Lucie and Luke Meier are in their experimentation mode at Jil Sander. Gone are the days when their vision of the brand orbited around the idea of minimalism in its traditional, Sander-esque sense. Trying new things is crucial in order to develop and progress your style. But I’m not entirely share the antiquated space-age aesthetic the designers went for their autumn-winter 2024 collection is necessarily a breakthrough. They leaned too much on the diamond quilting, which if overdosed can feel utterly outdated, and the chainmail details are Paco Rabanne’s territory, especially when we’re talking about 1960s sensitivity. As Cathy Horyn wrote in her review, the collection gave “tragically old lady” vibes, and its hard to disagree.
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!
At Bottega Veneta, Matthieu Blazy delivered his best collection to date. The reason the autumn-winter 2024 show felt this good was not only because Blazy found a way to make his love for artisan detail finally look light and spontaneous, sprezzatura-way. The Bottega Veneta line-up delivered a sense of authentic style, a true rarity to observe during fashion month. That might have come to Blazy with a change in his creative mindset. “The initial idea was to reduce the collection to almost the function of clothes – only reduce not to the minimum, but to a maximum. I was interested in making a monument out of the everyday.” It started with the first look, a couture-ish black cocoon coat whose rounded, three-dimensional silhouette was the result of the folding in of its sides and sleeves, which were secured with big brass buttons. Unfasten them and the coat becomes more or less flat. The nonchalant, unstudied result is stunning. This season’s clothes are refreshingly stripped back: gone were the embroideries and embellishments that defined last season’s collection, but there was no shortage of impressive workmanship. Blazy said, “I wanted the technique to be in the fabric itself.” A fine example of that was the “memory” prints made from layer upon layer of passport stamps that he used for a trio of willowy looks with swooping tiers on their skirts. As we see 2024 fashion unveil, there’s a strong flux of “everyday” clothes; amid all the crises, the understandable tendency among design houses and their executives is to play it safe. As we’ve seen so far this season, that can lead to same-y fashion, indistinguishable from one runway to the next. Blazy is immune to that risk.
A couple of my favorite artisan masterworks coming from Blazy’s Bottega…
Now on his fourth collection for Ferragamo, Maximilian Davis‘ vision of the brand is coded with some distinct signifiers. Once again, Davis found inspiration in the brand’s founding decade, saying “the 1920s used clothing as a way to celebrate freedom. And that expression of freedom is something that resonates with me, my heritage, and with Ferragamo.” Visual references to the 1920s – raised hems, fluid fabrics, touches of fringe, relaxed cuts and dropped waists – reflected the “era of emancipation,” modernized with masculine cuts, utilitarian elements, and Lotta Volkova’s styling. As a result, this particular expression of freedom through clothing was one anchored in shape, with a strong focus on sleek eveningwear, drapery and structured tailoring. There were two lovely shimmering flapper dresses that appeared to be adorned with thick fish scale-style sequins, which were meticulously constructed from leather covered in a special metallic finish. Throughout, these hyperfeminine sensibilities – like sensual, sheer touches – were juxtaposed with masculine shoulders, thick knit jumpers and fisherman wader-style boots. Davis is intrigued by Old Hollywood, given Salvatore Ferragamo’s history with actresses; autumn-winter 2024 is a singular homage to ’20s icons like Joan Crawford and Greta Garbo.
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!
In the latest Gucci show, I literally saw three things, repeated in different, trendy-looking colours and subtle lenght differences: a peacoat in exaggerated, rounded shape; a long, masculine coat (eventually embellished with sequins); and a wool dress with lace inserts. Well, Sabato De Sarno has a thing for repetition, and we’ve experienced that already with his first menswear collection that was a mirror reflection of his debut womenswear. Will the autumn-winter 2024 variations on three wardrobe staples sell? Probably yes. But is it fashion that’s worthwhile of a more complex consideration, delivering any food for thought or sparking emotions? Not really.
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!
At Tod’s, a very promising debut by Matteo Tamburini. This is one of these Italian brands that struggle to find their path to ready-to-wear. Walter Chiapponi had some solid ideas, but it just didn’t click. Tamburini’s autumn-winter 2024 was an ambitious observation of Milan commuters’ style. His office-bound travelers were a runway fantasy, but there’s certainly something undeniably chic about how Milanese people dress day-to-day, and this Tod’s outing was a convincing reflection of that. The motifs that ran through this collection were the belts featuring gleaming hardware inspired by vintage Alfa Romeo grilles, and the house’s emblematic driving shoes that came with enlarged and more robust gommino traction on the soles. Some of these shoes arrived with extravagant leather fringing, a detail that was echoed further down the line in leather scarves. Just as the Tod’s shoes came with that finely-calibrated customization to take them beyond the norm, Tamburini applied strokes of subtle oddness – double-collared shirting, hyper-break pants, four layered wool and silk falling-off charcoal “twinsets,” pushed proportion leather-panel trenches, knits in stiff boiled cashmere – to almost every look. If you’re not still persuaded to step into a Tod’s store, then at least you might want to get inspired by some of these styling tips.
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!
Design & Culture by Ed 