Dries Van Noten proves that the ultimate recipe for timeless, yet unexpected elegance consists of the following: classic, slightly over-sized clothes that you can make the most of styling-wise, a little play with textures, and a color palette consisting of black and a couple of surprises. “An elegant look for young guys, but combining things sometimes in a rather strange way,” is how the beloved Belgian designer described his intention backstage. There were oddities, mostly in the aforementioned styling: the way chunky ribbed-knit sweaters with an arching side zip were half worn: one sleeve filled, the other wound around the neck like a scarf. Ribbed knit details recurred as wide cuffs on all manner of coats. Denim shirts were bunched up and caught with big safety pins – a punk touch – and a camel polo shirt stretched to the fingertips. Striking but never jarring, Van Noten’s knack for combining colors and prints, and matching trouser volumes to a diverse array of tailored toppers, warrants closer study for anyone interested in pursuing great style.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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When Rick Owens speaks, you better listen. The designer’s autumn-winter 2024 fashion show, entitled “Porterville“, wasn’t only a visually mind-blowing experience and wholesome food for thought, but an act of resistance.
The starting point of this brilliant collection was the tedious circumstance of transiting through airport retail. “We are herded through that gauntlet of a very specific beauty and aspiration: of a certain kind of sexuality, a certain kind of face shape, a certain kind of body shape – and it’s unattainable.” For Owens, this experience sums up contemporary mass luxury and what he observes as an intolerance of difference that is the result of its function to sell a dream of sameness – a homogenized standard. “I call that standard ‘airport beauty.’ And I oppose it. And when I wear my platform boots as I go through the airport it is to oppose airport beauty. This is my resistance.” Subverting enforced conformity – that’s actual beauty.
For this very personal show, Owens opened his house in Paris, instead presenting the collection at the Palais De Tokyo courtyard. “That standard is dishonest… but this is a fully resolved Rick Owens experience. It can’t get any more honest or authentic than this. And that was my basic urge this season: to be sincere.” He added: “I’m trying to participate in and contribute to all alternative beauties: to bombastic beauty, sometimes, but also kind and soft beauty.” And what is “Porterville” about? The show’s name is after the California town in which Owens was raised. “Bleak,” is how he describes it. “I remember it for its intolerance – although the intolerance I experienced was mild, obviously, compared to any intolerance that we’re seeing today.” By contrast this house – which Michele Lamy secured when she and Owens moved to Paris just over two decades ago – is a sanctuary. “I want to be a haven. A force of anti-intolerance.” The clothes reflected all that. The designer honored creative collectivism by inviting multiple collaborators to share his platform. The fantastically insectoid inflatable rubber boots that puckered and popped as the models walked in them were by London based designer Straytukay. Owens said he saw another Londoner, Leo Prothman, posting his take on Rick’s signature Kiss boots and asked him to add them to today’s collection. Challenging to manufacture but fantastic to watch were the jackets and pants made by rubber couturier Matisse Di Maggio. The family of Owens models were this time joined by the Russian trans artist (and exile) Gena Marvin.
The collection was also a retrospective look at some of Owens’ all-time classics, now magnified, even more elongated and subverted. The almost ecclesiastically spiked shoulders of his duvet jackets, the airbag embrace of his balled body wrappings, and the beastly toughness of his fluffed jumpsuits and capes both projected and protected character. The leather perfecto, in hands of Rick, is an entire cathedral architecture.
This is a fashion moment that reminds you, during the endless fashion month cycle, that it’s all worth it.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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Christophe Lemaire and Sarah Linh Tran just can’t help layering. But no one does it like them in this business. They manage to extract a certain poetry in the way they layer knits, flowing silks and outerwear. For their autumn-winter 2024 season, the Lemaire designers explained they sought a more intimate encounter with the clothes while wanting to welcome people into their “environment” – metaphorically, as their brand’s soul, and literally, as in their newly-opened headquarters. “Humbly and honestly,” said Tran. “For us, it’s a beautiful story of building a collective with strong values and a passion for doing good things,” added Lemaire. “Not so many independent brands in Paris have a studio, an atelier, all the departments in one building, so we wanted people to feel all of this.” The show’s staging comprised a raised, circular runway conceived by artist Fran Cottell. As the models (diverse in age and background) entered from the courtyard, they made the loop with clever yet natural choreography – lingering long enough to have their doubled-up, tone-on-tone jackets noticed; twirling to accentuate the movement of a ballet-style wrap skirt; proceeding with purpose in a relaxed, cacao-colored suit or total look in limestone. One model wearing black stirrup leggings, a sheer overskirt and block heels had a pair of derbies swinging from her bag. Somehow in Lemaire, effortless and impeccable coexist.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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The Japanese label Auralee delivered a compact take on ready-to-wear for autumn-winter 2024: great clothes that are covetable, spark joy and are no-non-sense. The brand launched for the spring 2015 in Tokyo, and Ryota Iwai has been showing his collections on the calendar in Paris since 2019, but this is the first time he’s putting his clothes on the runway. When designing the new collection, Iwai considered specifically the hours in the evening when one is transitioning between working into simply living. “It’s that break after the first half of the day and the end of the day,” he explained. This, the way the designer sees it, is a time of brief anticipation. You’re going home from work, you’re about to have dinner with your friends, meet up with your family, run a couple of errands. Your clothes are lived-in, the properness and formality of the morning washed away by daily activity. While this collection captures that idea literally in a range of playful styling tricks – dry cleaning hangs over forearms, sweaters and coats peek out of overstuffed briefcases, gloves are held or stuffed in pockets rather than worn – it’s in the nuances of the materiality and cut in Iwai’s clothes where the ease of the end of day takes is conveyed best. There’s a ’90s feel to Iwai’s tailoring, but its proportions are distinctly contemporary: coats are streamlined and have extra long sleeves and hems, trousers pool over sneakers, and structured shoulder jackets appear hefty but are lightweight to touch. Most inviting is Iwai’s knitwear (made from either Mongolian cashmere or Peruvian alpaca), made to fit amply around the body, creating wrinkles and creases.
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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Zegna‘s autumn-winter 2024 collection is probably my favorite of the entire Milan Fashion Week. It’s just perfetto. Collectively made in a beyond color palette of butter, burnt orange, asphalt and the inkiest of blues, Alessandro Sartori‘s latest line-up was about the greatest coats – from a sweeping raglan sleeved number to a padded cashmere coat with an almost suede-like hand, I’m drooling over each of them. “I wanted everything in natural materials: washed cashmere, treated cashmere, quilted cashmere, beaver cashmere and upcycled cashmere,” explained the designer. These cashmere knits look heavenly on the screen, so I just can’t imagine how good are they IRL. Sartori’s standout idea this season were the work jackets and outer shirts – all cut with patch pockets, wide sleeves and generous proportions. The designer offered many looks with detachable collars, or collar choices, in either rawhide or stiff felt, giving a sharp finish to the jawline. And his trousers are simply the best of the sartorial power of “Made in Italy” (did you get my Ed’s Dispatch newsletter on “Italianity”?).
Collage by Edward Kanarecki. Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram!
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