap gold chains, shiny aviator glasses, 70’s wide trousers and sexy V-necks are just few things that felt super hot. Green, yellow, beige, red… all of that was here, making the collection looking IT. Backstage Johansson said he’s been captivated lately by young people’s affection for and appropriation of luxury goods, the implication in the statement being that the phenomenon isn’t an experience he remembers from his own Swedish youth. But was he endorsing the current situation or poking fun at it? It wasn’t always clear. In the case of a strapless minidress made from a teal green terry cloth towel—spa day!—it seemed like Johansson was taking the piss.
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Under The Palm Tree. Isabel Marant SS15
“My girl’s got a city to run,” Vampire Weekend frontman Ezra Koenig intones on SBTRKT’s “New Dorp. New York.”, the soundtrack to the Isabel Marant show, and the collection is all about that woman. A city girl in tailored but textural shapes, accented with elements from her travels to Africa and exotic islands. Tailored trousers and pleated, tiered mini skirts mixed with knitted shag coats and fringed tabarts, wrapped and tied at the waist. Maybe that wasn’t the best Isabel Marant collection, but you can’t say it was bad. It was french, and it felt like a good take on beach walk. It was very Parisienne, and at the same time ethnical.
Being Attractive. Balmain SS15
Mondrian-ish prints. Freeing the nipple. Parisian glamour. Sexy. Olivier Rousteing of Balmain showed a chic and brave collection, making the models look ultra attactive and provocative (if you may say, anything is still provocative in today’s fashion). For a show that was about “pushing the boundaries of sex,” as Rousteing bluntly put it, it didn’t always mean sexy with safe use. The issue, in most cases, was the fabric. As eye-catching as allover crystals can be, they’re hard to slink in—harder still, we imagine, to sit down in. The collection felt not really looking into the future woman, but into the past, where showgirls had their time to shine. However, the sheer tops with bold stripes looked good, but surely not real.
Brutal Love. Rick Owens SS15
Mid-century Polish composer Wojciech Kilar was a distinct departure from Owens’ usual visceral electronic noise. Still, he anchored his models to earth with clogs that clacked noisily around the catwalk. Ghost-models, fauns, normal women- all of them clashed in this romantic, but brutal collection. It was a mix of everything Owens did up to date- Luigi Murenu hair-bushed, panel tafetas, black leather, sculptural silhouettes… although there were many cuts and legs to be seen, it all felt attractive through a dark prism. The ortopedic geisha clogs felt also very dramatic. The Ballets Russes, the early 20th century’s most spectacular rejection of the cultural status quo, was his starting point. Owens gave his own spin to a dancer’s tulle.


































