Woman

Like A Hug. Ottolinger Pre-Fall 2024

| Design & Culture by Ed

Ottolinger is a brand that best captures the gritty, experimental ambience of contemporary Berlin. Christa Bösch and Cosima Gadient‘s pre-fall 2024 collection seeks harmony between the idiosyncratic and a more grounded approach. “We’ve been creative and experimental for a long time, but with this collection what we wanted to achieve is like giving that big hug we all need right now”. A hug definitely comes to mind looking at all the furry and fluffy textures that enfold the models in the lookbook. The sage green jersey top and strap-embellished leggings worn with a fleecy chocolate miniskirt is a combination “that connects with what we grew up with, that’s almost dressed up but also casual” (a very good summary of style in Berlin). The furry fabric returned as a tailored jacket with wide-legged trousers, or as deep cuffs on green knickers.

The Ottolinger designers aimed to offer a collection of “softshell layers” that would be easy to master, even if many are rooted in traditional Swiss garb that’s anything but. Take, for example, the classic dirndl, the likes of which lives on mainly in vintage Oktoberfest photos, and which neither designer thinks they could wear. Unless, perhaps, it was reincarnated as a mesh crop top, a long printed dress paired with a tailored blazer, or exuberantly printed body-positive separates. Taking a cue from traditional men’s garb, lederhosen is revisited in mesh, or as shiny flared trousers in red and white chalet checks. Fun!

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Twisted. Keisukeyoshida SS24

| Design & Culture by Ed

As we’re approaching 2023’s end, I wanted to spotlight one of the most intriguing emerging designers out there: Keisuke Yoshida. “I’ve had an image of this woman in my mind,” the Japanese designer said while explaining his new collection. “In my head, she’s wearing an outfit, and I can’t tell if it is a wedding dress or a mourning dress. But somehow, I know that she’s like a mother.” Last season, Yoshida’s imaginary maternal muse had been a strict, teacher-like figure with fabric clasped tight across her throat, but this time she’s come undone. Yoshida had engineered her transformation through feminine staples, using ivory silk blouses and soft, dusty pink tailoring that bared the chest, while lapels and collars were inverted or twisted so that they poked up in awkward directions, as though they’d been pulled on in a hurry. Old wedding dresses Yoshida had found in Tokyo were reworked into one-off corsets, lace gloves, and trousers, so that embellishments of pearls and sparkly lace glistered over hands or raced across the thigh, while broken ceramics served as earrings alongside seductive secretary specs. Best of all was a would-be office-appropriate pencil skirt, out of which peeked a silk camisole whose straps dangled upside down towards the ankles. Those theatrically spiky stilettos and wide-brim hats could well have evoked Irving Penn, or old photographs of Parisian couture from the 1950s, but what makes Yoshida’s work feel right for the moment are the strange quirks he sprinkles in to humanize everything, offsetting any old-world glamour or preconceived notions of feminine mystique to create something delicately twisted.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Girl Uninterrupted. Zimmermann SS24

| Design & Culture by Ed

I’ve never been a Zimmermann person, but since Lana Del Rey was wearing the brand’s dresses throughout her 2023 tour, I had to reinvestigate its ultra-girl charm. And I must say that I’m in love with Nicky Zimmermann‘s spring-summer 2024 offering. In a collection that contained three main and sometimes intermingling strands – sportily versatile knit pieces; volumized many-ruffled and guipure-edged georgette and charmeuse dresses; and slouchy but smart tailoring in denim and leather – you had a sense of breezy easiness. The pastel jersey looks resembled off-duty dancers’ attire, built for freedom of movement but not visually defined by technicality: a compelling alternative for the yoga-pant constituency. This sporty duality carried over into racerback white lace crops, which were used as formfitting eveningwear base layers over pretty, vaguely Sicilian baptism-gown butterfly-and-flower-pattern voile dresses edged with more cappuccino froths of lace. There was similar genre-blending in looks that placed spaghetti-strap, sometimes semi-sheer tiered mid-length backless dresses over appealingly generous, carrot-cut washed jeans, or light lace tops under textured tailoring. The dresses included a caped and draped robe in graduated dégradé patches of violet, orange, and pale yellow derived from abstract landscapes. Zimmermann said the often layered and backless flower-bomb gowns and shirtdresses had been purposefully given a washed, faded finish because “we want it to feel that the girls are walking and the flowers are just around them.” Sometimes garlanded with lace petals and handsome golden jewelry, including bunch-of-grapes earrings, these had a Dionysian freshness to them. As the viral TikTok sound sums up, “this is so Lana Del Rey vinyl“.

Need some Zimmermann wardrobe fix? Let me help!

ED’s SELECTION:


Grosgrain-trimmed Wool And Silk-blend Duchesse-satin Blazer



Gathered Silk And Wool-blend Mini Dress



Ruffled Tiered Gathered Floral-print Crepon Mini Dress



Asymmetric Floral-print Linen And Silk-blend Midi Dress



Large Leather And Macramé-trimmed Straw Tote



Crochet-trimmed Patchwork Paisley Linen Midi Dress



Pussy-bow Corded Lace-trimmed Striped Linen And Silk-blend Mini Dress

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Last Minute: COS Gifts Edit

| Design & Culture by Ed

COS has your holiday season covered. The brand has knits in all shapes and textures, eveningwear that dashes with jacquards and sequins, and timeless accessories – basically everything that will come handy this holiday party circuit. As keyed to real life as COS’ capsule collections are, they’re not humorless. Think XXL polka dots and playful details.

Here’s my last minute COS gift guide!

FOR HER:


QUILTED MICRO BAG


ASYMMETRIC SEQUINNED MINI DRESS



HEART SIGNET RING



FRINGED CAPE



FAIR ISLE MERINO WOOL BALACLAVA



OVERSIZED FRAMED CLUTCH



OVERSIZED ORGANIC-SHAPED CLIP-ON EARRINGS



OVERSIZED POLKA-DOT WOOL-BLEND BLAZER



POLKA-DOT TAFFETA MIDI SKIRT



STUDDED WRISTLET POUCH



SILK-BLEND VELVET BLAZER



RIBBED CASHMERE SLIPPERS

 

FOR HIM:


SLOUCHY CROSSBODY



TRI-TONE WOOL CREW-NECK JUMPER



CHUNKY RIBBED WOOL SOCKS



QUILTED PADDED LINER GILET



PURE CASHMERE BEANIE


COS (EU)

Contemporary. Helmut Lang Pre-Fall 2024

| Design & Culture by Ed

Peter Do’s second collection – pre-fall 2024 – for Helmut Lang proves that the designer might be really the right match for the brand. Helmut Lang, the label, has been struggling for years with finding it’s tune. No wonder why: it’s difficult to position a contemporary brand without its namesake founder at helm. Just look at what’s going on at Ann Demeulemeester. Do, however, always seemed to have a similar aesthetical sensitivity to Lang, and while his debut collection last September was bumpy, the newest collection offers a more developed glimpse at his vision for the New York-based brand. You can easily see these slinky, less-is-more clothes hanging on racks in stores and imagine customers being attracted to their essential cool. You can also see @brendahashtag wearing every single look. Worth mentioning are the paint-splattered pieces, an OG Helmut Lang specialty, all done by hand by an artist from LA. And the raw denim is cut with adaptable flap pockets, versatility being one of Do’s signatures. The tailoring, meanwhile, is made with an attention to detail that seems rare at these price points – see the inner waistband of the trousers for proof. Excess straps and oversize proportions might seem like too much at the first sight, but all the zippers you see have a function: the sleeves come off a leather biker jacket, and pants zip into shorts or go from straight-leg to flared. A two-in-one bomber puffer in black with white accents was another standout.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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