Woman

Summer. Rosie Assoulin SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Rosie Assoulin’s home jars of D.I.Y pickled veggies, which were gifted to her guests during the spring-summer 2020 presentation, had to be as delicious as the collection itself. The designer showed the perfect laid-back look for summer: an over-sized white shirt, a matching bra and a long, loosely-fitted sarong skirt. Another outfit you will cherish when you’re mentally on a beach, but physically in the city: a paisley-printed shirt worn with a floor-lenght skirt, in the boldest orange shade you can imagine. Assoulin’s offering is easy and instinctive, mood-lifting and joyous. The eveningwear, which for instance consisted of a midi dress that appeared to have multiple pieces (a sheer camisole, a triangle bra, and a full skirt) fused together and a dress with flaired sleeves that can instantly become a spectacular top once unbuttoned and worn with pale pink pants under, is all about comfort you want during hotter days or when you’re on vacations. Unforced and always flattering.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Spontaneous and Feminine. Maryam Nassir Zadeh SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Maryam Nassir Zadeh never dissapoints with her take on a spontaneous, feminine (but not too obvious) wardrobe. For her spring-summer 2020 collection, staged at a real-life park in the Lower East Side, the beloved New York-based designer had a number of inspirations that might have nothing in common: the beach, rave parties, John Cassavetes films, menswear and safari suits. But the way Nassir Zadeh puts her clothes together is beautifully edgy and sooner or later trickles down to bigger brands’ aesthetics (Ganni, I see you!). After her stay at Formentera, the designer loves wearing swimsuits as real clothes, so styling a bikini top with a masculine blazer was a sure thing for her to send down the runway (or rather, the park’s sports field). There was something very Prada spring-summer 1996 about this line-up as well. That was the moment Miuccia Prada officially introduced the good taste of bad taste with the ugly-pretty styling, sludge browns, avocado greens and hand-drawn prints (a nearly identical pattern appears in look 14, where Maryam puts together a matching yellow bikini with a pencil skirts and tops all that with a tiny, beige cardigan). Probably, 90s Prada wasn’t a straight-forward reference for Maryam, but then, who knows? This period in fashion is a gift that keeps on giving. Back to Nassir Zadeh. Granny-ish crotchet tops with beige bermuda shorts – and they look surprisingly good! – a neon green dress worn with an artisan glass necklace, a very mini mini-skirt styled with knee-lenght boots: these are just some examples of Maryam’s new season offerings. Plus, consider the collection as a styling cheat-sheet – those looks are just perfect for now, for September, when you still feel summer, but it’s getting colder.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

You Will Be Noticed. Area SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Area for spring-summer 2020 is… a lot. Beckett Fogg and Piotrek Panszczyk’s brand that’s all about “occasion-wear” continues to deliver the most bold, party-ready clothes in New York. Whether it’s an over-sized white jacket covered in gold chains, trompe l’oeil crotchet tops made out of colourful rhinestones, arty crop-tops made out of tubes (each finished with a crystal, of course) or a red-carpet-perfect, draped gown in peach, one thing’s sure: you will be noticed in Area wherever you go.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Urban Romance. Khaite SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

Khaite had the best possible breakthrough moment to the wider audience about a week ago, when Katie Holmes wore that cashmere bralette-and-cardigan look and everyone went crazy. But the label’s founder and designer, Catherine Holstein, doesn’t rest on laurels and isn’t planning to sell knitted bras for the rest of her life. The spring-summer 2020 collection was all about urban romance, full of contrasts: suede fringed jackets and sheer tulle dresses, rhinestone embellishings and denim, sharp tailoring combined with sarongs. “I wanted it to feel more sensual,” Holstein said. “It’s a riskier take, especially for a line that’s kind of synonymous with ‘easy.’ But there’s a side of me that loves a sense of gaudiness and flash . . . I’m so much more into that than a minimalist approach, so I want to start incorporating those aspects into my work.” Khaite isn’t a brand that will shock you with something new (I wonder who does so today…), but it’s the place to look at when you’re not sure what’s relevant now. Looking at the brand’s new season, keep everything you’ve got in your wardrobe for the next summer – lace, tartan plaid, florals, ripped jeans, big shoulders, cowboy jackets, everything will work.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

A Gift. Tomo Koizumi SS20

| Design & Culture by Ed

New York fashion week is in full swing. Tomo Koizumi, Marc Jacobs and Katie Grand’s protégé, had Ariel Nicholson do a theatrical performance in his new season ruffled Japanese polyester organza creations at Marc’s Madison Avenue flagship. The Japanese designer, who already amazed everyone with his work last season, explained his spring-summer 2020 process as the following: “I tried to make more 3D patterns with ruffles – it’s kind of like a boxy shape, because I wanted to make something like a gift box.” When he was sketching the designs for the garments, the designer drew inspiration from his own culture – using Lolita fashion as a primary reference, he also crafted the shapes of the dresses based on Japanese robotic cartoons, which he grew up watching. The looks – if you can even call them like this – really had something of gift wrapping, bold and knowing no borders of ‘too excessive’. Tomo doesn’t want to be commercial, and his costumes are for the most daring ones. You can hate it or love it, but this sort or joyous non-chalance is not only growingly rare in New York, but across all the fashion capitals.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.