The young Belgian designer Marie Adam-Leenaerdt is working her way through the building blocks of a woman’s wardrobe. Her season-one collection was devoted to “office wear” and her second to “holiday clothes.” The show she put on today was devoted to the skirt. If a quick glance at these photos suggests otherwise, that’s because Adam-Leenaerdt … Read more
Amidst the milling crowd popping canapes around Loro Piana’s static and featureless mannequins, this presentation contained a jewel. Two gloved custodians stood by a table on which rested this fabric-founded house’s first-ever sample book, from the spring/summer 1926 season. A double breasted suit in the atrium of Loro Piana’s presentation space (just next to the … Read more
Amidst the milling crowd popping canapes around Loro Piana’s static and featureless mannequins, this presentation contained a jewel. Two gloved custodians stood by a table on which rested this fabric-founded house’s first-ever sample book, from the spring/summer 1926 season. A double breasted suit in the atrium of Loro Piana’s presentation space (just next to the … Read more
Norbert Stumpfl held Brioni’s first-ever exclusively womenswear presentation at the 1945-founded house’s Milan showroom, just one door down from that of its Kering cousin Balenciaga. Unlike traditional Italo-luxe heritage peers such as Loro Piana or Zegna, Brioni’s origins are rooted in tailoring and construction rather than fabrics and materials. And unlike its raucously rebellious Parisian … Read more
Bottega Veneta was the show of Milan Fashion Week for me. Backstage Matthieu Blazy said he wanted to “make a monument of the everyday.” It’s such a great soundbite, a six-word exegesis of the job of high fashion—to make things that we can simultaneously aspire to and live in. Blazy was focused on silhouette first … Read more
In this “winter of our discontent” many designers are pulling back from fantasy in favor of the pragmatic. Antonio Tarabini isn’t one of them. After designing for others for decades, during the pandemic he went solo, working with jersey to create non-gendered pieces that are modern in their body consciousness and also have a connection … Read more
In the 20 years since Marchesa was founded by two Brits abroad, Georgina Chapman and Keren Craig (the latter has since exited), the company has become an if-you-can-make-it-here New York success story with multiple lines (Notte, Rosa, bridal), which iterate on the themes of the main Marchesa offering. For fall the theme was nominally Shakespearean. … Read more
Serbian-born DuÅ¡an Paunovic is one of fashionâs best kept secrets, a rare under-the-radar bird that has so far shied away from publicity on social media and elsewhere, is indifferent to catwalks, hates logos, and has been discreetly sending out his eponymous collections for 25 years from a studio in Milan located in a chic modernist … Read more
As he always approached his own designs in the past, Arthur Arbesser’s new collection spoke of personal encounters. The designer dedicated his fall outing to an 86-year-old woman he used to be fascinated with as a child. Arbesser enthusiastically recalled rigorously observing Ms. Kaesser outside the windows of her silverware, glasses and custom jewelry shop. … Read more
Organizing and executing a fashion show poses an expensive challenge for independent designers striving to make ends meet. This reality became apparent during London Fashion Week, where brands like Chopova Lowena, Supriya Lele, and Talia Byre chose to forgo the runway this season to navigate their financial constraints. Even seasoned designer Matty Bovan shifted to … Read more
