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.
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Meditation. CDLM AW24

February 9, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

CDLM keeps on being a fascinating enigma. You can’t quite categorize or entirely put your finger on this New York-based brand, but with every season it gets just better… and even more elusive. Chris Peters‘ process behind the autumn-winter 2024 collection is rooted in his newly found love for meditation practice. “I never really understood what meditation did, but it’s given me such a sense of who I am and being really present in the moment,” he said. “On top of that, it made me feel more a part of the universe than I ever have; I feel more complete in the way that I live and the way that I act and the way I make things. A lot of the clothing is sort of an extension of this process that’s given me the confidence and clarity to execute ideas that would’ve been a little overwhelming or kind of scary previously.” Taking his words literally, there was indeed a sense of interconnectedness evident in this collection. A vintage fur stole that used to belong to Peters’s grandmother was attached to a bunch of vintage cotton t-shirts to create a snood of sorts that could work as both a top and an accessory. Elsewhere, a simple jersey tank had an undulating cutout across the rib cage and was shown over a vintage embroidered gown that was draped over the shoulder, its bottom half pulled through the slit. The designer has always been fond of exploring the full physicality of his materials and the possibilities of “wearing” something, but such experiments are never at the expense of beauty or desirability. For instance, take the long jersey t-shirt dress worn with the wide waistband of a pair of white wide legged trousers. Its ease gave way to an unimpeachable elegance. Elegance, in fact, may be the best word for Peters’s latest offering. It was certainly there in the white lace dress put together with pieces of intricately beaded fabric in gradient shades of gray to white. “I would say this piece is definitely representative of this collection,” he noted, describing the process of making it, which included taking apart a beaded jacket (that also used to belong to his grandmother), and re-working and re-beading parts of it, as a meditation in itself.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Beauty That Ages. Hodakova SS24

September 27, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

It’s interesting to see how the new generation of brands in Paris reinterpret Martin Margiela. Vaquera nods to the grittiness and rawness of the famously anonymous designer; Marie Adam-Leenaerdt references the conceptual aspect of the garment. Just like the legendary Belgian visionary, Stockholm-based Ellen Hodakova Larsson has a similar interest in the daily objects and upcyling, which she revisits through artisan techniques. Hodakova‘s spring-summer 2024 was created from selected with great care fabrics that she found in warehouses, tag sales, and secondhand shops; as such, they don’t have the happy, shiny newness of something wrapped in plastic or right off the rack. Plus Larsson chooses to work with not only easily translatable finds, like suiting, but also slightly ickier ones: nylons and brassieres. The designer specifically thought about the beauty ideal in this lineup. Her flower dresses were a reaction to filters and body modifications that seek to trap youth in amber. In response, Larsson said she “captured beauty – beauty that actually ages.” A dried flower might not have the same allure as a fresh-cut one, “but it still has a beauty.” These flora were preserved in silicone and individually, lovingly, hand-sewn onto linen. Then, the designer used lipstick this season as a metaphor for “perfection and desire,” she said. The counterpart to those tubes of rouge were ink-filled ballpoint pens. This collection included many greatest hits, all thoughtfully considered. The plastic used for the finale dress was repurposed from last season’s version, for example. New for the season was menswear, which, though twisted, had a classical feel, as did a lovely dress made of vintage tablecloths that was an actual pillar of minimalism. It was a sartorial equivalent of a blank page, much like a white shirt can be. A plain button-down paired with a spiky pencil skirt took on a kind of note-to-self function, showing the audience that these special pieces can be grounded with wardrobe staples.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Just Drive. Marine Serre AW23

January 23, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

“Nothing is created. Everything is transformed. To love is to repair. It must be simple. We are repaired, we are reused… We are restitched, we are re-embroidered…”. So went the poem – written by Marine Serre – at the beginning of her public-facing autumn-winter 2023 fashion show. In the heavily light-produced outing, Serre systematically set about showing what she could do with deadstock materials. The first eight looks or so were crafted from the totes, and included the cropped jacket silhouette that would ricochet across the collection. The next set was denim, and featured Caroline Issa who wore a siren silhouette denim dress with Serre’s new moon breast inserts. Other looks featured jewelry fashioned from upcycled cutlery. Then we pivoted to motorcycling gear, recycled. Although the motocross trend is widespread (all thanks to Rosalia’s seismic success of Motomami), Serre is a designer who owns that aesthetic, regardless if it’s trending or not. Next we hit knit: Look 20, on a proudly body-positive model, featured a patchwork “lozenge” knit fashioned from 15 or so pullovers. After that were upcycled or chemical-free processed leather looks which sometimes came with some pulled-pile knit trims that understandably set their models in unplanned directions when used as face coverings. A series of sophisticatedly faux-sophisticated moon monograph pieces followed. We were getting to the climax now, building tension with a swathe of house moiré looks interspersed with tapestry topped couture shapes and reclaimed upholstery fabrics. Then a series of pieces fashioned from strips of material, specifically scarfs, that were amongst the most compelling here. This was another highly effective and affecting collection from Serre.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Upcycled & Defiant. Marine Serre AW22

March 7, 2022 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marine Serre‘s dynamic autumn-winter 2022 collection made me realise she would do great at rejuvenating the Vivienne Westwood brand. Why? First, her devotion to upcycling, which has inspired the entire industry, goes in line with Westwood’s sustainability ethos. Second, the Parisian designer has that rough, defiant style that is real and keeps evolving with every season. And third: the way Serre used tartan checks (all from upcycled scarves and deadstock materials!) this season makes me think of some of the greatest 1990s collections coming from Vivienne.

Now back to Marine’s latest line-up. The serenity of the Marine Serre show photographs completely belie the mayhem of what was happening two floors below. Suffice it to say that young people in Paris will scramble and wait, packed uncomfortably together, to witness whatever Serre will do. It felt almost like a throwback to the hysteria of the underground French fashion scene that swirled around the likes of Jean-Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela and Xuly.Bët two decades ago. If Serre is a female inheritor of what male designers did to deconstruct and democratize Paris fashion once upon a time, the big difference is how she delves far deeper into cultural and environmental ethics. Challenging the form of the fashion show is part of that. “What was important was to open the boundaries,” she said. “To show a different way to do a show. It was important to me that it was in a museum, to have something that shows the collective imagination. And to have something where people weren’t sure if there were going to be people walking, or where to sit or look.” The “museum” was a gallery of re-mastered old masters on the top floor. Each of them variously redirected, decolonized and replaced the original iconography to link up with Serre’s work. The first looks of the show were series of black and white lozenge and crescent-moon patterned recycled wool jacquard tailoring – they looked chic and polished. More themes came through: the above mentioned tartan scarves patchworked into tweed coats, collaged upcycled knits. Toile de Jouy quilted bed clothes and camouflage prints were turned into neatly-finished, attractive clothing. Serre is clearly focused on proving there’s nothing rough-and-ready about the second life she’s giving to pieces of defunct garments or deadstock. She’s intent on sharing how she does this. The need for transparency and education are other parts of her impressive worldview and drive to accelerate change in her generation. On the first floor of the building she had installed an atelier with members of her teams of sorters, cutters and sewers at work, demonstrating how her pieces are made. “I feel I have a responsibility to give access to this savoir faire,” she said, preternaturally calm in the eye of the swirling storm of guests. All weekend, she was planning to open the doors of the installations and exhibition to the public. “For free, you know?”