Dogma. The Society Archive SS27

September 19, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

I’ve been following The Society Archive – Marcus Allen‘s brainchild – since its launch in 2020, and, to be very frank with you, I’ve been studying its Americana-induced imagery religiously ever since. The Society Archive is hard to classify: it’s not just a brand and not just a vintage shop. It’s a community of people drawn to this very seductive vision of America, where preppy has holes, suede is lived-in, and the echoes of Bruce Weber’s idyllic sultriness are well and truly alive.

Spring-summer 2027 marks Allen’s runway debut, and takes inspiration from his personal collection of vintage pieces, which he’s been collecting since he was a teenager. Titled “Dogma” (“it suggests an unpretentious approach to dressing without compromising precision,” Allen said), the collection is like a antique quilt repurposed into something contemporary: a cocktail of stories and memories, stitched together with very, very good-looking models (cast by none other than James Scully, who used to work with Tom Ford in the Gucci days).

Styled by Tony Irvine, the collection proposes familiarity through contrast, referencing garments from the 1890s and the 1990s alike. The opening look was a pair of silk taffeta board shorts with silk drawstrings, paired with a baseball cap pierced with seashells. Key moments included a sand-colored suit with a neon hibiscus-printed cummerbund that closely resembled the fly of a men’s swimsuit – a custom print rendered in nylon with silk laces; a navy fleece quarter-zip layered over a custom-printed cotton skirt with a silk train; and a bright orange opera coat thrown over a plaid sarong.

And then there were the chill-red briefs, complete with a little butt-crack moment, that set the audience – and the Internet – ablaze. New York Fashion Week certainly needs moments like this.

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.

Last Soirée. Lanvin AW04

August 2, 2026August 1, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

There comes a time every year when I tumble down the old Lanvin rabbit hole and find myself missing Alber Elbaz. Terribly. His untimely passing in 2021 still feels strangely impossible to believe. No one lasts forever, but a great legacy does (yes, Charli xcx’s new song featuring none other than David Cronenberg hit me right in the feelings).

I have countless favorite Alber Elbaz collections for Lanvin, but lately I keep returning to autumn–winter 2004. With Kate Moss and Linda Evangelista in the front row beneath a monumental chandelier, the show felt like an aristocratic family on the brink of bankruptcy, dressing for one last ball, one last soirée. Slightly antiqued crystal flower brooches were pinned onto day dresses, shredded chiffon roses tucked into buttonholes, and a grey fox fur was thrown nonchalantly over a heavenly white slip. A little black dress, cut just above the knee and exquisitely cinched at the waist, became an exercise in eveningwear virtuosity – the kind that made women around the world fall in love with Alber’s work. READ MY FULL TEXT HERE.

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.

Heatwave. Stella McCartney SS’2005

July 30, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Lately I love going back to Stella McCartney‘s early collections. They are just so straightforward and simply chic. As the summer heatwave isn’t going anywhere for some time, here’s a throwback to Stella’s beachy spring-summer 2005 (which sometime ago I’ve unearthed in my “Summer of Jessa” newsletter post!). Here, the designer – who was still establishing her brand in Paris – played to her strengths: a smidge of vintage (think floaty floral chiffon dresses), a touch of lingerie (camisoles and bras used to good effect layered underneath tops or dresses), feminine tailoring (safari jackets worn over loose pants). And she made strong case for very-boho tiered skirts, letting them swoosh along the runway in white cotton muslin. Ah, simple times…

Inspired? Get a similar look.

ED’s SELECTION:

Chloé Ruffled Silk-georgette Blouse

Stella McCartney Corduroy-trimmed Organic Cotton-twill Wide-leg Pants

Castañer Chiara 80 Metallic Canvas Wedge Espadrilles

Sonia Petroff Dragonfish Belt

Sachin & Babi Sabrina Gown

Isabel Marant Aurely Embellished Bouclé-trimmed Cotton-twill Jacket

Stella McCartney Lace-trimmed Jacquard Halterneck Maxi Dress

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!

Fucking Fabulous. Tom Ford AW23

May 2, 2023May 2, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

We won’t get another Tom Ford by Tom Ford collection; he sold the company to Estée Lauder in a deal valued at $2.8 billion late last year. His newly-named successor, Peter Hawkings – who worked with Ford for over 25 years – will probably keep the brand in its familiar, glamorously elegant aesthetic, heavily scented with the intoxicating Fucking Fabulous fragrance. Tom opted out of a ceremonious, showy goodbye, choosing for his sign-off an Archive collection of his greatest hits instead. Clicking through them triggers many red carpet memories. There is Gwyneth Paltrow’s sensational white column gown and attached cape from the 2012 Oscars, and there is Zendaya’s hot pink molded breastplate and fluid skirt circa first-season Euphoria. The stretch sequin and mesh dress Rihanna wore on a 2016 issue of Vogue is also included. For his spring 2022 return to the runway post-pandemic, Ford considered the impact of social media on fashion. “Photogenic clothes today by their very nature mean that they are not at all timid,” he riffed at the time. That was never not true chez Tom Ford. As the worlds of fashion and Hollywood grow ever more intertwined, it seems too bad that the American designer who navigated both worlds with such control and assurance is stepping away. But if an era is ending, at least there’s the prospect of watching Ford’s cinematic vision unfold on the big screen sometime in the future.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

A Line of Beauty. Chanel SS’1999 Couture

April 28, 2023April 28, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

On Monday, May 1st, the 2023 Met Gala will take place. This year’s Costume Institute exhibition, “A Line of Beauty,” will celebrate the oeuvre and life of Karl Lagerfeld. The exhibition will see Andrew Bolton and Wendy Yu, curators in charge, examine the work of Karl Lagerfeld (1933–2019). Throughout his lifetime, Lagerfeld worked at prominent fashion houses such as Balmain, Chloé, Fendi, Chanel, in addition to founding his namesake brand. More than 150 pieces will be on display in the exhibition, many of which will be accompanied by Lagerfeld’s sketches. In the last couple of days, I looked back at my all-time favorite Chanel collections, designed by the one & only Karl. Here is the last one, a special one: it has a very special place in my heart. Hope some of these magnificent vintage looks will end up on the red carpet on the first Monday in May…

Lightness is the quality that made Karl Lagerfeld’s late 1990s and early 2000s haute couture collections sing. He gave the concept a literal spin for spring-summer 1999 by abolishing black from this collection entirely. There was a quietness to this line-up that the neutral and pastel palette contributed to. Floating tulle and organza captured the collection’s dreamy mood in a truly delightful way. Maisons de couture have workrooms dedicated to flou (draping) and tailoring. Lagerfeld didn’t ignore the latter, but there wasn’t an ounce of stiffness in the soft, almost sporty, haberdashery he sent out that season. Bold accessories offered a contrast to the suppleness of the collection. Small, sculpted gold bags and earrings that were abstract falls of silver hoops inserted a sort of tech-y vibe into the goings-on and seemed to signal that as the fin de siècle loomed, Lagerfeld was looking forward, not back. The relative scarcity of Cocoisms meant there was more room for a bit of playfulness, like the triple scoop of sherbet-colored taffeta looks that appeared near the end of the show, worn by Devon Aoki (raspberry), Colette Pechekhonova (blueberry), and Esther Cañadas (lemon). They proved so utterly irresistible that Uma Thurman wore Cañadas’s dress to the Oscars that year.