Exquisite. Rick Owens AW23

March 4, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Rick Owens‘ latest collection is powerful and beautiful in its strangeness. The bulbous shapes, the rough textures, the elevated silhouettes… “Conditions in the world being the way they are, it’s kind of a delicate time,” the designer said pre-show, alluding to the war in Ukraine. “And I was thinking I wanted to do something earnest, and more formal and more deliberate. I kept thinking of the word exquisite.” In pursuit of the exquisite he leaned into matte sequins, not in the gaudy red carpet colors you associate with embellishments like that, but in more muted tones of lime green, art deco pink, and bordeaux; and not, of course, in the fishtail silhouettes that seem to multiply during awards season, but in those donut duvets and inflated draped miniskirts. Those sequins aside, Owens was working with humble materials. The cutaway skirts that exposed the hip bone on one side and trailed down the runway in a long train on the other, and the dresses sliced to the armpit? Those were ribbed knits made from GRS certified recycled cashmere. And those decaying and fraying half-skirts and coats? That was indigo denim from Japan, which had been treated with a mineral wash and shredded by lasers. Extraordinary effects out of relatively simple materials. “That’s my job,” said Owens, “to present the most excellent aesthetics I can. I know I’m commonly referred to as dark. I think no, I’m just realistic and I’m acknowledging the beauty and horror of the world. There are some people that prefer something more sugar-coated, and that’s fine, I don’t criticize that. But I prefer something with more nuance.”

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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In Search For Renaissance. Chloé AW23

March 3, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

As usual in case of Gabriela Hearst‘s vision at Chloé, sustainability is the ultimate priority. She’s an expert on scientific progress, political initiatives, knows how to effectively replace environmentally damaging fabrics with better solutions, and she’s also a long-term supporter of many NGOs. She manages to pack all that ambition into her designs for the French brand and her eponymous, New York-based line. Sometimes, at an expense of the creative side of her work. The autumn-winter 2023 collection was, however, a bit more daring in terms of the “fashion”. Hearst found a muse, and that is Artemisia Gentileschi, the Renaissance painter. However, don’t expect baroque costumes. There was instead a lot of shearling and leather (the by-products of meat), fine-gauge lacy knits, and the ponchos. The vaguely medieval-inspired vertical strips of leather in yellow, black and white, and the harlequin pattern that emerged toward the end of the show, was a distant interpretation of the Gentileschi theme. “I like it that nothing is gimmicky. They’re not clothes for Instagram,” Hearst quipped. “I’m tired of working for Zuckerberg all the time – like, where’s my check?” I get her point, but… The Row, Lemaire and Hed Mayner are also brands that offer a non-gimmicky look, but this doesn’t mean their collections are that plain-looking. The best look from the Chloé show was a dress with vivid patchwork embroidery in the craft style of “Central America”. Sadly, Hearst just dropped that idea in the middle of the show, without expanding on it. And that that was actually a Chloé-kind-of look: feminine, a bit quirky, intriguing. The designer should try a more spontaneous, laid-back, less-serious approach in her creative process.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Impeccable. The Row Resort 2024

March 3, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Those The Row outings the Olsen twins bring to Paris Fashion Week are impeccable. They are the peak of sophistication, understated luxury and intriguing tailoring, but as well much-needed moments of serenity after nearly a month of constant fashion influx. They also serve as a reminder that longevity resulting from great design and top-notch quality is so much better and more rewarding than the dumb pursuit after newness – which often in contemporary fashion feels rather flat than truly innovative. To the tune of hypnotic 1979 goth anthem “Bela Lugosi’s Dead” by Bauhaus, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen‘s latest offering was presented in a chic hôtel particulier. There was a beautiful opening of all-black looks in the form of The Row’s new coat shape, double breasted, tailored with a wide shouldered ease, a scarf-like panel dropping over one sleeve. Appropriately enough, evening got in on the act too; for some time now there has been the incisive way they’ve been experimenting with all sorts of folding and draping, best seen here on a strapless black ensemble, with sleeves wrapped to cinch the waist. That the Olsens are committed to all manner of creative construction was underscored by so much of that sumptuous outerwear, particularly a (yet another) black coat, masculine and classic in shape, but with the surprise of the shoulder construction was tacked onto the shoulders. Though not everything was dark, dark, dark. Sensational color would appear every now and again: an eau de nil evening dress, magically created out of what looked like interwoven ribbons; a classic clutch coat in vermillion.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Legacy. Paco Rabanne AW23

March 2, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Julien Dossena‘s autumn-winter 2023 collection for Paco Rabanne was an homage to the late founder of the brand, who passed away this February. In his most convincing offerings for the house, Dossena revisited Rabanne’s design heritage through a contemporary, not overly literal lens. This collection, however, felt more like a straightforward tribute which ranged from Paco Rabanne’s famous space-age era to less-known surreal phase (echoed in Salvador Dali paintings used as prints for the eveningwear; the surrealist was Paco’s friend). There was of course plenty of chain-mail, used in mini-dresses that looked exactly like the ones the brand’s founder did in the 1960s. According to videos from the show that flood social media, all the metallic looks gave comforting, ASMR-sound effect. Indeed, Dossena’s voice felt exceptionally silent in this collection due to its nature. Let’s treat it more like a run-through Rabanne’s legacy, fit for the label’s client in 2023.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Contemporary. Courrèges AW23

March 2, 2023 | Design & Culture by Ed

Nicolas Di Felice‘s take on Courrèges is truly taking shape. In the autumn-winter 2023 fashion show, emerging from the fog, the first model stared down at the phone in her hands, her face lit up by its LED screen. The brand’s creative director has been thinking about all the time that we spend on our devices. The hoodie the model wore was hunched forward, its volume sort of flattened, and di Felice cut armhole slits into the front, for easier access. There was a leather motorcycle jacket, a tweed coat, and a vinyl caban cut the same way. Di Felice is on his phone as much as the next guy, he admitted. But watching his friends text when they’re sitting at opposite ends of a bar on a night out, rather than walking over to each other for a chat, he realized that our pocket-sized computers are changing more than our postures, they’re changing our lives. “I don’t judge,” he said, “but I question it, and I wanted to try to reflect on it.” There’s a lot of heat around Courrèges. Di Felice excels at the kind of body-baring clothes young women today respond to. Last season looked like the morning after a long night of raving, the girls carrying their sandals in their hands; this season, they’re headed to the office on the metro, in shades of black and gray, and even pinstripes, although in nothing as conventional as your standard pantsuit. Tunics with huge circular pendants suspended from portholes on the chest replaced jackets. They were cut in the same general proportions as the ’60s-ish A-line shifts that followed them. As the show progressed, the black and gray gave way to red and pink, and the straight lines to soft, sexy drapes suspended from wire necklaces, including one or two with the house logo, the collection’s only drawback. The final series of dresses came in silver or iridescent sequins accessorized by those mirrored pendants, right over the solar plexus. With the help of a spotlight, it looked like they were emanating energy, the phone’s LED replaced in the end by inner light.