Normal Is Sexy. MM6 Maison Margiela AW26

March 2, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

While I sometimes struggle to understand the choices Glenn Martens makes at Maison Margiela, I’ve recently found myself truly drawn to what’s happening at MM6, the Milan-based sister line. Its intention is to create garments within the realm of Martin Margiela’s design vocabulary. Even though many designers take inspiration from – or blatantly copy – Margiela, it is always gratifying to see his work thoughtfully revived by the MM6 team.

This season, they explored archetypes and the everyday clothes they wear themselves. As a result, the “normal” became extraordinary in its simplicity and unpretentiousness: full skirts with ruffled hems, flannel button-downs, mohair turtlenecks, aged-effect jeans, anorak jackets, a perfectly understated trench coat. Sometimes the “standard” is exactly what is needed, especially when you don’t want to “dress up”. It can be imperceptibly sexy too.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Wholesome Beauty. Bottega Veneta AW26

March 1, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

After witnessing the wholesome beauty of Louise Trotter’s sophomore collection for Bottega Veneta, one can’t help but wonder: why bother wasting time, life, and attention on something as depressing as Demna’s latest Gucci outing?

Trotter delivered a collection so robust, textured, rich, and untamed in its tactility that you couldn’t help but smile during the closing passage: fluffy furs spun from silk threads rippled like curly shearling; real shearling was brushed to resemble fox; shaggy fiberglass and velvet were carved to mimic astrakhan.

For Louise, Bottega Veneta is a playground – one where she roams freely through the possibilities of materials, embracing materiality in the most unexpected ways. Yet she also proves she knows a thing or two about Milanese sartoriality: her delightfully oversized peacoats and meaty jackets with rounded shoulders did not disappoint.

I entered starving for beauty; I left fed.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Regime. Gucci AW26

February 28, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Everything about Demna’s Gucci runway debut made me feel nauseous. The monumental, neo-classicist venue designed by Sub.Global felt deeply discomforting to me – it immediately evoked Mussolini-era architecture, the kind that asserted power and signaled the omnipresence of a totalitarian regime. Playing with such tropes simply doesn’t sit right, especially in the context of figures like Giorgia Meloni shaping current politics. I was genuinely surprised that nobody else said this out loud. But then again, I suppose it’s easy to turn a blind eye when it’s convenient.

And what about the clothes? To me, they suggest that Demna – a designer I truly admired during his Balenciaga years – is at a creative standstill. Or downfall. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Lost Sister. Marni AW26

February 28, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

Marni, founded by Consuelo Castiglioni in 1994, immediately resonated with women from different walks of life – gallerists, buyers, chefs. Yet critics and the broader fashion establishment often dismissed it as derivative of Prada: a kind of lost Miu Miu sister, but without the family lineage. As a result, it was rarely taken seriously as “major” fashion.

When Francesco Risso took over the brand about a decade ago, he transformed it into something closer to an art school experiment – at times strikingly on point, at others completely missing the mark with over-intellectualized gestures. Now it is Meryll Rogge’s turn to redefine Marni.

At her own eponymous label, Meryll cultivates a certain kooky, cluttered aesthetic that, on paper, seems perfectly suited to the Marni universe. Her debut felt almost expected – much closer to the brand’s 2000s image than to its more recent iterations. Which is why staging her show on the same day as Prada felt particularly unfortunate. It was Miuccia’s playbook all over again: socks with sandals, oversized paillettes on skirts, quirky, retro-tinged necklaces – only without the socio-political subtext humming in the background.

There are plenty of designers working in a kind of faux-Prada mode – from Henry Zankov to N21’s Alessandro Dell’Acqua – and Rogge’s Marni seems to fall into that same category. But perhaps that is precisely the point?

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Layers. Prada AW26

February 27, 2026 | Design & Culture by Ed

During the last season – the so-called “season of debuts” – I found myself wondering whether fashion is truly committed to the pursuit of the new if not a single designer even vaguely attempts to challenge the format of the fashion show. Finally, that changed at yesterday’s show by Prada in Milan, where Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons proved that the runway can, indeed, be reimagined. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.