Parisian Non-Chalance. Celine AW14

March 3, 2014August 31, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Only Phoebe Philo could make white buttons on tailored coats so buzzed about. Her AW14 collection for Celine was as always shocking… In it’s amazing invisiblity. The recent collection was all about 30’s tailor-ship for men and the artsy attitude of early 70’s. The collection was created for women which are independent and comfortable in their clothes. “These women were doing things which were quite radical at the time, like wearing men’s clothes, but which today seem quite normal,” she said. “I very much wanted women in men’s clothes, but it was a complex idea so we brought it back to a quite feminine silhouette.”
The bags were a new version of the trapez. The sleek jersey sweaters and bell-trousers were also close to masculine style. The fur pillow things that models carried were presented in radiant colour. Nothing new came across the runway, but the old ideas were showed in new posture. And that jewellery! It was so colourful… And it contrasted a lot with raw browns, blacks and greys. That felt pretty eye-catching.
The collection was unusual in the fact, that it was very timeless. And that shows, that Philo gives women a chance to forget buying new clothes every season. In reality, the pieces were a remix of Phoebe’s achievement in her minimalistic, raw fashion. And that’s why it’s so fine and artistic- at Celine, women are the artists who wear and style the clothes for everyday.

Monster. Comme des Garcons AW14

March 2, 2014October 29, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Rei Kawakubo herself defined the lineup in the following way: “The theme of the collection this time is MONSTER. It’s not about the typical Monster you find in sci-fi and video games. The expression of the Monsters I have made has a much deeper meaning. The craziness of humanity, the fear we all have, the feeling of going beyond common sense, the absence of ordinariness, expressed by something extremely big, by something that could be ugly or beautiful. In other words, I wanted to question the established standards of beauty.”

Scandinavia. Acne AW14

March 2, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Coming back to it’s origins in Stockholm, Acne got inspired with Scandinavia for AW14. With it’s minimalistic shapes, textures and Ikea like prints, the collection was colourful and soft. I really liked the oversized jewellery- is it an ethnic mix of African tribes? Whatever. There was also a lot of leopard prints and Celine-like tops with pointed shoulders… In other words, there was a lot of everything. This Acne collection surely gets a thumb up!

Masculine. Haider Ackermann AW14

March 2, 2014August 11, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

Haider Ackermann knocked it off. The AW14 is amazing. Why? Because Ackermann got his own signature style. And that’s it. Digging in the masculine style, he creates elegant, distinctive collections for his clients that love his fashion. The recent collection is just that- very masculine, but at the same time full of feminine cuts. Tweeds worn over wool, maxi grey dresses verses long Saville Row coats… Haider’s AW14 had some opposing elements- but it all works out in the best way. Nothing to add nor subtract. That’s why it’s my favourite Parisian collection for fall to date.

Manga. Yohji Yamamoto AW14

March 1, 2014March 1, 2014 | Design & Culture by Ed

I am really into Yohji Yamamoto this season. His menswear for fall got me high (all these fantastic coats are on my wishlist!) and now this collection for women… Hypnotic manga fantasies come alive in voluminous cocoon coats and decorated leather, like by magic! Yohji, known for using only black in his collections, said backstage, that many people told, him that he uses too much of black… So he made it again, in his own way- black, huge, huge coats worn with colourful hats; then, again these coats, but with hand-painted yellow roses on! Some kind of eyes, mouths, toys, monsters came across. Acid coloured trolls and one-eyed demons became part of a hypnotic Japanese manga print that adorned enormous goose down padded coats. While hand painted illustrations of astronauts and leopards decorated leather coats. And then, the ‘hair’ was crafted from coloured wool into extreme shapes, like abstract paintings. Each model was marked with black paint around their eyes, like fantasy warriors. That show got really something in it… Maybe because we came to Yamamoto’s genius once again?