Lightness. Chloé SS25

October 1, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Pardon my review absence for the last couple of days, but I was in Paris for fashion week. I’m catching up now – equipped with a much-needed, refreshed perspective on what’s going on in the industry, IRL. Let’s start with Chloé!

Chemena Kamali is on a roll. It’s her second full season at Chloé, and the way her take on the brand resonates with the industry – and clients who are literally storming the boutiques in Paris! – is a rare thing to see nowadays. Also, comparing to other designers this season, she presented a proper, summer collection that actually felt summer-ish. And just like in her confident debut, Kamali once again showcases her intimate understanding of Chloé’s history. Photos of Karl Lagerfeld designed collections were pinned to the mood board in her studio. Two of her most inspired lifts were the waist shapers of spring 1977 and the lace bloomers of spring 1978. Jackets – in sturdy workwear cotton or soft suede – gave the sensual lightness of these pieces a reality check. It’s good to see flou femininity back on Chloé runway – for some reason, Kamali’s predecessors thought it wasn’t the right thing to channel. But there’s a new sense of strength in these carefree girls and women wearing floral-bouquet-print dresses in cascades of ruffled chiffon.

And speaking of Chloé stores in Paris, here’s what I saw at the rue de Saint-Honore boutique: the perfect marriage between retail and art. Mie Olise Kjærgaard‘s absolutely beautiful paintings are exhibited across the entire space, perfectly matching the current season.

And FYI, here’s what you should get from new Chloé!

ED’s SELECTION:

Chloé Mona Fringed Leather Pumps

Chloé Cape-effect Open-back Ruffled Silk-crepon Gown

Chloé High-rise Wide-leg Jeans

Chloé Eve Ruffled Suede Knee Boots

Chloé Bracelet Embellished Leather Shoulder Bag

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Work in Progress. Hodakova SS25

September 26, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ellen Hodakova Larson won the prestigious LVMH Prize earlier this month. This, plus Cate Blanchett’s red carpet endorsement, means growing buzz around her eponymous brand. The spring-summer 2025 collection worked as a primer to those new to the Hodakova world, and held plenty of interest for those who were better acquainted with it. Her haute upcycling approach to fashion is based on the make-do and mend values she grew up with. This season the designer took a walk down memory lane. “For me it’s been a dive into warmth and feeling proud about where you come from,” she said. “I find so much comfort in going back in memories… and my memories are in objects, so it’s more about smells, images, pieces—all of the physical things.” Because of the materials they are made of, deadtock, vintage, and salvage, Hodakova’s designs evoke the past. They carry tales, but neither the designer nor her garments are retro, rather Larsson’s aim is, she explained, “to be present all the time.” Hodakova has a Martin Margiela manner of approaching her craft: just as he made vests out gloves, she uses boots to construct a dress, in a surreal yet gritty, rough way. In her eyes nacre buttons, plastic eyeglass lenses, and zippers are jewels and discarded status symbols; like démodé fur hats can become coquettish dresses. The humanist concept of turn to materiality has been the designer’s main focus in her work, but this season she said she wanted to focus more on silhouettes, and did so with some face-covering column dresses, done her way. Hodakova is a beautiful work in progress.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Cosplay Chic. Saint Laurent SS25

September 25, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Anthony Vaccarello served a collection that just couldn’t go wrong: 1980s-inspired tailoring and outerwear, checked. Bella Hadid in le smoking, checked. Pinches of Yves’ 1976 Ballets russes collection, checked. The Saint Laurent woman is a walking nostalgia. Especially, when she’s cosplaying Nan Kempner in brocade evening looks. It’s easy to fall in love with what Vaccarello does – he knows fashion theatrics, and certainly knows hot to sell big-time sensuality. But I always wonder if this good-looking time-machine (or irresistible time-trap) makes sense in our contemporary times?

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Bonkers Glam. Vaquera SS25

September 24, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Vaquera opened Paris Fashion Week with bonkers attitude – but one that is also commercially viable. “We’re still very punk in our roots,” said Bryn Taubensee, “but we’re asking ourselves, how can we also make it easy for people to understand and wear, and easy enough for us to survive?” Patric DiCaprio, the other half of Vaquera’s heart, put it more bluntly: “Shooting ourselves in the foot isn’t really where we see the future for our lives and this brand.” That’s why the spring-summer 2025 collection is all about Vaquera essentials – black bubble miniskirt with built-in bike shorts, bullet-bra tops and jersey tees with logos – with a provocateur twist. The XXL faux-fur coat is a joyous delight, just like the puffy ball-skirt in a kitschy, vintage-y chain print, styled with a monumental cloud-shaped. But there’s nothing whimsy about Vaquera, even their eveningwear as the New York-based duo styles it with over-sized rugby shirts and well-worn trainers.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Idea of Wow. Bottega Veneta SS25

September 23, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Bottega Veneta show was livid. It made you love living life! Matthieu Blazy really starts feeling the Italian air and flair of dolce vita. His spring-summer 2025 was a joyous, vibrant finale of Milan Fashion Week – and a reminder to let your inner child out from time to time. “I was interested in the idea of wow, the wonder you have as a kid when you try something – it’s almost like primal fashion, your first experience of fashion when you try your parents’ clothes,” the designer said. He showed too-big jackets and one-leg pants under asymmetrical wrap skirts, and pieces like a black tank dress and khaki and navy shirtdresses with built-in wrinkles like they’d been crushed at the bottom of a trunk waiting for a game of dress-up. The details were pure fun: frogs perching at the neckline of a dress and clinging to the heels of shoes, lapels in the shape of bunnies on leather coats, a scarf top printed with giant fish. Humor was all over the spiky wigs and flower bouquets made out of leather (of course, it’s Bottega!). Blazy’s enthusiasm is perceptible and catching. This is exactly what we need in 2024.