Beautiful Defiance. Marc Jacobs AW23

June 27, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

The 29 models did two finale laps (which took about three minutes) and then Marc Jacobs was out taking his bow. The defiant scarcity and razor-like sharpness of the designer’ latest fashion show is just so refreshing in times of endless fashion weeks and flashy presentations – where the clothes are no longer the main focus. Jacobs’ clothes – some of his most powerful designs in seasons, less couture-ish, more ready-to-wear-ish – themselves looked indebted to the 1980s, the last analog decade before the internet went wide, and the one when Jacobs came of age in New York City. But the show notes were written by the newly launched Open AI Chat GPT in a noticeably bland, monotonous style. Sample line: “The Marc Jacobs fashion show mesmerized its audience with an awe-inspiring fusion of masculine tailoring and feminine elegance.” The surprise of the experience, a rewriting of the show rules, made you wonder if Jacobs is onto something. As brief as they were, the back and forth of the two finale walks colored in the broad strokes of the show notes. The models’ cyberpunk bowl cuts conjured Pris, Daryl Hannah’s pleasure model replicant from Blade Runner, which seemed like another clue about what Jacobs was up to. They wore the masculine tailoring the Chat GPT described with overscale shoulders and high-waisted deeply pleated pants, as well as femme minidresses that showed off lots of leg–black stockings sliced at the calves over white ankle socks, and pointy-toed flats. The black-and-white palette and the body-conscious attitude of the little nipped waist dresses made the collection seem more essential, more New York, more… Marc Jacobs. To sum up: the designer’s last few collections were true eye-candies, but the most recent one is a true triumph.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Le Chouchou. Jacquemus AW23

June 27, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Simon Porte Jacquemus came to Versailles for his very first date with his now husband, Marco, and had always dreamt of showing at the palace. “A year ago I had a vision and sent an email to Bastien [Daguzan, brand’s CEO] with two pictures of Versailles,” said Jacquemus after the show. “I told him that I wanted people arriving by boat and looking at the collection from the boat.” And that’s precisely what happened yesterday at the Le Chouchou collection presentation. Guests were escorted to the runway on quaint little off-white bateaux, and as we docked, models stepped out and walked in front of us with the palace in the background. The French designer certainly knows how to put on a show. Rather than shoehorning his brand into Versailles, he borrowed the elements of the place that coexist with his point of view, including references to one of its well-known residents, Marie Antoinette. In his most design-driven collection of late, there were elements of the famous queen’s love for theatrics and ballet, the utilitarian language Jacquemus often references, and, surpringly, nods to Princess Diana. Lady Di inspired the ’80s shapes of puffy and ruched silhouettes, a polka-dot dress, and the “big rounded sleeves that,” he promised, “will become a signature of Jacquemus.” There were also tutus worn as is or as petticoats or mini crinolines. From the ballet came the collection’s flat mules and rose-print tights. Cute.

Scrunched-up silhouettes were the show’s common denominator and gave the collection its name: Le Chouchou. “Everything was looking like a big chouchou,” or hair scrunchie, Jacquemus said, “and I think it’s nice to have something super precise that people remember. They can know that it is the Chouchou collection and remember the castle and the puffiness.” He Most compelling, however, was the designer’s inventive tailoring, which at times felt like a callback to his earlier collections. There were the backless blazers like the one he debuted at The Met earlier this year on Bad Bunny, here with cutouts that exposed tutus; a variety of jackets cut and cinched at the waist to friskily accommodate the mini crinolines; and others with one sleeve detached and gathered at the top. Also fun were tutus converted into micro shorts and presented as puffy boxers peeking out of men’s trousers – this was Jacquemus at his most sincere, offering a playful interpretation of royal dressing. It won’t be surprising to see Versailles-core trending on TikTok after this show, together with the existing balletcore.

Swan Lake. Magda Butrym SS24

June 26, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Magda Butrym’s elevated resort 2024 collection reflects the brand’s expanding vocabulary which is a clash of romanticism, femininity and assertiveness. Pure romance was conveyed in the pink column dresses with draped bustiers and shoulder-straps in rose-like shapes. Hot take on femininity can be seen in the gorgeous “revenge” LBD with v-neckline and the sheer knitted gown with hand-crotcheted inserts around the bust. Power-dressing – Butrym’s latest specialty that she keeps on refining – informed the oversized tailoring that took clues from masculine proportions, as well as in the all-leather separates (see the jacket with furry collar!). But the ultimate hero piece status belongs to the silver evening dress, wholesomely splashed with sequins and appliquéd with metallic florals. Magda Butrym wouldn’t be Magda Butrym without bold accessories with – you guessed it – flowers as the main characters. This time, the Polish designer mixes her signature blooms with XXL pearls, which appear on stiletto heels and in the Audrey Hepburn-approved chokers. As always, Butrym’s dream closet oozes with pure chic.

Heart Beat. Marine Serre SS24

June 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marine Serre‘s co-ed spring-summer 2024 line-up was pretty loaded with musicians: Teyana Taylor, Noah Cyrus, Miguel, Brooke Candy, and Sevdaliza all walked the show, turning the presentation into quite a star-studded affair. The latest offering was classic Serre, including patchwork graphic pieces, cutout dresses, full patterned outfits, and that signature crescent moon motif. As usual, all garments were made from upcycled, deadstock materials, making the French designer still one of the most uncompromisingly sustainability-forward name in fashion. The collection spoke to the label’s essence of marrying couture elements with sportswear feels, underscored by that familiar wild, haphazard energy that garnered its cult following. Titled “Heart Beat” (with the actual rhythm joining the show’s soundtrack), this fashion show bumped with charisma.

Men’s – Substance. Loewe SS24

June 25, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Substance” seemed to be keyword for Jonathan Anderson‘s spring-summer 2024 menswear collection for Loewe. The three Lynda Benglis fountains that the designer’s curatorial enthusiasm had brought together for the first time were the first clues. One was tall and looming, another an apparently kinetically charged wave mid-break, and the last low and spreading like an unpruned shrub. Splashes of water erupting from Beglis’ structures inhabited the runway space, making the Loewe show an art experience, not just a parade of clothes. But the clothes were equally transfixing as the liquid-like installations. The garments hewn by Anderson and his team for this collection defined the shape and aspect of the moving human substance within them. By pulling the waistband of his pants up so very high, Anderson said afterwards, he wanted to create a way of seeing this collection that was akin to viewing it from ground level with a fish-eye lens. Coating some looks with crystals that glinted in the skylight sunshine invited you to see another watery parallel with Anderson’s installed artworks. When not obscured by long coats, or three hypersized swatches (complete with hypersized pins) of what looked like chintzy vintage wall upholstery fabric, that looming silhouette was generally undisturbed yet variously expressed. Sparkly polo shirts, chunky knits, argyle sweaters, trench coat shirts, and bonded gray rib knits with rounded shoulders or two dimensional side-tabs were all cropped around the southern reaches of the wearer’s ribcage. Three leather jumpsuits near the end, one pastel pink, latter scarlet, the last black, combined the trouser shape with the upholstery facade into a hybridized silhouette. “It’s always about trying to find contradictions in men and women: like how do you blur all of that? I feel like something in this is very precise in that message, it’s very reduced, very luxe”, Anderson said.