EUPHORIA By Arturo Obegero

EUPHORIA 

/juːˈfɔːrɪə/ noun a feeling or state of intense excitement and happiness. 

“Euphoria is a tale of seduction, joy, and freedom.” 

Arturo Obegero dreamed of his favourite performance artists, departed German Tanztheater pioneer Pina Bausch and Spanish Flamenco icon Antonio Gades. An imaginary rendezvous that the young Spanish designer orchestrated for his spring summer 2022 collection. 

“I grew up admiring Pina Bausch and Antonio Gades. Their rigour, artistry, and sensuality have always inspired me, and I wish they will meet in another life.” 

In times of crisis, human beings exhibit resilience and always manage to swim back up to the surface. Obegero, who launched his eponymous brand in April of 2020 as the COVID-19 pandemic took a toll on the world, sought to find the light at the end of the tunnel. In that regard, EUPHORIA is an expression of the designer’s hopes for the future. It is a celebration of life. “

After the pandemic, I want people to feel empowered and free. I want everyone to party with their family, friends, and lovers. Euphoria is about togetherness and happiness.” 

EUPHORIA transports you from day to night, from the office to the soirée. 

The Dandy triumvirate, in oxblood, is composed of a floor-sweeping robe, interior belted trousers, and boxer shorts. 

Obegero’s appreciation of tailoring is once more exalted and reaches its peak in the form of the Don Juan 100% virgin wool three-piece pinstripe suit. 

The black Querelle waistcoats, whether in technical jersey or sequins, exude the sort of classic elegance for which the designer is known. The style’s deep, round neckline oozes sensuality. 

The scarlet and black Principe top, a hybrid of a waistcoat and a Grecian-inspired drape, is a perfect representative of the brand’s sartorial ethos. Structure and fluidity. Masculine and feminine. Day and night.

The Christian jacket, in black crepe, is a weapon of mass seduction. It suggests the act of undressing oneself, revealing enough skin to entice while remaining appropriate. 

The Mikhail top, a black, backless, sequined number, was designed keeping in mind those who are not frightened to shine until sunrise. 

The collection also features Arturo Obegero’s Signature garments from the Palmira permanent collection, with new iterations of the Pedro shirt and Gades trousers, drenched in sequins. 

Obegero’s love for haute couture and craftsmanship materialises as the black mousseline Noche top, which came to being following over 60 hours of handwork. 

The dramatic Ross sequined gown is an updated and upgraded version of the Carmen dress from ACADEMIA. Its purple hue is a clin d’oeil to a dress from one of the designer’s favourite Pina Bausch performances. It was inspired by Russian-born French artist Romain de Tirtoff, otherwise known as Erté, the father of the Art Deco movement. 

Arturo Obegero continues to develop and improve the brand’s sustainability practice, especially upcycling. The Pedrero harness – inspired by 1920s cabaret costume – and the Pedrero sleeveless top are made with sea glass collected on the beach by children living in the designer’s hometown of Tapia de Casariego. 

“I used to collect sea glass when I was younger. I asked the children of my hometown to collect and send them to me so I could turn them into showpieces. I find it rather poetic that the pollution we create, by throwing bottles to the ocean, is returned to us as the most beautiful gems.”

ATO Designs and Arturo Obegero collaborated on writing and designing the campaign video by creating an evolving 24 hours in a dance studio alternating between minimalism and dramatic theatrical effects. 

ATO is a creative studio that blends art, innovation and design. The studio has produced unique large scale events, art installations and concepts for cultural institutions, major fashion brands and world-renowned artists. 

ATO Designs reached out to MADO XR and their ground-breaking technology in order to produce the video. 

MADO XR studio is an extended reality and virtual production start-up based in Paris. It delivers video, photo, and interactive content for international fashion houses, emerging and established artists, and cyber-game industry professionals. MADO XR operates France’s largest XR studio and is now regarded as a leading European expert in virtual production. 

The video will be revealed at Palais de Tokyo in an organic velvet landscape set, designed by ATO Designs. 

Creative Direction & Fashion Design | Arturo Obegero @arturoobegero @a.obegero 

Film 

Direction | @Marcipponderonda 

Music | @Kiddysmile @JeremChatelain 

Movement Direction | @Nicolashuchard 

Artistic Direction & Production | @Atodesigns 

1st Ad | @Carolinelefrere 

Visuals & Xr Production | @Mado.Xr 

Cinematography | @Hugovalentine 

Lights | @Bellocherom1 

Technical Partners | @Prg_France @Arrifrance @Tsf.Fr 

Edit | @E.G_Awakening 

Talents @Brinal_Shetty @Sha5di @Iamisaactaylor @Zino_Cobain @Ruthikondo @Hotline_Intl @Mengyume 

Beauty 

Makeup | @Hicham_Ababsa 

Nails @Loradesousa 

Hair | @Andrea_I_Hair 

Collection 

Assistant | @Giovannipacienza 

Embroidery | @Tmthibault 

Sea glass | @Alvaromartinez @Compagnieduverre 

Shoes | @Buanneofficial 

Press | Alexis Djouahra @ Totem Fashion Special 

Thanks | @Covaobegero @Pedrin_Mendez @Modistaenparis @Rccr.do @Hybra

Hermès’s Optimistic S/S'22 Men’s Show

Hermès is back on the runway

You only needed to watch the Hermès live stream to see how grateful fashion’s show-goers are to be back in action this weekend in Paris. There we were, some hundred of us, gathered outside in the courtyard of Mobilier National, gleefully watching a fashion show in the pouring rain. For all the spectacular films we’ve seen during the pandemic period – Hermès’s productions very much included – no digital or cinematic experience could replace the feeling of a live fashion show: the atmosphere, the excitement, the music, the movement. And so, we put on the complimentary ponchos provided by the entrance and let it rain.

Véronique Nichanian called it “a new elegance”

In a way, the weather gods couldn’t have planned it better. Underpinned by the collective memory of what we’ve been through, Véronique Nichanian’s collection was characterised by an unquestionable optimism expressed in super light, super bright and super easy-going garments that had a sense of drive to them. Sure, they were walking through the rain, but with an optimism and determination that was so infectious. “After Covid, I think we’ll find a new way to dress. We’ll rediscover the way to dress seductively and smartly, but in the same way, keeping the comfort and feeling of new materials. I think we’re inventing a new elegance,” she said after the show.

It was post-pandemic appropriate

Throughout lockdown, the collections Nichanian has presented digitally have made a lot of sense. As we’ve been grounded by the pandemic, the virtues of permanence, timelessness and quality embodied by Hermès echo the shift of values many have experienced during this momentous moment in time. Now, as things are looking up and we’re sensing a return to normality, the kind of clothes Nichanian creates feel more appropriate than ever. From the subtle charm of her print silk tops to the sharp ease of a roomy technical trouser, the collection hit a balance between restraint and exuberance that seemed just right. Add to that the gift of reversible two-in-one garments like Nichanian’s parkas, and your conscious post-pandemic shopping awareness couldn’t ask for more.

The set was created by Cyril Teste

Like Nichanian’s digital presentations, this one – which you might call phygital – was created in collaboration with the theatre director Cyril Teste, who fitted the courtyard of the Mobilier National with a triangular platform framed by screens, adjacent to the live audience. Honouring the live-streamed aspect of the show (which still counts for the vast majority of guests) the massive screens broadcast every angle the models were shot from while walking, effectively creating an outdoor, digital house of mirrors that felt very arresting. “It’s a runway installation,” Nichanian explained, beaming. “I just feel so happy to meet people again, and have a runway again.”

Nichanian believes in optimistic dressing

Asked if she believes in the power of optimistic dressing, Nichanian didn’t hesitate. “Yes, of course!” She gestured at the poncho-clad crowd of show-goers around her: “I’m with optimistic people right here, in the rain!” To her guests, the feeling was mutual. It can be hard to put the emotional aspect of a live fashion show into words, especially for a brand like Hermès, which doesn’t try to push your emotional buttons with grandiose productions or sentimental soundtracks. But while Nichanian’s aren’t the type of shows that make people cry, there’s something so special about the Hermès show. A fashion institution embodied by a physical experience, it’s a seasonal tradition we wouldn’t miss for the world.

Paul Smith’s Outdoorsy S/S'22 Men’s Show

Sir Paul Smith paid homage to the great outdoors and his personal memories of spending summers in Tuscany for his spring/summer 2022 menswear collection. Set against the backdrop of a zingy terrazzo-tiled catwalk – the citrusy hue of which matched some of the garments – the designer’s showcase was awash with post-lockdown staples.

The collection paid tribute to Tuscany

For 30 years, Paul Smith has spent his summers in a terracotta farm house surrounded by trees in a Tuscan countryside pocket known to locals as the Secret Valley. Last year marked the first time he hasn’t been able to visit. His hankering for his summertime sanctuary was evident in his spring/summer 2022 men’s collection – the second since Sir Paul decided to give his brand a cool, contemporary makeover – which romanticised his memories of those summers in urban summer silhouettes painted in colours and photos of Tuscany. “The citrus, the dawn-to-dusk, that lovely sharpness of the sun in the early morning,” he said on a phone call, waxing lyrical. “The terracotta colour of my house, the blue of the Tuscan sky. It’s all rather poetic… but to part from that, the clothes are so great! Easy to wear.”

It was a post-lockdown wardrobe

The physical invitation to the digital show gave away the overall motif: Smith sent out a camper’s survival kit which included a flask, coffee apparatus, and a torch. “I’m pretending we’re free again,” he said with a sigh, referring to the semi-lockdown that never seems to end. “It’s loosely based on being outdoors. I was hoping it would be true by the time the collection came out.” Smith, who used to go camping in Yorkshire’s Malham Cove in his early twenties, riffed on the codes of outdoor staples, turning them into the tailoring he’s recently given a more youthful, roomier and street-smart cut. “The man I swim with is a huge fisherman, so I have all these conversations pretending I know what he’s talking about,” Smith quipped, pointing to a jacket informed by fishing.

It was based on outdoor uniforms

Garments drew on the technicalities of outdoor pursuits, elevating – and, by proxy, obscuring – them into new manifestations. A parka lifted the zigzag stitching of sails and the rope of mountaineering, and transformed them into the properties of streetwear. A half-and-half jacket combined a transparent nylon top with a linen bottom. A coat and a pair of shorts in parachute nylon were dyed with a colour technique that looked like tie dye, merging Smith’s expert area of prints with something that felt like rave. The shoes used in rock climbing inspired his new – and quite strong – proposal for the trainer market. Throughout, he injected the collection with motifs from Tuscany: his own photos of clouds and sunflowers, which had been Andy Warhol-ed into trippy colour effects, so things never felt like a postcard collection.

There were shout-outs to cycling

Sir Paul may not be a fisherman, but he is an adept cyclist. He paid tribute to his lifelong sport of choice in cycling tops created like real cycling jerseys and printed with his photographs. He said he’d simply style them under a four-patch-pocket suit. “When I’m in Tuscany, cycling is what I do most days. I’ve got Bradley Wiggins’s old bike that he gave me years ago, so I cycle out in Tuscany. There are quite a lot of professional cyclists near Lucca, and when I’m out in my ordinary white T-shirt and shorts and trainers, and they come flashing by me, I’m so relieved that I’m not head-to-toe in real cycling clothes,” he laughed.

Paul Smith collaborated with Porter

The collection featured a bag collaboration with Porter, the Japanese cult label from the 1960s, which interpreted the Paul Smith stripe on some of its most familiar shapes. “One of the reasons I have been so successful in Japan is because, in the early ’80s, I became very good friends with the son of the Yoshida family, who owns Porter,” Smith explained. “When I went to Japan he was really helpful in introducing me to people, so I was very fortunate to get right into the heart of young Japan in 1982.” For Sir Paul, it wasn’t just a collaboration but a love letter to a place, which, like Tuscany, is close to his heart. “I’ve been to Japan over a hundred times, and last year I couldn’t go at all. I was bereaved. I’ve missed three trips. I’m very affectionate about Japan.”

Travis Scott Celebrates His Dior Collab In Slick Style

What happens when two prolific collaborators – like rapper and founder of the chameleonic label Cactus Jack, Travis Scott, and designer Kim Jones – decide to link up? If the immediate response to their Dior Mens collection is anything to go by, sartorial heaven.

Debuting at Paris Men’s Fashion Week, Dior’s spring 2022 menswear show represented the first-ever full collection for the house created with a musician. While featuring plenty of Kim Jones’s staples – innovative tailoring, palpably luxurious textiles, and offbeat jewellery accents – it also carefully merged these codes with Scott’s distinctive sartorial tastes. Namely, a flared trouser, an illustrated detail, and of course, his signature, gently scrawling handwritten font. The classic Dior oblique pattern even came with the word “Jack” in place of the French founder’s surname.

Neither Jones nor Scott is a stranger to high-profile collaborations. With his Cactus Jack brand, Scott has collaborated with the likes of Nike, Playstation, and Dover Street Market. Throughout his tenure at Dior, Jones has teamed up with an eclectic line-up of artists including Hajime Sorayama, Daniel Arsham, and KAWS. It’s this weird (and most often wonderful) creative alchemy that has made Dior Men one of the most exciting brands in the world right now – and an obvious partner for a musician as agenda-setting as Scott.

For his biggest runway outing yet, however, Scott went for one of the more subdued looks from the collection. In lieu of the acid greens, crisp whites, and powdery pinks that cycled throughout the show, he opted for a black double-breasted suit that was perfectly nipped at the waist to form a defined silhouette. The final touch? A pair of chunky sneakers straight off the runway. A fiery look, perhaps. Then again, they don’t call Travis Scott “La Flame” for nothing.

Burberry CEO Marco Gobbetti Steps Down To Join Ferragamo

Burberry's Marco Gobbetti is leaving the British fashion house to take the reins at rival label Salvatore Ferragamo after spending almost five years as its CEO.

Burberry said that Gobbetti’s departure and new role would enable him “to return to Italy and be closer to his family” in a June 28 statement. It was separately announced by Ferragamo that he would be joining the label as its general director and CEO.

Gobbetti was first tapped by Burberry in 2017 to succeed Christopher Bailey, having previously achieved strong profits at the French label Celine. At Burberry, he managed a general overhaul of the brand’s finances and was behind the transformative hiring of creative director Riccardo Tisci in 2018, who was also a successor of Bailey. Tisci’s most recent collection of menswear for SS 22 was applauded for its elegant deconstruction and unconventionality.

“With Burberry re-energised and firmly set on a path to strong growth, I feel that now is the right time for me to step down,” Gobbetti said in the statement. He also said that he was “fully committed to supporting them through the transition” and is expected to stay on until the end of the year to fulfill his contract with the company. In the meantime, a search for a new CEO is underway, Burberry said.

Visionary New Designer Paolo Carzana Conjures A Magical World During London Fashion Week

After a year of lockdown, a youthful, astonishing wave of creative resilience is flowing back to meet the world. Today’s revelation was the 18 tender, visionary looks Paolo Carzana hand made, completely alone, in his studio in Cardiff, Wales, along with a film and a show he shot on his phone. “It’s really me creating what I don’t see,” he said. “Characters I imagine walking around protecting me.”

Carzana’s realm—Another World, he calls it—is a conjuring of spiritual healing, romantic, analog fantasy and a rootedness in craft, nature, and the hinterland of Welsh fairy mythologies: “I wanted to do things that have a delicate and fragile relation to the body,” he said. “It’s the idea that there’s an alternative way to do things, and an alternative world to exist in against the rise of fake, false, curated online reality and purposeless actions. Even though the country and the world is divided,” he said. “I wanted to show that we, who share the same beliefs, can be the antidote.”

Emerging at the end of the rollercoaster of anxiety and fear that has hit all students and graduates forced home during the pandemic, Carzana’s highly original visualization of a completely self-imagined speculative place of solace—hand-sewn exclusively with materials he’d collected and dyed with natural pigments—is a debut that places him as an isolated leader-hero of Gen Z’s fiercely sensitive values. Not to mention, a wonder to the fashion world at large.

Insider eyes have been on Carzana’s outlier talent—in ways that are bound to draw comparisons to Alexander McQueen or John Galliano in their student days—since he graduated from Westminster University with a BA in 2018, with a vastly dramatic, entirely vegan and organically-sourced collection, “The Boy You Stole.” After winning an MA scholarship to Central Saint Martins from Kering and the BFC on the strength of his quietly messianic dedication to inventing sustainable practices, he graduated in 2020. Then, like his peers the world over, he suddenly found himself back at home, thrown on his own resources.

Now, Carzana is part of this London Fashion Week’s digital showcase—but equally he’s living proof of the new-generation reality that not everything needs to happen in London, or within any fashion capital, for that matter. On a Zoom call from the low-rent studio he’s found on Cardiff’s docks—themselves a site of regional post-industrial regeneration—he explained, “I identify as Welsh, not British, through my mother’s family. I was born here in Cardiff, and it’s almost full circle. I found out that my grandpa did his apprenticeship in this building years ago.” He shot his collection in the Cardiff Coal Exchange, transforming models from a new local agency into “changelings from a fantasy world.”

From their fairy bonnets to their fabric ghillie slippers, everything was twisted and sculpted from bamboo silk, organic cotton, pineapple leather and antique Welsh tapestry blankets and quilts; materials saved up from Carzana’s years in school. Instead of zippers and buttons, he devised delicate systems of ribbons and knots for wearers to tie on trousers, underwear, dresses and jackets. “It’s very much molded around the body,” he said. A series of diaphanous “open heart” shirts, stretched to expose the chest, spoke of vulnerability—and seem likely to be an instant signature hit item. “I don’t want it to be, like, sexualized,” he said. “But it's an alternative way of feeling; feeling you’re in control of the garment.”

Carzana gestured behind him to the stove with the industrial pans in which he mixed up the natural dyes he’s been experimenting with since he was at Westminster. He used madder root, raspberries and strawberries to dye things pink to deep red; turmeric to make his greens and yellow-golds; logwood and lavender to turn things shades of purple. Infusions of lavender and rose oil, holy basil and witch hazel added elements he hopes will transfer healing properties. “It’s come from being vegan and eating organic, and wanting to do everything right,” he said. “I’ve been reading a book that has hundreds of medicinal plants, just going through and looking at things which have been used for centuries.”

Through the dark times, something incredible is emerging: a reformation, a regeneration from the hands of the youngest. Paolo Carzana represents that struggle into the light. “I really wanted to symbolize and have a memory book of this moment of just being on my own, and always be able to remember this period,” he said. “And trying to make a beautiful memory of it.”

Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello Teams Up With Electronic Musician SebastiAn For An Exclusive Runway Music Vinyl Set

Music and fashion have always gone hand-in-hand, and Saint Laurent is highlighting this partnership through an exclusive vinyl record collection. Saint Laurent Rive Droite stores will be launching a boxset of 12 vinyls featuring the original musical stylings of French DJ and electronic music icon SebastiAn used in Saint Laurent shows.

The collection, named “FREQUENCIES,” was crafted in collaboration with Saint Laurent Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello for the luxury house’s fashion shows since 2017.

The collection spans shows from “Saint Laurent Women’s Spring Summer 17” to “Saint Laurent Women’s Summer 21” and is available in limited quantities exclusively at Saint Laurent Rive Droite Paris, Los Angeles and YSL.com. The soundtracks will be also on Spotify, Deezer and Apple Music from July 1st.

The two creative minds speak to HYPEBEAST about how this collaboration came to be and what inspires their artistic visions.

HYPEBEAST: How did you two come to work together?

Anthony Vaccarello: We were introduced by a common friend of us. SebastiAn was working on Charlotte’s new album. I had heard an extract completely illegally. And I loved what I heard. I knew his previous album. I like its poetic violence. Everything is very nervous, sharp but never inaudible.

SebastiAn: I was finishing the last Charlotte Gainsbourg album in New York at this time. And Nathalie Canguilhem (the A.D. of Charlotte and Anthony) proposed me to get in touch with Anthony, to see what interesting could happen on a show if we work together as a start. And it finally totally matched, something was working between the universe of Anthony and mine. We never stoped working together since this time.

Anthony, how would you define the role of SebastiAn’s music in your fashion shows? How does he participate in your vision?

AV: It is crucial. In a show music is part of it. It’s not just clothes on a girl. With SebastiAn, we really want to reach people, with the constraint that a fashion show is very short. The impact should be direct and immediate. We discuss ideas way in advance and we finalize it only few days or hours before the show as it should be relevant and perfectly in line with the evolution of it.

SebastiAn, how did you approach this new exercise?

S: The process is quite close to movie scores, but very concentrated. What was new to me is the timing to create the all music of the show. Around 3 or 4 days to create and finalizing everything. It looks rough, but in a strange way it was especially the thing that I liked in the exercise. Not having the time to think about anything else is quite good for the music. Straight from the brain to the emotion.

How is this different from building a “classic” mix?

S: It’s a very short time to create all the music, and I like the fact that it is going so fast that you almost discovering the music you just made at the same time the audience do. Cause I usually give the last version of the show not even an hour before it starts. It even happened that everything changed 10 minutes before the start of show. And I like this energy. In this process, the brain is kind of the an enemy for the music, you have to let the things happen and just « make », not analyzing. It’s a nice feeling and an interesting way to work to me.

What do you think is good fashion show music? Conversely, what would totally fail?

AV: A good fashion show music should remark the idea of ​​the collection. Music can be uncomfortable, but it must be able to reach the audience. A failed show music… I have no idea. I haven’t experienced it yet!

S: It’s not just about showing the clothes, but to create the frame where its live. It’s working if the music and the creations are in harmony. When everything makes one coherent universe. Conversely, it doesn’t work if you feel that the music is just here to be « the music of the show ». You have to remember the all experience.

Can you explain your creative process?

AV: It’s starting from obsessions. Love on the Beat, Lemon Incest … There is something in Serge’s 80’s beat that always sticks very well to what I do. SebastiAn makes me listen to compositions he creates from the words I give him, which are almost always the same. I appreciate his creativity all the more! We listen, we comment, we add instruments, we dissect everything, we mix. Usually, when I get goosebumps during rehearsals, we’re good!

SebastiAn, how do you musically interpret the fabrics? Is it the leather? Vinyl?

S: The thing is not to interpret literally the texture of the clothes, but the world where the people are wearing it. You have to design the feelings of what you see, to design the feelings of your own projections

Do you also take into account what “Saint Laurent” could be in the musical imagination?

S: Saint Laurent have a strong identity, so even if we experiment lots of different ways to express this identity, it’s important to respect this singularity.
What is the key for a good collaboration? To collaborate well, do you have to keep some distance?

AV: Yes, I think, otherwise we would be too much on the same wavelength. We have to exchange with each other in a certain way. This allows us to experiment on our own and to take real pleasure in meeting each other. I like this kind of distance, it’s enriching.

Do you have any musical influences in common?

AV: I think we definitely have Serge Gainsbourg in common but not only. We never talked about it. We have above all in common a controlled violence, sometimes cinematographic. Music is very important to me – much more, I would say, than a pair of shoes. The music stays.

What were the groups or movements that stood out for you?

AV: The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed and Bowie. It may obvious but they remain my reference. With lots of bad 90’s or 2000’s to make it even more personal!

You Can Now Buy Halston Pieces Inspired By The Netflix Show

If you binge-watched the entirety of Halston on Netflix and immediately felt that your closet would be incomplete without Elsa Peretti's tie-dyed caftan or a draped jersey gown of your own, you're not alone. The Netflix series has sparked digital conversation around the Halston brand, particularly amongst fashion lovers in younger generations who didn't live through the first wave of Halston hype to experience the cultural effects first-hand. After all, this was many viewers' first introduction to the history and impact that Halston had on American fashion. According to Halston president Andrea Scoli, "the series is shedding light for Millennials and younger people on what Halston’s contribution to fashion was." The brand has since expressed interest in dressing some Met Gala attendees in wake of their new revival and considering how young this year's Met Gala co-chairs collectively are, though they currently have no plans to show at Fashion Week.

This new wave of Halston fever is directly reflected in the brand's numbers. According to data from the brand, sales are up 631 percent year-over-year and website traffic us up 3,200 percent, mainly from organic search. This massive influx of momentum is thanks to Netflix's wide-reaching audience and the popularity of the Halston series that has created a renewed interest in the brand. The Halston Instagram account saw a 28.7 percent increase in their following, and according to Women's Wear Daily, Tiffany & Co. has also reported a huge explosion of interest in jewelry that is designed by Elsa Peretti who is prominently featured in the Netflix series as one of Halson's earliest muses.

Halston and Netflix recently announced a capsule collection that debuted on June 7, and though the collaboration was not something either brand had initially planned for, it is certainly not to be dismissed as an asset to the brand and a way to continue the momentum of the show. The collection boasts caftans and lurex gowns, named after Halston muses like Elsa and Liza, in flowing batik prints and sumptuous fabrics that the designer was known for utilizing. 

Though Halston passed away in 1990 in San Francisco, Halston chief creative director Robert Rodriguez has taken up the helm with modernizing archival designs to feel authentic to the brand. Creative inspiration was taken from various collections that featured iconic Halston motifs like the batik print and jersey ruched dresses to create recognizable pieces for both the long-time and the new Halston fan. The capsule collection is 40 percent sold through and can be shopped on the Halston website. The collection will also be available for purchase at Saks 5th Avenue and Neiman Marcus stores in August.

The Real Story Behind Netflix’s ‘Halston’

Viewers who have lamented the lack of a fabulously chic, binge-worthy new series in the wake of 2020’s The Queen's Gambit have a box-fresh hit to look forward to this spring. Halston – a five-part Netflix biopic from Ryan Murphy – lands on 14 May, spilling the larger-than-life story of Roy Halston Frowick (known mononymously as ‘Halston’, the man who changed American fashion forever) onto our small screens. Ewan McGregor plays the title role, flanked by ‘Halstonettes’ Krysta Rodriguez (as Liza Minnelli) and Rebecca Dayan (Elsa Peretti). If you haven’t already watched the throbbing trailer, here it is in all of its bedazzling, f-bomb-dropping glory.

“Halston and Liza meet each other, and he just starts draping fabric on her body,” Rodriguez told Vogue, as she toasted the show’s virtual premiere from her New York home this week. “Ewan went through intense training to figure out how the draping process works, and it resulted in the best dress that I’ve ever seen on my body – and it just came out of a single bolt of fabric and a couple pins.”

In real life, Minnelli’s godmother, original multi-hyphenate Kay Thompson, introduced the star to the designer, setting up an appointment at his studio. "We got along instantly, and he became my fashion mate,” Minnelli recalls of that magnetic first encounter. Soon enough, she was joining him at “101” – his 101 East 63rd Street home, which played clubhouse to the city’s creative elite – and Studio 54. Among them, Elizabeth Taylor, Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, Anjelica Huston, Cher and model Pat Cleveland. It was Halston who hosted the infamously decadent white-themed Studio 54 party in honour of Jagger, the one where Minnelli and Jagger were snapped releasing white doves.

The midwestern designer was already a household name by that point. Halston’s talents – originally as a milliner – and his impeccable taste made him a lightning rod for Bergdorf Goodman’s high-society clientele, one of whom would prove particularly influential. As the world watched John F Kennedy take his 1961 presidential oath, his wife Jackie would likewise be anointed global cultural icon status – Halston’s pillbox design syncing with the duck-egg blue coat (by couturier Oleg Cassini). 

The strikingly ‘clean’ look was the tipping point that ushered modernity into the mainstream. But, there’s also something serendipitously Halston about why the designer became a worldwide viral sensation in a pre-internet age. Viewers honed in on the hat’s seemingly intentional dent, an imprint the first lady had made by accident while securing the headpiece during the blustery inauguration ceremony. “Everybody who copied it put a dent in it,” Halston shrugged.

Eight years later, in 1969, he launched his eponymous fashion label that would become the hallmark of the cocaine-dusted Studio 54 era. His bestsellers from the get-go? Hot pants and machine-washable Ultrasuede shirtwaisters that evoked a signature, easygoing luxury. Yet, the relaxed designs belied his ravenous ambition to transform the industry. Halston made no secret of his desire to “dress all of America”, nor of the importance of diversity.

It was through business dealings, however, that the heroic essence of Halston fell into jeopardy. A 1973 transaction saw him lose control of his name, and in 1982 he inked the JCPenney partnership that would appall the fashion establishment, while ironically sketching the blueprint for countless high-end/high-street designer collaborations to come. Away from the boardroom, his impossibly hijinks (read: perennially high) social axis also took its toll, something which Murphy’s high-voltage rendition doesn’t pull any punches on.

This is how costume designer-turned-director Joel Schumacher (St Elmo's Fire, The Lost Boys), played in the show by Rory Culkin, remembered it. “Everyone was doing something creative. And we were all doing drugs. If you managed to survive the ’60s, you realised one day you were just a drug addict and not a peace-loving soul anymore.” Schumacher’s first film credit as costume designer was, by the way, the 1972 adaptation of Joan Didion’s Play It As It Lays, for which Halston generously provided exquisite clothing samples. “He was one of the most loving, kindest friends I’ve ever had,” Schumacher added.

Halston’s life was cut tragically short. He died of AIDS-related complications in ’90, in California, leaving behind a luminous legacy. In just over two decades, he had succeeded in changing the way women felt in clothes and demonstrated the immensely positive influence that a designer can have on our everyday lives. Rather than a cautionary tale of ambition and excess, here’s hoping that Halston pays dues to the mastery and the daring of one of fashion’s greatest visionaries.

At 73, Grace Jones Is Still The Most Fabulous Beauty Icon We Have

It’s hard not to feel delighted while perusing photographs of Grace Jones, who turns 73 today. Born in Jamaica, she quickly rose to prominence in the ’70s as a singer, model and actress, working with everyone from Helmut Newton and Guy Bourdin to Yves Saint Laurent – and famously frequenting Studio 54. With a powerful, disco-led aesthetic – from those wonderfully striking Philip Treacy headpieces to her lurex, sharp-shouldered suits and all manner of shine – she also pioneered a beauty look as fantastical, directional and uniquely her as her ensembles. She is, to put it simply, the epitome of fabulous.

The cheekbones! The eyeshadow! The brows! The hair! Every element of her look is as distinctive as the last, and has paved the way for a number of enduring trends, in both the beauty and fashion worlds. In fact, of her iconic shaved hair, she once said: “It made me look more abstract, less tied to a specific race or sex or tribe. I was Black but not Black; woman, but not woman; American, but Jamaican; African, but science-fiction.” We are truly not worthy.

Vetements Will Introduce A New Fashion Brand In July

Vetements is to unveil a new brand on July 22 — the first step in creating “a new version of what a conglomerate could look like.

“It’s time to dare, to do things that are different,” Guram Gvasalia, cofounder and chief executive officer of Vetements, told WWD in an interview on Friday evening, when the Zurich-based house released a short teaser video in lieu of a new collection during the mostly digital version of Paris Men’s Fashion Week.

The clip, showing flickering scenes of modern cities, high-tech factories and a supermarket checkout interspersed with blooming flowers, ends with a blinking eyeball overlaid with the launch date for a “secret project.”

Gvasalia declined to name the brand, but said the collection would have an aesthetic different from Vetements, be inspired by men’s wear and sartorial codes, but would “speak to all genders.”

It will come under the new Gvasalia Family Foundation, described as a “new experimental laboratory, a multidimensional platform for young talent, which could one day replace traditional conglomerate structures by redefining co-working spaces and co-creating experiences.”

The foundation is to provide mentoring, technical development, production, supply chain, distribution and financial support. “This way the new brands can stay true to their own aesthetic and not be forced to chase market trends, or worse, having to sell their souls to the devils of the industry,” Vetements said in a statement.

Gvasalia first divulged plans to create a platform for young talent in October 2019 when he spoke at the WWD Fashion and Retail CEO Summit, describing a need for the right infrastructure, leverage and know-how that a company like Vetements can provide.

On Friday, he described the new platform as a “shelter for talent” that won’t be “suppressed by a corporate structure.” He also made clear that brands are based on an idea and design concepts, rather than an individual or figurehead.

Additions to the platform in the future might not necessarily be in the fashion sector, Gvasalia said, noting how Vetements recently extended its brand into food by launching a branded burger with Moscow fashion retailer KM20.

Separately on Friday, Vetements said it would launch a 2.0 version of its fast-food meal at KM20 in new neon packaging, and start a global expansion with burgers later this year, “with its next stop in South Korea.”

Vetements unveiled a spring 2022 collection online last May that include prints of green computer code that represented the virtual reality environment of the “Matrix” movies.

Founded in 2014, Vetements and its designing cofounder Demna Gvasalia are widely credited with sparking the streetwear trend in fashion. Demna Gvasalia stepped down from Vetements in 2019 and is now focused on Balenciaga, where he has been creative director since 2015.

“It’s Making Your Imagination Come To Life”: Travis Scott And Kim Jones On Their Collaborative Dior SS22 Men’s Show

For his return to the runway – with an actual live audience – Kim Jones called upon Travis Scott to collaborate on a Dior men’s collection like no other. A serial collaborator, Jones has often painted his designs in the works of visual artists, but this season marked a different approach to the method. Scott worked with Jones on every element of the collection, from silhouette to motif and surface decoration, imbuing it with the distinct taste and styling touches that have made him a style icon in his own right. 

A conversation between Paris and Texas – where Scott grew up – the collection drew on his memories of the Lone Star State, layering it with Dior’s own history. In 1947, Christian Dior travelled to Texas to show his debut collection to the state’s wealthy clientele. Presented in a cactus garden surrounded by a pink sky, Scott and Jones’s Dior collection suspended itself between the savoir-faire of the maison, and the streetwear community where Scott earned his fashion education. Anders Christian Madsen met the artist and the designer in their Dior atelier.

How did you approach the collection?

Kim Jones: It’s inspired by the way Travis dresses, but also by Dior.

Travis Scott: I’ve known Kim for quite some years now. Towards the middle of last year, he came to me with this idea. We had some hard design sessions for a couple of months. I would draw some graphics and send it to him. We sat down with mad refs, breaking down where we felt like we wanted to take it. We went through the archive of old Dior things. Me, coming in and being able to have those in my hands… (smiles)

What elements inspired you?

TS: Some of the patterns we did were based on the stitching from dresses and suits Dior did when he first came in. Some of the stitching would be flat and some of it would be pushed up like embroidery, so we moved that into suits and jackets and patterns.

KJ: We wanted it to be Dior with Travis’s element on top. Travis has some people working with him and there was this complete conversation going on between the studios, with everyone in different places.

What informed the colours?

TS: If you look at the colour scheme’s origin, it’s where I’m from, which is Houston.

KJ: The pink is the sky over Houston, the green is the cactus, the brown is the soil. That’s one of your favourite colours, brown?

TS: Yeah.

KJ: We added the white and black, which are classic Dior, so bringing the two together.
What are the most important elements in the collection?

KJ: The silhouette of the suit is new for Dior. That, plus the saddle bag, has created two new things for Dior that will live on. The saddle bag will be in the archive in the history of Dior forever, and I think that’s what’s really good.

What makes Travis’s sense of style so unique?

KJ: It’s about taste, isn’t it? Some people have it, some don’t. Luckily you do!

TS: (laughs)

Where does your taste come from?

TS: Maybe, like, my mom? Or movies? John Hughes and Stanley Kubrick are some of my favourite directors. And I love anime.

Do you collect fashion?

TS: Yeah, definitely!

Do you sew?

TS: No, I’m not the best sewer. I tried to sew beads…

KJ: You were on a sewing machine yesterday!

TS: I was just trying to do something quick. Music is always my first love. Maybe I’ll dibble and dabble to put something together quick.

What was it like having access to an atelier like Dior’s?

TS: Working with such a big house, you’re able to make things you can’t do straight off the street. Being able to push some of the ideas and trying to make some of your imagination come to life, it’s kind of crazy.

How did you create the motifs we see on the tops?

TS: They’re imaginary things that kind of pop up in my head, and I draw them by hand. These [jumpers] are knitted by hand, which is so fucking nuts. It’s crazy.

What was it like working together?

KJ: It was very organic. Travis is straight up, and I don’t get hurt if someone doesn’t like something. It’s a job. You might get upset if someone doesn’t understand what you’re doing, but that’s a different thing.

You’ve included a collaboration on shirts with George Condo.

TS: We have three shirts we did with Condo. It’s not specifically for the collection, but for giving back.

KJ: They’re going to go to auction. We’re going to get them framed in Perspex boxes.
Whom will the auctions benefit?

KJ: Travis told me he was starting a foundation for kids to go to Parsons. If we do this with Dior, there’s such a voice around it. If I were going to college now, I wouldn’t be able to afford to do it. It’s so expensive, and in America it’s even more expensive. You come out with a hundred grand of debt before you’re even done.

This is something close to your heart.

KJ: Yeah, a lot of the young designers around me, I always help them out. I believe in it because of Lee McQueen, who didn’t financially help me but supported me. If I see someone good, I will quite happily give them cash to make their collection. Travis is a role model to a generation and it’s exciting to do something unexpected.

TS: I just feel like we need to use our money to help these kids.

How did you create the show set?

TS: From the stage to the music, it was never just about the clothes but about the experience. How you see and hear it, how you see the music.

What feeling would you like to convey with the show?

TS: Have you ever been to utopia?

Walter Van Beirendonck S/S'22 'Neon Shadow'

Walter Van Beirendonck presents the S/S'22 collection, 'Neon Shadow.' Accompanying the film are a series of images capturing the energy of the collection. A master at continually redefining his own vernacular, Van Beirendonck has forged new trends and constructions for years now. This collection continues that tradition. Have a look below at the film and images below, courtesy of Walter Van Beirendonck. Photography by Ronald Stoops.

Saint Laurent Utilizes The Power Of Dance To Reveal Its F/W'21 Collection

Creative director Anthony Vaccarello has revealed Saint Laurent‘s official Fall/Winter 2021 menswear collection, but this time utilizing the drama of dance to convey the looks of the season. In a special video directed by Jean-Paule Goode, dancers are seen performing to Jimmy Forest’s Night Train. The makeup of the song is reminiscent of a marching band soundtrack. The dancers begin the video dancing in line before individually breaking off to show off their moves and their fits. The dancing ensemble adds a dramatic flair to the presentation that further emphasizes the 1980s inspiration for the collection.

This season, Saint Laurent leans into the primary colors. Knit sweaters comprised of checkered, horizontal and vertical stripe patterns are dressed in yellow, red, black and blue hues. The collection emphasizes the bold designs and colors of the shirts while maintaining a sleek and neutral silhouette in its pants and suit tailoring. Accessories including scarves are finished with fringe detailing that draw from the era of 1980s New York street dance and music scene. The French luxury brand is bringing back the slim-cut silhouette as seen in the zip-up leather jacket, straight cut black denim and leather track pants.

Dries Van Noten’s Antwerp-Inspired SS22 Men’s Show

Dries Van Noten’s men’s spring/summer 2022 collection is a feel-good exercise in impulse, whim and positive energy, finds Anders Christian Madsen.

Dries Van Noten is feeling free

Super lightweight 200-gram silk suits, billowing summer shirts and oversized silhouettes to make you move: freedom is in the air and Dries Van Noten is feeling it. “Normally, when you start a collection, you think, ‘What is it going to be about? What are the shapes, what are the dyes?’ And that’s something we’ve learnt now: it doesn’t matter. I just want to make clothes and combine them,” he said on a video call from Antwerp. Within the frames of lightness, his men’s proposal for the post-pandemic summer of ’22 was a feel-good exercise in impulse, whim and positive energy.

The collection celebrated Antwerp

“We were in lockdown number five here in Antwerp when we started,” Van Noten said, recalling how his studio was hankering for a sense of freedom. He asked them to scour the image libraries of their phones for snapshots of Antwerp before the pandemic set in. “Some had taken more postcard pictures of buildings, and some had taken more gritty, dirty pictures of old cafes. It’s all really personal things we collaged together.” Van Noten emblazoned the pictures on shirts along with historical Antwerpian trademarks, from Rubens to Bruegel and an Antwerp city seal from the 1970s.

The film was shot in public

An ode to Antwerp, the collection had to be shot in the city streets, too. Van Noten staged a light-hearted video captured around the everyday locations of Antwerp, showcasing looks on a podium that moved the city. “We shot it in public, so people were watching and commenting. ‘Oh, is that a Rubens I see on that T-shirt? Is it really?’ Some people recognised the images, of course, like the cranes. And some didn’t understand what the guys were wearing at all,” Van Noten laughed. “‘What is this, what is he wearing now? That’s so strange. Why?’ It gave a really positive vibe to the whole thing.”

Van Noten was inspired by his Italian home

Fuelled by the reemergent energy we’re feeling this summer, there was a hyper-summer sensibility to Van Noten’s collection which he excels in: the kind of clothes that make you want to go on holiday. “Building a house in Italy also helps!” he noted, referring to the 17th-century tower “built nearly in the water” that he and his husband, Patrick Vangheluwe, have been renovating since before the pandemic. Done up in the 1920s and ’80s, “we’re trying to take the ’80s vibe a little bit out of it,” Van Noten smiled. “Most of the work is controlled via FaceTime, but we had to go down because it was getting complicated. We’re constructing a new kitchen, which is going to be my new paradise. It’s really fantastic.”

Van Noten still has no runway plans

Since the first lockdown, Van Noten has been optimistic about the change the pandemic might bring to fashion. While he said a shoot like the one he did for this collection is “much crazier” than putting on a runway show, he has no plans of returning to pre-pandemic procedures. Now, he said, fashion should reflect the same freedom that informs his work. “I don’t dream of doing a men’s and a women’s fashion show again every season. I think it would be more fun to do a mixed show one season, a video the next season, an installation the season after that, and then go back to a show. It’s going to be like that, I think.”

Rick Owens On His Anti-Voracious S/S'22 Men’s Show In Venice

On a FaceTime from the Lido, Rick Owens had just finished a rehearsal for his fourth and final show on the Venetian beach, drones hovering above his head and fountains going off in the sea. “People in their cabanas don’t know what the fuck is going on. We just did a music rehearsal and the music is like this aggressive dubstep by Mochipet. It’s bonkers. It’s super loud. And they want their money back,” he said with a smile, adding how he’d gifted each of the cabana holders an engraved keyring as an apology in advance. Owens has been based in his Lido apartment during the pandemic, in close proximity to his Concordia factories, trying to embrace the limitations of the moment.

Now that the world is opening up, he is wary of the gluttony our return to consumer and travel culture might propel. His feelings informed a sensitive men’s collection embodied by softness: Owens’s proposal, both materially and figuratively, for a post-pandemic approach to life and freedom. Voluminous bell-bottoms were paired with open shirts over bare torsos, evoking what Owens called “a Led Zeppelin glamour wanker” energy “that isn’t overly status-seeking”. Big, transparent, billowing silhouettes felt ceremonious and zen. It was a reminder to take things slow, and not throw ourselves into excess and greed just because we can. From his own cabana on the beach, he told Anders Christian Madsen about his hopes for the near future.

What does this show mean to you?

This is our fourth and last show here, and it has been such a positive and beautiful experience. We were able to meet adversity beautifully, head-on, with this quartet of shows in the Lido. We all enjoyed this new way of working together. We learned how to do something beautiful with reduced resources. It was a lesson about humility, which is what this collection is about.

A post-pandemic humility?

In the New York Times they’re talking about “revenge travel”: now that people are going to be “released”, they’re going to throw themselves into consuming even more. The whole point was that we were supposed to learn from this lesson, but I feel like people are going to be even more voracious.

How are you expressing that?

This collection is about embracing hedonism because, of course, I had the chance to embrace all the hedonism I wanted to. I wouldn’t want this generation not to have that, but I feel like I want to be soft: I want people to take care of themselves, and not go too far, and consider responsibility. We can be hedonistic and indulge, but let’s try to keep it soft and nice.

Is it a conscious collection?

I’m not a goody-two-shoes. I’m learning about consciousness and responsibility, too. Remember, this is coming from a 60-year-old perspective. I got to be 30 and satisfy every appetite I had. I don’t think anybody should deprive themselves, it’s just that after all this pent-up energy having been suppressed, having it reversed just seems a tiny bit dangerous. More dangerous than excess is in the first place. I’m a little bit leery.

Do these human desires frustrate you?

No, because then I think, what is the point of life? What is the pursuit of academic knowledge in comparison to the pursuit of being a complete libertine? Why is one better than the other? There is an honesty to the simplicity of just pursuing pleasure that is the point of life. Why take yourself so seriously? Life isn’t that complicated. There are certain fundamental things that make life pretty dumb: we all die, we haven’t figured a way to make our shit not stink; life has some very dumb elements that we can’t avoid. Pleasure-seeking is one of the things we’re supposed to do, so I don’t disapprove. But there’s a balance.

What are the portable smoke machines you’re using in this show?

We have three sizes, and they’re custom fog machines for this collection. One size fits into the pockets of our platforms so you can have a fog machine in the boot. Another is a handheld size that you can carry with you. The other is a big size, kind of like a speaker case that you can also use as a coffee table. Don’t you want a fog machine coffee table?

More than anything. What does fog mean to you?

Fog has become my logo. I use it a lot. It’s a simple, dumb gesture, and I like a simple, dumb gesture. It has ambiguity to it. It stretches all the way from doing poppers in a disco basement in the middle of the night to incense in a church. It brings a sense of magic and mysticism to the occasion, and it’s false. It’s theatre. But that’s good enough. That kind of artifice can be a tool towards religion and group events, it can heighten the sense of wonder and it can elevate a moment. It can be an artificial stimulation but it can actually help get you there. It can alter your mood to… open to your heart to magic. Oh, that’s nice!

Finally, the show features a collaboration with the artist Swampgod, a local artist you’ve befriended on the Lido

Yes, he chops up clothes and puts them back together, and he’s doing that with some of my deadstock, which seems like a good idea. He comes to my factory and works in the corner with his little sewing machine.

So, you’re not the only unicorn living on the Lido?

No. And I suspect there might be others.

Balenciaga Taps RuPaul For Fierce Merch Collab

In the sassiest news to hit our inboxes this week, Balenciaga announced it has tapped RuPaul Charles for a merch and music collab. Not only has the world’s most legendary drag queen curated an Apple Music playlist for the house, Mama Ru has lent her personal signature to the line of limited-edition Balenciaga X RuPaul caps, tees and hoodies. Featuring spray-stencil lettering, the DIY-effect clothing looks like fancy tour merch (prices start from £350), and will be perfect for fashion queens to wear in the Drag Race workroom.

To model the Balenciaga merch, RuPaul enlisted club night icon Susanne Bartsch. While Ru swaps Zaldy’s famous gowns for fishnets, hot pants and a signed tee, Bartsch captures a more conceptual way of how to wear the collection. The playlist itself is less art school and more downright joyful. From Abba (“Voulez-Vous”, obvs) to remixes of Mariah Carey and Lady Gaga, plus multiple bangers from Nicki Minaj, Beyoncé and Rihanna, listening to it is like being at a Ru-Bartsch fusion club night.

Demna Gvasalia’s own playlist is more Radiohead than RiRi, but certainly no less punchy. Who doesn’t want to rediscover obscure Nick Cave and The Cure songs? Balenciaga X Apple Music might be the unlikely collab we never knew we needed, but anything that puts drag into the main cultural arena is more than OK with us.

Victoria Beckham’s Bold Shake-Up Of Her Brand Signals A New Era For The Designer

Victoria Beckham’s pre-spring 2022 collection marks a “rebirth” of her fashion brand. It’s how she refers to this week’s decision to merge her main luxury line, Victoria Beckham, with her more accessible diffusion line, Victoria, Victoria Beckham. In the process, the designer is cutting the new brand’s price tags by some 40 per cent compared to her historical main line prices, making her clothes more affordable to those who have limited their VB desires to window shopping in the past. 

The bold move heralds a new era for Beckham, whose pre-collection – the first as part of the rebirth – embodies her ongoing commitment to quality and the fashion-forward character that defines her. Albeit, she says, with a new focus on ease. Beckham and her company’s CEO, Marie LeBlanc de Reynies, spoke to Anders Christian Madsen about their season of change.

Tell me about this “rebirth”

Victoria Beckham: What we’ve decided to do post-pandemic is to take Victoria Beckham and Victoria, Victoria Beckham and merge the two into one cohesive brand. It will bring our average price point down from over £900 to £550 without compromising the desirability, quality, and ready-to-wear aesthetic.

What brought this on?

VB: We saw such a huge opportunity and change in the way that people not only want to dress, but shop. We saw a sweet spot with this price point, if you like. It will just mean that we’ll have a more accessible entry price, but we’ll still have the high-end pieces. There’s not a single seam that feels like a compromise, and I’m really excited about it.

Marie LeBlanc de Reynies: We have used this time to look at how the market looks, our brand, and our community. We’ve come to a natural result, which is to bring the VB and VVB brands under a single umbrella, maintaining the elevated, feminine, confident feel of VB, but expanding into ease and proposing a 360-degree luxury, affordable brand to our community.

Is the decision an outcome of the pandemic?

MLBdR: We’ve seen a consistent shift during the pandemic, which is looking into ease, a care to the price point, and also a lifestyle way of buying. We’ve seen a huge opportunity in the market, which is a space for an affordable luxury brand. It’s about having an elevated, chic brand and maintaining our DNA, but providing more functions – more ease – and making sure our consumer can relate to the brand both in terms of use and price point.

VB: I can’t think of anybody who is doing this, to be honest with you. But why should price point compromise desirability and fashion? There’s not one piece in this collection that I haven’t designed with myself in mind, so it doesn’t feel like compromising. It feels like a more modern approach to dressing and shopping.

Luxury has always been so ingrained in your image – “Posh” – but actually, you’ve never shied away from accessible clothes. Everyone thought those little black dresses you used to wear in the ’90s were Gucci, but weren’t they in fact from the high street?

VB: Absolutely. That was a Miss Selfridge dress! It was certainly not as designer as everyone thought it was. When I look at our beauty brand, it is the most luxurious product out there, but at a very affordable price point. When you look at our make-up, you feel like you’re getting the ultimate in luxury, and you are. But at the right price point.

Will people be able to tell a difference when they go to your Dover Street store to try on a dress?

VB: For me, no. It still feels like the aesthetic of the ready-to-wear brand. You still have the strong silhouette; the tailoring. It feels like the same quality. There’s still an element of fun. The colour palette is very on-brand. I don’t think she’ll notice. I think she’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Has the pandemic impacted the way you’ve designed this collection?

VB: During the pandemic, the question on everyone’s lips has been: what do we want to wear when we come out of this? I believe that people want a sense of ease about the way the dress. I use the word “ease” and not “comfort”, because it’s still about a strong fashion message and feeling as considered, just easier and slightly less buttoned-up, if you like.

Why “ease” and not “comfort”?

VB: Because “comfort” makes us think of tracksuit bottoms in lockdown. Don’t get me wrong, we do a lovely tracksuit with Reebok that’s done very well during the pandemic, but I’m talking about ease. People want to dress up, they want to go out. We’ve got lilac sequins with bright pink turtleneck jumpers, but there’s an ease at the same time, which feels like how people will want to dress post-pandemic, in my opinion.

How does this pre-collection embody the rebirth; this new ease?

VB: You can see a good example in the long jersey dresses we’ve created. They feel very elevated, very elegant and desirable, but easy when you wear them. We’ve really been looking at both VVB and Victoria Beckham and understanding what customers want from both categories, like this really beautiful little satin date-night dress that you’ll wear with a man’s tuxedo jacket. I think it’s a different customer, who’ll want this dress. It’s something I’ve been desiring for a long time.

Will your customer be different, then?

VB: I’m pretty sure our existing customer will welcome this collection, but I think there’s a younger customer who’ll come to this collection as well. We saw that with VVB, and it’s something we’ve been wanting to expand on.

MLBdR: VB used to be around a £900 price point, and VVB £300, so it’s about blending those two and making the most of it. It’s not about segmenting those two customers, but about mixing them together.

How have you achieved this more accessible price point?

VB: We’ve been working with different factories but also challenging our mills – challenging the whole team – and that was the right thing for us to do, even if there hadn’t been a pandemic. The pandemic has allowed everybody to reinvent themselves, which is what fashion is about.

How has the pandemic changed your own approach to dressing?

VB: I went to New York a few weeks ago to work with the beauty team, and it was really lovely to consider what I was putting in my suitcase. When we’re working from home, we don’t consider what we’re going to wear the way we do when going on trips. And I have to say, there were certain things I pulled out of my wardrobe that just didn’t feel – in my gut – right. There was nothing wrong with them, but the world is a very different place now. I want more ease, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be a strong look.

How are your personal fashion desires represented in this collection?

VB: I’ll always be inspired by menswear, but there’s definitely something more feminine about this collection, which is what I personally desire. I want to get dressed up, I want to go out, I want to show off my body a little bit more. I want to feel feminine. I don’t think there’s anything wrong in wanting to look desirable for your partner, and that’s what I’m looking forward to. I don’t want to bury myself under clothes like I did a while ago. That’s how I feel coming out of the last 18 months.

2010's Fashion Trends We're Predicting Will Come Back

Even though we’ve only been in the 2020s for less than two years, the 2010’s feel like a long, long time ago. Sure, we haven’t quite reminisced about the colorful skinny jeans and peplum skirts with the same amount of fervor and love that 90’s supermodel street style and Y2K outfits receive (in all of their leather-clad and low-rise glory, respectively) but there’s no denying that this past decade delivered plenty of interesting fashion moments to revisit eventually. Scared? Don’t be! Here are some trends CR predicts will be circling back around…

Bomber Jackets

There were a handful of It-jackets defined casual style in the 2010s - the leather motorcycle jacket, the olive green anorak jacket, and of course, the bomber. The collarless bomber catered to everyone — from those who sought out a protective, grungy second layer to throw over a hoodie to those who preferred lightweight satin bombers with intricately embroidered flowers on the back. We're sure that the street style staple will be back soon, as Dior sent metallic, sheer, and varsity-style bombers down the runway at their Fall/Winter 2021 show in Shanghai.

Hair Feathers

On May 15, 2021, Addison Rae wore a hair feather of the same clip-in variety that used to be widely available for purchase at Claire's stores at most major malls in the 2010s. The TikTok star has over 38 million followers, so naturally what followed her post was an influx of headlines declaring that the hair feather had been brought back. It's important to recognize that there are varied perspectives on whether wearing hair feathers is culturally appropriating Native or "tribal" stereotypes and to educate yourself on whether your usage of the hair feather is respectful — or whether it's better to reach for a headband instead.

Chevron Prints

Chevron, the slightly more respectful cousin of the "Aztec" print, shaped the 2010s. You couldn't walk through a J.Crew or a country club without seeing women wearing chevron maxi dresses and chevron waterfall cardigans as the trendy prints were particularly influential among those who defined their style as preppy, reaching for espadrilles and Kendra Scott jewelry to complete their looks. Missoni is famous for their chevron prints, specifically on knitwear, so if anyone is going to bring back chevron it'll be the Italian fashion house. Their Spring/Summer 2021 collection showcased multi-colored knits, mixing their signature chevron prints with other geometric shapes and squiggles for vacation-ready, maximalist perfection.

Fringe

Fringe clothing is a continuation of the 1970's resurgence that we saw this past year with the sudden craze over the color brown, which went from being fashion's favorite color to hate to joining the ranks of beloved neutrals like white, grey, and black. It's time to reach for another 70's trend that was major in the earlier 2010's thanks to Coachella, so if you're thinking about buying a fringed jacket or robe for your post-quarantine wardrobe, check out @70sbabes on Instagram for inspiration.

Cocktail Rings

Oversized, stackable rings are already back in full force, and a quick Etsy search will lead you to plenty of options to purchase polymer clay, acrylic, nostalgic, and statement rings from small businesses. However, the gothy, metallic cocktail rings that were so popular in the early 2010s were a little more gunmetal-and-goth, so perhaps the next step for colorful 2020s jewelry would be taking a step into more hardcore territory. While we're at it, the bubble statement necklaces (these pieces were typically seen on the necks of preppy, suburban women in neon colors) from that same era could use a revamp — maybe something done by Sandy Liang along the lines of her viral statement rings?

Skater Skirts

The flared skater skirt was a closet staple for the 2010s fashionista who most likely owned it in multiple colors (or at least in white, black, and maroon). This flirty take on an a-line mini will be coming back with a vengeance as the girlier, less athletically-inclined sister of the pleated tennis skirt especially for those who aren't a fan of the Y2K low-rise skirt silhouette. We're looking for interesting fabrics and vintage callbacks, perhaps a reference to the 50's poodle skirt silhouette in a leg-baring length?

Leggings Under Dresses

A divisive trend if we’ve ever seen one, the idea of putting leggings under dresses or even skirts for more coverage is the exact opposite of how we intended to dress for hot girl summer. But when Chanel does something, it's pretty clear that the fashion leader is paving the way for the rest of us to follow — and that's exactly what we're predicting will happen with Virginie Viard's choice to use footless tights under skirts at Chanel's Métiers d’Art 2021 Pre-Fall presentation. Leggings were the pant of choice during the 2010s, so it's only fitting that the way we move away from athleisure and towards post-quarantine fashion moments pays homage to both Chanel and the it-pant from a decade ago.

Hawaiian Shirts

While we're not sure that this vacation-ready staple has ever really gone out of style, the 2010s loved their brightly-colored Hawaiian shirts. A new wave of floral-loving, unapologetically-loud clothing has made its way to the forefront of 2021 summer fashion in the form of the Coconut Girl aesthetic, popularized by TikTok's love for nostalgic fashion and colorful aesthetics. For a fresh take on the Hawaiian shirt, we offer the hibiscus print on dresses, skirts, totes, and more.

Richard Quinn Fall 2021 Ready To Wear

Introducing Cecil B. DeQuinn, the London designer who has made his epic, floral-fetish reentry to fashion via a silver screen extravaganza. Latex gimp-suited cats and dogs, ballerinas and ballgowns, a story that spiralled from a red-light, nightlife London Soho-on-steroids scene through manic Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella-ish twists and turns—it had it all.

“It’s how I imagine a Richard Quinn world, and all the people in it,” he said. “It’s bigger, a lot bigger, than anything we’ve done before. I wanted to take the time to embrace film. It’s like all my sketchbooks I’ve been doing since I was at art school. And it’s an ode to Hollywood Technicolor, which I love.”

If anyone thought that Quinn had gone very quiet during the pandemic—he skipped two digital London fashion seasons—he’s proved them very wrong. True, he was known to be making scrubs for NHS doctors out of his unused florals during Britain’s PPE emergency, and had pivoted to selling flowery pajamas to cheer up those endless lockdown days of working from bed. But it turns out that while mostly everyone else was binge-watching Netflix, Richard Quinn, somewhere under a railway arch in Peckham, was busy binge-designing, binge-embroidering, binge-printing, and binge-fantasizing his own movie into existence.

“Well, it was a real labor of love,” he said. “And it’s something which goes against the grain. I wanted to do something that was really creative, that was not a catwalk show, the usual. Even the really big houses are doing ‘up and down’ the catwalk again. And I thought it was nice to be able to use a dance company [the Dane Bates Collective], to have a creative outlet for them, because theaters have been shut so long.”

All it took was a hundred people on a movie set—sets which were entirely printed by Quinn, including a blue-and-white flower-printed grand piano and three London black cabs printed with psychedelic ’70s daisies. The Lilies Cole and McMenamy and U.K. Drag Race’s favorite star Bimini Bon-Boulash made cameo appearances. “Because I wanted it to be a showcase of what we can do in London, even in a pandemic,” he said.

The clothes? Well, the clothes appeared to be costumes, really, all the recognizable, blown-up Richard Quinn vintage haute couture pastiche shapes “with everything crafted to within an inch of its life,” as he put it. There were embroideries laden with pearls, bugle beads, sequins, and gemstones. A mini bride’s dress and matching groom’s bell-bottomed suit were sewn with gold crucifixes, padded love hearts, and tiny turtledoves. And on top of all that, he showed acres of printed pouf dresses, a whole wedding-turned-disco party packed with guys dancing in flowery suits among ball-gowned women.

Quinn reports that every time he goes to the extreme, “there’s always a lot of women who are drawn to the ‘shebang’ dress. And,” he chuckles, “I’m also drawn to the shebang.” There are private collectors for the heavily embroidered pieces. Since he showed a wedding vignette as the denouement to his fall 2019 show, he says, “we’ve been getting people sending pictures of it, saying they want something like that, at least twice a month, ever since. So that semi-couture business has grown a lot for us.”

Beneath all this, there are also more practical cheery-uppy things that humans can wear this fall: vibrantly printed denim jackets and jeans, and a whole series of ‘après-ski’ own-label Richard Quinn puffers which follow the proven success of his collaboration with Moncler.

But the other point of pulling off this extravaganza of excess is that Quinn is thinking of how he can extend his brand to become a lifestyle proposition. “With all the sets, it’s subliminally implanting the idea that we can be more than just the clothes,” he says. “That we could be homewear, extravagant wallpapers, perfume. It’s showing that if we want to print a grand piano or a taxi, or anything you want, we can.” In the next few weeks, Quinn is launching his direct-to-consumer e-commerce site. “So maybe, if people order in London, we’ll drive it round to your house in a Richard Quinn cab. And one day I want to have a florist service.” Well, full marks for Quinn’s optimism and can-do-ism. At a time when most designers are erring on the side of caution, he’s dreaming larger than ever.

A Collaboration Between La Fille d’O And Sébastien Meunier Succeeds In De-Gendering Lingerie

Lingerie might run to aesthetic extremes—refined to raunchy—but in other ways this area of fashion has been remained static, and not very inclusive. “It is very hard to find size-inclusive lingerie that is also sexy; or for a person of color to find nude undergarments that are actually nude on them. Even within gender, lingerie is heavily marketed towards women, excluding the market of men or anyone who is gender non-conforming,” says Rachel Angell, a recent FIT graduate. Thankfully there are stirrings of change, on levels mass (i.e. the proposed reinvention of Victoria’s Secret) and more niche.

The most ambitious rethinking of intimate apparel I’ve yet seen comes from a collaboration between Sébastien Meunier (ex Martin Margiela and Ann Demeulemeester) and Murielle Victorine Scherre, founder of La fille d’O. It launches this week, during the menswear season, to highlight its focus on gender inclusivity. This line is designed for people, regardless of gender, size, or stage of transition or development, and it’s modeled by clients and friends of La fille d’O who styled themselves in the pieces.

This is not the first time that the two Belgians have worked together, but this is the furthest they’ve ever taken their work together. Early in his career, Meunier was deeply engaged in themes around body transformation and identity, motivated in part, by his personal history. “I was a very, very skinny guy—you would call that a twink today, the term wasn’t existing at that period,” he said on a call. “Very skinny, very fragile, and at that period I was fascinated by muscle guys, they were my gay idols. But I couldn’t have muscles. So I did a collection in red and black leather, shown at Hyères, that included pieces with built in muscles.”

At Ann Demeulemeester Meunier started drawing out femininity in his menswear designs, and the masculine in women’s wear. “It’s important to work to make people free with their own identities; not to choose for them, but to let them play and search for themselves,” he said. “There’s really now a lot of people who are also more ready, and open, and feel more free to do that. I think it’s the right period for that.”

Here, Scherre talks about the construction of the Sébastien Meunier et La fille d’O collection, and shares her thoughts on the state of the lingerie industry and how it needs to change.

What did you want to accomplish with this project?

My job is to make ‘le soutien’—support. As more and more gender non-conforming people were finding their way to my store, I noticed they appreciated our aesthetics, but our fit wasn’t designed with their bodies in mind. Lingerie might be the most gendered item in our wardrobe, and it was time to change that.

Working with Sébastien Meunier on this project allowed us to not only attend to the individual needs of this community, but also uplift the designs beyond just the level of function, [and] into the realms of true luxury and fashion as a personal expression of the self.

Why do you think this is important?

As an intimate apparel brand I find it important to be able to support people during anything life might present to them. A person [can decide] to choose a brand; I find it interesting [that] a brand can also choose for their customer, having products on offer to take care of them. To make this relationship a sustainable one, I don’t want to be the brand you think of only when you need an attire for private occasions, I want to be able to support you when you are nursing your newborn baby, and while you recover from a mastectomy, and when you can experience your body for the first time after a gender affirming procedure. I want to be the brand you can reach for when you are working on a performance and you need the perfect costume for your alter ego. I want to be the brand you turn to when you need to feel at home in every single part of your body.

Why is this product so important now?

[Discussions around gender and identity] might seem like a sign of the times, but let’s not confuse a temporary trend with deep progress. Gender non-conforming people have always been around. We reduced a myriad of gender expressions to a binary of just two. Rightfully so, people will reject the restrictions at some point: The time is now.

Why limit ourselves to a binary life [and] having to choose between a shirt that buttons up left to right or right to left? Why choose forever when we never feel the same for 24 hours straight? It is liberating to put clothes back in the corner where they belong: to serve us.

Currently clothes make us unhappy because they try to reduce us to the 0-1 of gender. Clothes ask us to make choices we shouldn’t make—not on behalf of clothes. Fashion should create space for us and lure us in so we can discover all the ways we want to experience our identity.

Did you need to develop new techniques to accommodate the shapes and sizes you were designing for?

Never, ever have I dived so deep into research, since we are dealing with a combination of elements, like biological sex, gender expression, and gender identity. [At La fille d’O] we are also in the process of expanding our size range so [Sébastien and I] decided to offer the collection from size 1 to size 13. On top of that we decided that most items should be reversible, so they create more styling options, according to the occasion. I also added other elements to the mix, like tops for people deciding to go flat after experiencing breast cancer.

Looking at all these different physical bodies with all their expressions and sizes, I soon started seeing physical similarities within the emotional differences; this is where options live. [This process] was very liberating for me as a person, and as a designer. This research invited me to also look at ‘lingerie’ differently. I had to break down the formula into raw elements if I wanted to make progress. I needed to take the underwire and separate it from the cup, so people can build their own intimate apparel by combining the elements in ways that serve them.

We were also lacking vocabulary. When dealing with gender non-conforming people, we had to take into account possible body dysphoria. As designers we often have to refer to people’s body parts, but in this case that could feel highly uncomfortable to [some people], so we invented the terms ‘flat fit’ and ‘bottom cup.’ A flat fit top has no darts, creating no extra cup depth. We created versions of our classical bra designs with a flat fit, so a person with no breasts can wear them, [and] we had to create bottom cup designs, creating space for a penis or a packer.

Referring to the garment, instead of the possible body parts in them, created a safer space for both my team and our models to explore and develop our designs without constantly mentioning a body that does not always feel like a home to them.

The concept of the layering adds so many options to create personal support. When making the patterns we started from a single module, making sure all hemlines layered perfectly with each other, [enabling the ability to create] full looks. We also offer a choice between sheer and opaque fabrics on most designs, allowing a person to either show or hide certain body parts, as they see fit. All garments either flatten, enhance, or exaggerate body parts, [and as] some of them are reversible, it is possible to either fully block out the chest with a top, or show bare breasts. I’m always in for a challenge when it comes to pattern making.

How do you see the lingerie industry changing? Or is it?

There is always change even if there is none. The context changes, even when the object remains the same. Being in this industry since 2003, it is quite shocking to me how little change it allows. Even in fast fashion the lingerie department remains the same as it was 200 years ago; the quality just gets worse. I don’t understand how we have evolved so much, and how our lives expand in every possible direction, and yet our underwear is the exact same object as it was 200 years ago. That makes no sense.

Ok, some brands now use recycled yarn to make their ancient lingerie designs, but that is some poor progress if you compare it with fashion’s timeline. If you were to draw an outline of the fashionable silhouettes of those past hundreds of years, you’d see a lively animation of waistlines and hemlines and accessories and heel heights, [but] in underwear everything is always the exact same thing as it was before and it drives me mad!

This era has new needs and new clothes, and our lingerie is ever so out of fashion. On top of all that rigidness, I see little to no initiative when it comes to sustainability. Bio Cotton is as fancy as it gets most of the time; or to use a size 40 model and call her size inclusive. We need to urgently step up our lingerie game. It’s 2021 and only now are big brands looking into changing their casting philosophy or considering a more moderate use of Photoshop. That’s not good enough.

How would you like to see the industry change?

Lingerie is the foundation of our look. We need choices. Our bodies are malleable and our lingerie should be too. I want lingerie out of the unmentionables department; I want it liberated from gender. Our clothes should be liberated from department [store] floors where one has to choose between men’s or women’s wear, or lingerie or swimwear. Get yourself briefs that can do, and be, both.

I want intimate apparel to be modeled by people that look like me and all the other people I love. I want to see them as they are, because they are beautiful this way. To hell with Photoshop altering the beauty of humans. And I need all these beautiful garments made by people that are paid like me, and are able to live like me. As in nature, if we can change the fashion industry from the bottom up, we are going to go a very long way.