On The Run. Julie Kegels SS26

September 30, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Julie Kegels opened Paris Fashion Week with a bonkers show – exactly the right way to launch the long week ahead and set the tone for day one: fun, bold, inventive.

I’ve been following Kegels’ work since her master’s collection “The Dinner Party“ at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Even then, it was clear that domesticity would be a central theme in the Belgian designer’s practice. Her spring–summer 2026 show unfolded inside a metro station in the 16th arrondissement. Models emerged as if on their way to an important meeting – or a party – moving with confidence, unconcerned about being late or expected. The presentation read like a story of transformation: a woman in constant motion, always just a step behind time.

That sense of the everyday marathon was brilliantly distilled in the collection. Kegels’ woman dresses in haste, between chores: bra straps hastily knotted, collars stretched and smudged with makeup, skirts slipping down as if about to fall, undergarments peeking through at every glance. Nightgowns edged in lace reappeared as daywear, with no drama attached. Imperfection lingered not as failure but as imprint: stains turned into prints, wrinkles into structure, seams into memory. And her constant companion? A garment-messenger bag, naturally.

Julie Kegels proves that fashion can be witty without tipping into gimmickry – and at the same time, wholly functional.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Polarizing. Versace SS26

September 27, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

The fashion industry hasn’t witnessed such a polarizing collection – especially a debut – in quite some time. After Dario Vitale’s late-evening show for Versace yesterday, my DMs were ablaze until morning with radically different opinions. Some people loved it, calling it a startlingly fresh moment for Milan. Others, however, had no mercy for Vitale’s effort. Personally, I would love to hear Donatella Versace’s thoughts. Her complete absence from the show was… loud.

What is Versace without a Versace at the helm? Dario Vitale, formerly of Miu Miu, has a tough nut to crack. One thing is certain: his debut collection was confident. Gone are the days of Donatella’s flawless blondes in sky-high stilettos. In their place comes a sexuality aimed at younger clients – brisker, messier, slouchier, a bit more kinker. At moments, I felt I was watching a very dolled-up Magliano show – which would be head-turning if it were, in fact, Magliano. But is Versace truly ready to dive headlong into such vintage-heavy territory, straight into the 1980s without a filter? Donatella herself tried many times to revive Versus Versace with near 1:1 references to the brand’s past, and those “new” takes on the diffusion line never succeeded. Many of Vitale’s looks could easily have been sourced from a vintage boutique in Rome or Florence, allowing one to cosplay Gianni’s early career days head to toe. On one hand, the collection was about sensuality (“Honcho”-style in case of menswear, which was executed far better than womenswear, with a homo-erotic gaze) and youth; on the other, it smelled faintly of a mothballed closet. Yet the truth is: today’s “contemporary” audience is deeply nostalgic. Maybe this is what they want – rather than Phoebe Philo or Prada, two female-led brands that actually look forward.

It will be fascinating to see where Vitale takes Versace in the coming seasons – those choices will be decisive. For now, what I see is a cry for the past, one that also eclipses Alessandro Michele’s Valentino. The difference? With Michele, you know it’s his style through and through – not a costume.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Sprezzatura. Tod’s SS26

September 27, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Count on Matteo Tamburini to deliver a precise, hands-on collection in Milan. His Tod’s has become synonymous with finesse – especially in the realm of leather. It was reworked in myriad ways: from butter-smooth, striped dresses so languid and breezy they looked, from afar, like silk foulards; to a Macintosh coat worn inside out, its hidden seams revealed as bold graphic punctuation; to an easygoing suede column in a life-affirming shade of curcuma.

Tamburini also sent down the runway a series of feather-light pullovers in warm hues, styled with matching briefs, silk scarves, ladylike pumps, and oversized striped totes. Very chic – just like the black-and-white ensemble of a zipped hoodie, men’s shirt, and tailored pants. With every season, the Tod’s woman and her style grow ever more refined. Sprezzatura.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Cage Of Innocence. Dilara Findikoglu SS26

September 24, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Dilara Findikoglu titled her spring collection “Cage of Innocence.” “It’s about giving freedom to my ancestors and to anyone who never had freedom. I feel like women have been kept in cages of innocence and purity, told they have to be clean and embody virginity—all that kind of stuff. But today, we step out of that cage.” She delivered on that promise. The models on her runway moved like natural forces – unleashed, untamed, extreme, and absolutely liberated.

The opening looks were white, draped over corsetry: innocent at first glance, yet carrying troubling undercurrents of tension, even pain. Limbs and faces were streaked with dirt. The models appeared in trance-like states, disturbed, dressed in fragments of collapsing lace lingerie, their faces obscured by metal jewelry sourced by Dilara in Istanbul. One carried an open handbag, its contents threatening to spill out. A woman on the verge of a breakdown? No – a woman ready to cast off societal norms and make her voice heard, loud and clear.

Findikoglu is one of the reasons London still matters.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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2005. Burberry SS26

September 24, 2025 | Design & Culture by Ed

Unpopular opinion: Daniel Lee’s spring collection for Burberry was actually pretty good. It felt very London circa 2005 – but not in a wannabe Y2K way; more in an Arctic Monkeys–cool kind of way. I can totally picture Alex Turner wearing one of those acidic-green leather trench coats or killer-pink bombers. Lee really delivered on outerwear this season, and the same goes for accessories – the chunky, elongated scarves look great and fun. Overall, he seems to have a stronger hand in menswear than in womenswear, and that’s probably where a lot of the online criticism has sparked. The crochet dresses à la Mary Quant felt too Topshop. Reportedly, Burberry is lowering its prices to better fit the market, but that doesn’t mean the brand should start veering toward a high-street aesthetic.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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