Los Angeles. Versace AW23

March 11, 2023March 11, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Versace skipped Milan Fashion Week this season to show at a later date in Los Angeles – just a couple of days before the Oscars gala. On the roof of the landmark Pacific Design Center, Donatella Versace presented her autumn-winter 2023 vision: a wardrobe for Versace heroines and Versace bad boys, seen through a captivating, LA lens. “I mean I love this city, I love the people, the laid back vibe, the atmosphere,” the designer said. To set the tone for house’s destination show, Versace circled back to a pivotal mid-’90s moment. Easily the most prominent inspiration images on the moodboard for the collection were Richard Avedon’s 1995 images of Kristen McMenamy. The chic skirt suit that McMenamy wore in those photos was tailored close to the body and replete with the brand’s signature gold buttons. “I wanted to go back to the cut and shape of the clothes, to concentrate on the perfect little black dress, the perfect black suit,” Versace said. Gigi Hadid opened the show dressed in a look that echoed those elegant proportions. Naomi Campbell took her turn on the runway in an ankle-grazing black dress with an embellished bustier. Jill Kortleve wore a hot, shoulder-padded LBD. There was also Ivan De Pineda, the ultimate Versace man, wearing a croco-embossed trench coat. For celebrities that were still shopping for Oscar dresses, there were options aplenty. Some of the standouts: a crystal-encrusted naked dress that called to mind a modern Marilyn Monroe, a slinky black chainmail number with sculptural floral embellishments, and va-va-voom interpretations of the cone bra worked into various hourglass shapes.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Real. A.P.C. AW23

March 9, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Ending this Paris Fashion Week (it did feel like a month, though) coverage with an A.P.C. collection that captured the authentic, real, charismatic youth of Paris. “The kids are all right” was Jean Touitou’s conclusion of his latest show. Paraded in front of a crowd of press, brand friends and buyers in typically low-key style at the brand’s Rue Madame base, the collection was a highly personal presentation, modeled by Touitou’s daughter Lily and her teenage classmates from Paris’s École Diagonale. Perhaps Touitou felt the need to emphasize the family-run spirit of the label he founded in 1987. After all, last week came the announcement that L Catterton, the LVMH-backed private-equity group, had taken a majority stake in the company. “The young people who are going to walk this runway are like veterans. They experienced the raging of their hormones in a bunker with their parents during the COVID crisis,” he said. “That crisis could have wiped us out as a brand. We survived that war by getting stronger. Everybody you see here was born in 2006, and I think it’s a good metaphor for the sort of transmission process we started recently.” What followed was a determinedly youthful take on A.P.C.’s well-honed vision of Gallic urbanity, each look a nod to what Touitou called “a tribe” in a backstage debrief postshow. There was a Take Ivy preppiness to Japanese selvedge denim miniskirts and high-waist jeans worn with stripy shirts and shiny penny loafers; a street-inflected attitude to gray marl sweatpants and nylon flight jackets; a grungy insolence to flannel shirts worn with slip skirts, fluoro T-shirts, and scuffed plimsolls. And what stunning teenagers! All with their own carefully considered quirks – a snazzy Bananarama hairstyle here, swooping black eyeliner there – and forming a touching antidote to the celebrity-packed catwalks to which we’ve become accustomed. “I love this idea of no casting. You don’t say to people, ‘You’re too tall, too fat, too this, too that.’ Everybody was just cool about it,” said Touitou, who confirmed that, post-partnership deal, he will remain creative director of the brand alongside his art director wife, Judith.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Ruched & Twisted. Y/Project AW23

March 9, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

The ruched and twisted shapes, the sculptural pieces draped from wire – with the latest Y/Project collection, Glenn Martens revisits his greatest hits. “The whole idea of this brand is to reinvent techniques, construction, and to experiment as much as possible. That’s what we like to do,” he said backstage. Though the where-do-the-jeans-end-and-the-boots-begin question is sure to keep construction obsessives guessing, this collection was less oriented around pushing new shapes than it was in pumping up the surface interest of the clothes. Maybe because he is so well-versed in denim now at Diesel, it was the major leitmotif in this show. There were baggy jeans that buttoned up on themselves and boxy jean jackets, and even a faded denim caftan, but the real marvel was how Martens cut the material into thin biomorphic shapes, shredded it, and used it as embroidery – on everything from wool coats to clingy body-con dresses. A pair of tulle evening gowns, one in blush pink and the other in ivory, were also embellished with the denim shapes. They were the most delicate pieces ever to walk down a Y/Project runway.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Perversely Chic. Miu Miu AW23

March 8, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Miu Miu shut down Paris Fashion Week with a bang. Or even the entire season! This was a remarkable collection that felt desirable and intriguing, sexy and perversely chic, absolutely timeless and completely relevant. Miuccia Prada (with Lotta Volkova’s brilliant styling support) satisfied all the possible needs of a Miu Miu girl-slash-woman. The show was opened by the modern-day indie-film leading-actress Mia Goth, who wore a prim grey cardigan and polka-dot-printed skirt, all ladylike in kitten-heel sling-backs and a matching handbag draped over her arm. Her hair was kind of messy, and her tights were pulled up over her top. That’s the look that will define this season in fashion. To a frantic jazz soundtrack, other models wore ensembles that had a sense of spontaneous, impulsive layering and romantic urgency. Prada wrapped an infectious sentiment of youth into a Miu Miu collection that read like the ultimate shopping list for the autumn 2023 wardrobe. Emma Corrin’s finale look – a beige turtleneck and heavily embellished, gold panties – represented the candid, youthful, independent persona Miuccia Prada is creating for. The message was reinforced by the genderless philosophy Prada has been introducing at Miu Miu by way of male casting. With its ironic sense of humor, the Miu Miu collection uplifted its audience, because it cut a contrast to a season that’s reflected a less uplifting reality. With that in mind, the reduced Miu Miu silhouette and quiet colors also evoked a wartime sensibility. “A little serious,” Prada said. “I like to embrace that in this moment. Maybe I’m too careful about what’s happening around us, but I can’t leave fashion like some place of nonsense. There’s some excitement and sexiness there,” she paused. “But basically, I think we have to dress for thinking. And for starting fresh.” Oui, oui, oui!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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About Paris(ian Style). Louis Vuitton AW23

March 8, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Finally, a Louis Vuitton collection by Nicolas Ghesquière that doesn’t look like a cartoon. The concept for the autumn-winter 2023 collection came to Ghesquière after returning home from traveling last year, when the world was finally opening up again. “What is French style?” he said. “It’s an ambitious question, but being at Vuitton you have a certain responsibility because the name of the brand is so strong in the world.” His idea, he explained, was to ask the young designers in his studio for their takes on the subject. “Since they’re so international, I was curious to know what would they think.” Unsurprisingly, they all came back with “very different things”, which isn’t necessarily what all the ridiculous handbooks on Parisian style dictate. According to this offering, Frenchness in fashion is the Tricolore, which the studio reproduced on a blue, white, and red quilted shoulder bag, and leather gloves. It’s the Opéra Garnier, which inspired the light-up Phantom of the Opera masks. And it’s the Cinq à Sept, which is a local colloquialism for an affair, that was alluded to here with a series of sumptuous dressing gowns, pajama tops, and plush faux fur shorts. This was a collection that was in touch with the street, with a few nods to the designer’s sci-fi obsession, softer and more down-to-earth. A close-up look at the clothes revealed intriguing details: the camel coat in look 14 may appear to be wool, but it’s actually leather, first embossed, then printed. The jewellery was inspired by musical instruments (the trumpet brooches are too good!). Also very desirable: a finely embroidered slip dress worn with a chunky hand-knit scarf thrown over the shoulder and boots. Asked if he came to a conclusion about French style, Ghesquière shook his head. “No. Every season we try to answer that question, but without saying it. This season the difference is we own it. But French style belongs to everyone.”