Woman

Stable and Slouchy. Lemaire SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

At Lemaire, references and messages are absent, or very subtle, and comparing to most other labels, here the clothes do the talking. Christophe Lemaire and Sarah Linh Tran‘s woman doesn’t change from season to season – her style is consistent, just as the label’s style. For spring-summer 2020, the designers used a colour palette full of timeless neutrals, which perfectly fits their new bodysuits, pleated stone-colored chinos with a rib-grazing wrapped waistband or over-sized waxed-cotton coats. The brand showed a handful of belted styles, all of them easy enough to be tossed over a handbag strap when it gets warmer. In the designers’ words, the collection is about “stable, but slouchy” shapes. Its impossible not to be convinced by Lemaire’s comfortable elegance this season.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

A Match Made In Heaven. Dries Van Noten SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Here’s my ultimate favourite of the season, even though we’ve still got a couple of PFW days to go. Dries Van Noten collaborated with legendary designer Christian Lacroix for his spring-summer 2020 collection. When this bacame a fact yesterday in the afternoon, in that very moment the planets moved or maybe the time stopped. This is a real, real fashion moment of 2019. This collaboration is something you never thought you needed in your life. I’m still in absolute awe, while going through the looks over and over again. “The idea is to bring fun ideas, nothing too serious, things that I think perhaps we have lost a little in fashion”, Van Noten told the press. “I wanted to do something joyful”. Dries and Christian weren’t acquainted before their collab (it came up spontaneously), but their contrasts became actual similitaries once they started working together. They fulfilled each other. Lacroix’s iconic legacy of ‘never too much’ combined with Van Noten’s mastership of colour-and-print balance. Looking at the final result, all the Lacroix signatures are in place, filtered through Van Noten’s sensibility: polka dots, broad stripes, animal prints, ruffles, matador jackets, gigot sleeves, silks woven with flowers scaled up and brighter, pouf skirts, duchesse satin and grosgrain. The vocabulary of Dries Van Noten is fused with that of Mr. Christian Lacroix throughout: said jacquards have been scanned and appear as prints across cotton and organza; lightweight polyesters, made out of recycled plastic bottles and coated papers rustle alongside precious French silks; billowing trains grace nothing more haute than a parka, albeit gold. Basic white singlets are decorated with a single overblown embroidered sleeve here, jeans with an appliquéd feather or feather print on one leg there. If Mr. Christian Lacroix was among the most feted couturiers of the latter part of the twentieth century (in his own words, he “failed with ready-to-wear”), Dries Van Noten is one of the pret-a-porter leaders of today. It’s a match made in heaven. I guess this is the collection where all the money should go to when it hits the stores. Such fashion wonders happen very, very rarely. To learn more about the designers’ meeting of minds, watch their interview here.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Still Searching. Lanvin SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

It’s Bruno Sialelli‘s second season at Lanvin. And it’s really not the easiest maison to design for, especially after the so idiosyncratic Alber Elbaz era and the last couple of turbulent years related to the label’s ownership and direction. And add up to all this Jeanne Lanvin, the founder of the brand, who left behind a vast archive. Before Lanvin, Sialelli was one of the designers at Jonathan Anderson’s Loewe. His debut collection was mildly received (quite wrongly – the new arrivals coming to Lanvin’s e-shop are gorgeous, take a look!), because the designer still had the Loewe mentality, soft for artistically random, crafty details. This hasn’t changed for spring-summer 2020. Not only the weather wasn’t in favour of Sialelli’s line-up, but also the lack of edit. A bit of tailoring, a bit of flou. A print inspired by comic stories, multi-coloured checks, more comics. Some unflattering leather-works that were put over frocks and skirts. The mini-dresses in the finale were absolutely whatever. The strongest point of the collection was the pleated, fluoroscent blue gown that felt every, very Jeanne Lanvin. This is a good path to follow. I bet the details of this collection were great as well, but they are just too small to catch for a runway show. While an eclectic, “curated” look works at Loewe, Lanvin needs something different. Big hopes Bruno finds it sooner or later.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Predictable Chic. Saint Laurent SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Twinkling Tour Eiffel as the show’s backdrop? Incredible. Sebastian’s banging soundtrack? Wow. Naomi Campbell closing the show? Yay. And the clothes? Well, that’s the problem with Anthony Vaccarello‘s Saint Laurent from time to time. His spring-summer 2020 might have amazed with all the features, but in the end the clothes are the least exciting. Up to 100 looks, and most of them are either about short shorts and boots, or Yves’s iconic le smoking. Of course, the Loulou de la Falaise touches, nods to the ‘Russian’ collection from 1976 and forever chic YSL codes never get old, but Vaccarello’s result was, simply speaking, monotonous. And very predictable. But hey, that’s what Saint Laurent customers love and buy today. So why not give them what they want?

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Marée Noire. Marine Serre SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Marine Serre‘s spring-summer 2020 collection, entitled Marée Noire (‘black water’, ‘dark tide’ in French), was unapologetically… Marine Serre. It’s really incredible that Serre, whose label is still relatively young and small as for Parisian standards, has such a distinct, signature look, not even mentioning her already cult moon crest print that is a street style classic. Under today’s grey, Parisian sky and in the misty rain, Marine sent down a fierce line-up of models at all ages, races and genders, some pregnant or with their dogs. This was another post-apocalyptic vision of chic according to Serre, which was much more defined and not so over-styled as last season: utilitarian jumpsuits with buckles, over-sized coats in PVC, hour-glass-shaped blazers and jackets, scuba-diving dresses with up-cycled silk scarf inserts (Marine Serre’s another ground-breaking signature, which is all about sustainability). Some of the models looked angry, while the collection’s main accessory – black rubber gloves – bring on some affiliations (serial killers, for instance?). But there was also light in Marine’s dystopian world (well, ours, if things keep on going the way they do now). A number of looks were all about white crotchet knits, there were even floral prints popping on maxi-skirts. Some girls wore towel turbans on their heads, while few skirts and dresses were actual towels as well, but couture-draped (this might be next season’s trend, just take a look at Prada) Maybe these women just took a bath in the previously mentioned, intoxicated, black water? The designer leaves you wondering, which is a rarity in today’s fashion. This was one of the strongest line-ups coming from Marine, consistent and intriguing. That’s a very good start of Paris fashion week.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.