50/50. Julie Kegels AW24

April 29, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

I wrote about Julie Kegels back in 2021 when the Belgian designer released her masters collection titled “Supper Club“. Now, the The Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp graduate is back with her first collection under her eponymous label, which she presented during Paris Fashion Week in the beginning of spring. “50/50” is a proper introduction of Kegel’s talent to the fashion world, as it reflects her aesthetic and her brand’s off-kilter style. Blending contemporary elegance with a playful flair, the ready-to-wear debut “means business up front and party in the back“, as Julie sums it up. Above-the-knee granny socks paired with a provocatively translucent back; wool skirts dancing with shortened denim rears; serious pinstripes mingling with lively floral motifs. Julie’s creative process revolves around fully embracing fashion’s transformative power to craft her unique universe. In this spirit, accessories – jewelry, bags and shoes – harmonize elements from the past and present. The designer skillfully weaves romantic, old-world lace patterns into the collection using the last thermoforming techniques, resulting in contemporary, wearable masterpieces. Enhanced by a blend of quirky preppy cuts, embossed florals, and trompe l’oeil knitwear, the collection breathes a new life into timeless designs and solidifies Kegels as a rising star in the fashion realm.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

ERL: Made In California

April 25, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

No one does California story-telling like Eli Russell Linnetz. Now, the ERL designer has taken a step further, and dropped a capsule collection entirely produced in the Golden State. Key shearling pieces came from sheared sheep that roam around the ERL studio alongside shearling waste from local farmers. In tandem with the California-made production, the collection leans into quintessential Americana styles – whether it be through denim or something as simple as plaid boxer shorts. I literally lost my mind for the cowboy sweater. The entire wardrobe is laden with jackets, flared bottoms, shin-length shorts, plaid shirts, heavyweight zip-ups with matching sweatpants, pocket tees and accessories. But the clear standout of the collection are the canary yellow shearling pieces that extend to an oversized jacket, bags and standout $28,000 chaps (hot). With its American-influenced aesthetic, the collection still channels the gritty-meets-sensual sentiments the brand is also known for.

The “Made in California” collection is available now online.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

The Girl is Back. Chloé Pre-Fall 2024.

April 22, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

The Chloé girl is so back, baby. Chemena Kamali‘s pre-fall 2024 collection – a prelude to the runway line-up we’ve seen in the end of February – proves that the designer is confident about her vision of the Parisian maison. Kamali knows the history of the brand inside out, and worked there as a Chloé-obsessed junior designer in the noughties under Phoebe Philo’s creative direction, and then again under Clare Waight Keller. Nobody comprehends better than Kamali the spontaneous feeling of it-ness that belongs to the female-centric Chloé philosophy; a power recharged through so many generations since the house was founded in the 1950s by the Jewish-Egyptian emigré Gaby Aghion as a free-spirited ready-to-wear antidote to Parisian haute couture. “I really was thinking a lot about the Chloé wardrobe, what it should consist of, just, quite frankly, why do I want to wear it? What do I think is important to have in terms of essential pieces, things that go well with other silhouettes that you have at home already?” It’s the balance of carefree romance and pragmatism that’s run through the house since Karl Lagerfeld’s tenures in the ’70s, ’80s, and late ’90s; what Stella McCartney, Phoebe Philo, and Hannah McGibbon ignited in the aughts; and Kamali’s consciousness of what contemporary women need (she herself is a working mother). Customers will soon come across hot wardrobe staples at Chloé boutiues: a navy gabardine jacket with an elongated “Karl collar“, hanging next to a pair of white jeans with scalloped edges, and a soft navy blouse. Then, there’s an array of perfectly-cut trousers hang with slim cognac leather maxi coats, blazers, and caped “highwaywoman” gabardine trenches. Silk slip dresses elude with hyper-feminine energy, contrasting with utilitarian button-on capes on the raincoats. As for accessories, Kamali offers some of the chicest pieces in the brand’s recent history, instant best-sellers: the spacious “Camera” bag, classic wedges and timeless, suede over-the-knee boots.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

She’s A Textile Girl. Maryam Nassir Zadeh AW24

April 12, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Maryam Nassir Zadeh has finally dropped her autumn-winter 2024 lookbook, and oh boy, it’s so good. The designer is one of the leading fashion voices of New York, and she certainly doesn’t need the platform of New York Fashion Week to prove that. Nassir Zadeh’s textile-informed (“I’m a textile girl“), tactile approach to her brand is widely copied by up-and-coming brands, but nobody does it so authentically and with such instinctual ease as her. There’s just lots and lots to love in this new collection, from the styling (perfectly matching the look-book’s location, shot somewhere in the South of France) to the clothes and accessories. The pastel pink fringed scarf in either pastel pink, beige or graphite, made from soft suede, will very likely become the label’s top-seller: you can drape it around the neck in many different ways or wear it as a shawl. Styled with new season workwear jackets, the vibe of this pieces is supremely cool. The goovy fringe story continues in skirts of different lengths. Then we’ve got citrus-colored metallic-threaded Indian materials made into charming bra-tops, mini-bags, and boxers. The designer recently visited Rajasthan, so that sun-drenched color palette definitely originates from that experience. Maryam achieves more with less, but she isn’t really after minimalism. She offers playful garments, but not in an adorned way (there are pretty much no superfluous embroideries or embellishments in her work) – it’s more about the way you can nonchalantly style and layer these pieces. The New York-based designer keeps on experimenting with merging womenswear with menswear, and the results are more than inspiring. “I’m putting the men in more feminine things and the women in more masculine things,” she noted. “It’s a full circle moment.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

Bulbous Shapes. Duran LaNtink AW24

April 1, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

There’s no way you haven’t seen oneof those bulbous denim shorts or red dresses in one of the latest editorials (or magazine covers). Stylists went crazy for Duran Lantink‘s spring-summer 2024 collection, being his big break-through moment. Garments with built up shoulders and hips with padding, torsos exaggerated with stretchy body stockings: these extreme proportions make for great photos, and are just really fun to play around with. For his autumn-winter 2024 collection, the Dutch designer is on a similar wave of thought (big shapes and sustainable approach to garment-making) but with hints of commercial sensibility. Instead of delving into such summery essentials as bathing suits and lifesavers, he trained his attention on wintery gear like ski sweaters, long johns, and cozy wool socks, complemented by some power tailoring. “We’re really trying to figure out new ways of presenting clothes, creating new shapes and forming a new identity,” he said. Using padding, he exaggerated the shoulders on both a sweater dress and a single-breasted jacket by bringing them forward, and thickened the chest and back on cropped jackets in leather or upcycled puffer nylons. The effect is somewhat sexy. Unsurprisingly, these shapes aren’t easy to achieve. “They’re very labor intensive,” Lantink said “but I’m kind of a romantic thinker in that way. From my perspective, I don’t think that it’s something only conceptual.” Still, he has to think about commerciality, so on smaller pieces like sweater vests and button-downs he inserted a good inch or inch-and-a-half of foam between two layers of fabric, sometimes slicing them horizontally or diagonally to show off their unusual thickness. Damn, this year’s LVMH Prize season is really intense: Duran is in the game along with Elena Velez, Niccolo Pasqualetti, Vautrait, Marie Adam-Leenaerdt and other talents.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!

Hey, did you know about my newsletter – Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!