The More You Mess Around, The More You Know. Phoebe Philo Edit 2, Delivery 2!

March 26, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Phoebe Philo fans, rejoice! The second delivery of the second edit is here. The idea of “continuity” is key in the designer’s eponymous venture: Philo keeps on building THE wardrobe, making her primary ideas as valid as the new ones. The fresh set of pictures – by Talia Chetrit – stun with their simplicity yet commanding allure. Looking at them, you just really desire all these dropped-waist leathers and outerwear pieces, no matter what the price for them is (disclaimer: h i g h, but after reading Philo’s silence-breaker piece by Vanessa Friedman for The New York Times, I really get it, and if I had a money tree, I would indulge and indulge in the brand’s offering without any doubt in the quality and uniqueness of these pieces). There are gorgeous trench coat iterations with attachable scarves; wrap-skirts in butter-smooth leather; very, very handsome cargo coats with huge pockets; a leg -wrapping ribbed skirt. Basically speaking, garments you buy once and wear forever. The latest delivery also offers basket cabas bags à la Old Céline and the brand’s going-gently-viral “Bean” bag covered in rough-cut, XL leather fringes; hot, retro-tinged sunglasses in cool narrow shape; and lethally chic open-toed pumps in oxblood. According to the aforementioned piece, Phoebe likes to tell her kids: “the more you mess around, the more you find out“. She actually uses the more colloquial, raw version of this saying. It seems to perfectly captures the spirit of her quite revolutionary, assertive endeavor.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Passage Of Time. Vautrait AW24

March 24, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

One of the most intriguing runway debuts of the season belonged to Vautrait, the Paris-based brand established in 2021 by Yonathan Carmel. Every label today tries to join the conversation around tailoring, but most of these efforts end up looking pretty much the same. Vautrait however is different. For a young brand, it’s astounding how mature its designs are – just take a look at Carmel’s autumn-winter 2024 show to get what I mean. Take the statuesque wool jacket with a nonchalantly notched label. Or the oversized trench coat with cognac leather, vest-like insert with big, utilitarian pockets. Or the black coat with broad shoulders and faux-fur-trimmed collar and cuffs (from afar it looks like crow feathers). These pieces say: we’re classics. Carmel champions traditional crafts as the key to sustainable creations that shape and accompany the body over the course of its life. According to the designer, the evolution of the body echoes the passage of time, developing and revealing new qualities and properties, just like vintage wine transcends the grapes its contains. Embracing the signs of age thus emboldens Vautrait’s designs that shun a system and its unattainable standards, so focused on establishing temporary and disposable stuff. Yonathan is one of this year’s LVMH Prize semi-finalists. The competition in this edition is especially tough, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Cristaseya Edition #22

March 20, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Cristaseya is a Paris-based, lifestyle brand which isn’t bothered with the fashion industry’s crazy-paced schedule. Cristina Casini and Keiko Seya, the founders, both have worked for years as stylists for publications like L’Officiel, Numéro and i-D. One day they realized they don’t really see their personal style reflected in any of the clothes they go through everyday at work. In 2013, the duo decided to launch their own label with an aim to release “editions”, not collections, of around 20 items – specifically, one edition per six months. No overproduction, no hurry – just a pure, creative process which combines highest quality craftsmanship with the attitude of soft minimalism. The newest edition – #22 – is now available on their site, and the offering looks like the perfect transitioning-into-spring wardrobe. Fell in love with their voluminous collarless coat with leather piping, all the party silks, cool pajama suits and their ventures into handbags: the leather basket in different earthy shades and the fit-it-all weekend bag.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Less is More. Y/Project AW24

March 15, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Y/Project‘s Glenn Martens proved this season that sometimes less can be really more. The high profile and influential designer owned the fact his brand faces financial pressures and cancelled his runway show. In response, an important discourse opened up on the internet: the current industry system isn’t really working for independent brands. “Very honestly, we had a cash flow issue,” Martens candidly said. “We did the commercial showroom during men’s week, and we actually did grow. But at a certain point you have to make a choice. It’s €450,000 for a show, or €450,000 for pre-payment for production and making sure the collection is on time on the sales floor.” That Martens chose production and the sales floor will benefit his team and his brand in the end, of course. And somehow, the autumn-winter 2024 collection benefited too from that decision, because the lookbook is brilliant. Everyone from his father to to Interview‘s Mel Ottenberg and Purple‘s Olivier Zahm to his favorite stylists Haley Wollens and Camille Bidault Waddington is captured in the line-up. For the new collection Martens said he was thinking of pleurants, the sculptures of mourners that decorated tombs in medieval times, an instinct motivated by a sudden personal loss. He also mentioned Umberto Eco’s Middle Ages murder mystery The Name of the Rose. Putting his draping chops front-and-center, he added hoods to otherwise familiar garments like button-down shirts and fleece jackets, or inset sheer panels behind a row of buttons that gave his clothes a slouchy asymmetric shape. Some pieces featured manipulable velcro pieces that let their wearers adjust their silhouettes in the same way his bendable wire has been used in the past. A coat, for example, can convert into a cape, while a painterly floral print skirt can completely change form. Other pieces were shrouded with sheer net. The veiled pant suit gave the term fashion nun new meaning.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Anti-Fashion. Phoebe Philo Edit 2

March 8, 2024 | Design & Culture by Ed

Phoebe Philo‘s feverishly anticipated Edit 2 – second collection under her namesake, London-based label – is the perfect detox moment after the long, long, looooong fashion month. No gimmicks, no overstyling, no oversaturation of product, no… fashion. This is an anti-fashion line-up, one that absolutely focuses on style and gives real tools for building an intelligent wardrobe. That’s the real power of Philo’s venture, visually narrated by Talia Chetrit in a low-key, yet commanding way. Anatomy of a Fall and Zone of Interest‘s actress Sandra Hüller stars in the latest campaign, sporting the line’s turtlenecks, tailored trousers and sharp eyewear. In her notes, Philo called the actress “one of the most accomplished talents of her generation, renowned for her intimate, intelligent and fearless performances on stage and screen.” This is a collaboration that only the stars could align.

The designer characterized her brand’s latest offering – available now in her on-line shop – “from the get-go as a continuous body of work”. If you look at the store, you will notice that images from Edit 1 are still up there, mixed with the new ones. This is revolutionary: we’ve got used to the fact that brands usually wipe out their entire websites every three months for new deliveries. The latest “edit” (the brand avoids the word “collection” in its elusive communication) experiments with proportions, setting a dropped-waist leather jacket in a dark berry tone against an ultra-cropped bomber in a mastic hue. We’ve got oversized trousers, doused in “salt and pepper” colors, and upright collared shirts button tight at the neck with raised collars. Double-breasted Milanese jackets flaunt the designer’s crisp tailoring expertise. As for accessories, the popular “MUM” necklace is back. Scarves are constructed as pillows, wrapping around their wearers’ heads with an avant-garde facade; and sunglasses, including the “Peak” and “Bombé” frames, make statements with face-shielding builds. Bags are Philo’s speciality, with the Cabas, Bean Bag and Drive Bag arriving in all sorts of finishes, spanning cheetah print and plushy purple to lipstick red and strong neutrals.

Honestly, you can’t imagine a better collection to review on International Women’s Day. Women rule!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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