Ann Demeulemeester

Queen Ann is the last romantic left in fashion. In the 21st Century, she is the one designer who can speak of poetry in her work unselfconsciously. Perhaps this collection was Demeulemeester sensing that our world is becoming increasingly prosaic. Backstage after the show, Demeulemeester said, “I started this collection by imagining a duke. Left in his castle, cut off from the world, what would he wear?” The answer — long black coats, high-waist riding pants, and leather rope belts. The tall young men Demeulemeester sent down the runway were every bit uninvolved, lost in their own thoughts, lost in their own clothes, lost in their own world. These days, Demeulemeester likes to puncture her usual black and white palette with a choice of color. For this show her color of choice was olive-gray, which translated well into the capes and asymmetric, voluminous jackets.

Photography by Julius

Black is the most misunderstood color. In fashion, black has been co-opted by two groups of people: the Balmain-sporting fashionistas who think that chic is a value in itself, and the misguided (by Hot Topic) teenagers who worship Satan and Marilyn Manson in the safety of their suburban homes. But black is not the color of chic or nihilism. For Tatsuro Horikawa, the young Japanese designer behind the cult clothing label Julius, black is the color of depth. It is not there to promote aggression and destruction – the pop version of black – but to display his awareness of the world that is subject to aggressive and destructive forces. And, as unexpected as it might sound, it is also a color of hope. “Black is the color of complete and utter grief,” says Horikawa’s manifesto, “and redemption through atonement.” This view is a kind of existentialism – the idea that we alone are responsible for our fate and carry the full burden of responsibility for our actions, and thus must bear witness to the world’s evil. This view can be easily traced in Horikawa’s uncompromising designs – the oiled leather jackets, heavy jeans with multiple pockets, and drapey, shredded tops. Their purposeful ruin is the reflection of our imperfection. But these clothes are also indestructible, like the human spirit.   
     Horikawa started out as a graphic designer in the late ’90s, forming a Tokyo-based art collective that produced multimedia installations. He considers the clothes to be the project’s extension.

One glance would make you think Los Angeles-based designer Austin Sherbanenko specializes in outfitting metal bands or partying with Andrew W.K. His clothing does indeed carry a strong goth-rock influence; but that flavor, mixed with good old-fashioned skilled design, makes for a mature collection that’s more haute than Hot Topic. Sherbanenko’s brainchild since 2007, Odyn Vovk officially launched with its Spring/Summer 2009 collection. Now with his Spring/Summer 2010 collection, Confined Translation, Sherbanenko is a designer with a solid aesthetic; he knows his audience because he is his audience. This season in particular tells the story “of past events: distant, near, and natural.” Symbolism in the collection includes “dirt-ridden streets, industrial landscapes, and sounds of music.” Odyn Vovk, Ukrianian for “One Wolf”, suggests strength, independence, and resourcefulness. Odyn Vovk’s site states that in “Celtic tradition, Wolf represents learning, loyalty, intuition, and the shadow … cunning, wisdom, searching, dreams, magic, transformation, death, rebirth, and protection.” Sherbanenko chooses black to dominate his collections because the solid color allows design intricacies to shine through. Structure is key, whether it’s the subtle drapery of loose, asymmetrical hoodies or the stronger contour and weight of a leather-sleeved jacket.  The familiar and looser shapes ground the pieces, while classic shapes with minor twists – a zip-up jacket with a collar that could cover half your face, or a dress-length zippered vest – add elements of character, creativity, and construction.

Minimal Dress, perhaps the most aptly-named collection I’ve ever seen, is the creation of conceptual Dutch designer Digna Kosse. Her final project at the Design Academy Eindhoven, Minimal Dress is a commentary on the grouping of clothing collections into seasons that renders fashion obsolete after just a few months. It’s also a two-fold meditation on materialism, with a focus on the actual “material” aspect. A little artistic, a little satirical, the pieces are mere sketches of dresses, a few strands of yarn or string knotted together to draw lines across and down the body. Of course, the average shopper probably wouldn’t wear the pieces as the look book shots depict. For practicality’s sake, the “dresses” might be more apt for an accessory or even a wall decoration. While the dresses are barely there, the presentation seems to avoid sexual provocation. Lisa Klappe’s photos feature the Minimal Dress pieces of women of average build, not vamping it up, just letting the dresses hang on them. 

Ever wanted to own something truly unique? Now you can. No Editions, a new label designed by Christian Niessen and Nicole Lachelle, takes inimitability to a new level. The idea behind their designs is deceptively simple: take high quality garments with basic shapes and put prints on them. No two prints are alike, so you get a one-of-a-kind finished garment with a numbered label. No duplicate will ever be produced, not even in a different size or shape.
     Niessen and Lachelle met in the early 90s while working for the iconic Austrian designer Helmut Lang in Vienna. Several years after Lang was bought by Prada, they decided to strike out on their own, doing technical research for various clothing companies. After that Niessen and Lachelle started producing video installations. The idea for No Editions came out of their desire to translate the transience of the moving image into something less ephemeral. They also did not want to play the fashion game – no catwalk shows, no seasonal collections, and no advertising. “I never bought into the idea of ‘a lifestyle,’” says Niessen. “I don’t care about projecting an image. I want the wearer to make the garment her own.”
     All prints are produced through extensive manipulation of videos. Niessen is fascinated with the amount of information on the Internet and its malleability. For the next round of prints he used websites where one could access public cameras for a short period of time and record raw video footage.

Some time ago, Ann Chapelle, owner and CEO of  BV32, a company that runs Belgian fashion houses Ann Demeulemeester and Haider Ackermann, was pondering the state of the fashion industry. She hardly liked what she saw – a world dominated by marketing and designers diluting their brands by sticking their name on anything from house paint to helicopters. In this world, branding trumped quality, and young designers could hardly develop their own voice.
     To change the status quo Chapelle created a new project, called “…a moment in…” At its core is a platform for creating and distributing clothes and accessories – “… a moment in…” is neither a fashion house subjected to the whims of a star designer, nor is it another uninspired luxury goods manufacturer. Its goal is to introduce different lines of products in limited quantities, concentrating on design and quality. Each line, introduced at six-month intervals and then continuously run, will address different market segments. Each will be created by a young designer, and allow the expression his or her vision. “One of the reasons I wanted to create this project is that there are so many young talented designers who struggle to get on their feet,” Chapelle says. ”This project allows them to apply their skills.” At the same time, each designer will have the support of a team of nine professionals familiar with different aspects of the business, handpicked by Chapelle herself. The first line, women’s knitwear, was launched in March 2009. The heavy wool and cashmere knit pieces are cozy, understated, and luxurious.

When Uncommon Matters debuted its line of couture porcelain accessories, designers Amelie Riech and Jana Patz cheekily complemented the showroom installation with a soundtrack of breaking and clattering porcelain to underscore the fragility of their award-winning designs. The “Handle with Care” collection, as it is called, adeptly merges the idea of traditional crafts and materials taking shape to become an entirely new, modern creation.
     A man’s stiff shirt collar, for instance, becomes the inspiration for a series of platinized neckpieces, creating striking — and reflective — accessories that could perhaps be seen as a variation on the “boyfriend shirt” look. An entirely porcelain necklace, on the other hand, is designed with chain links in mind, and delicately clinks and clanks when in motion. Chunky porcelain bracelets and sleek neck cuffs round out the product line, which has continually graced the pages of many a fashion editorial in 2009.

Sex is a luxury. Or so Coco de Mer, the purveyor of fine erotic objects, insists. As our society keeps loosening up about sex, erotic play becomes acceptable. No longer associated with perversion and thus banished into the sleaziness of the red light districts, sexual play is now a pastime. Like many leisurely activities, it allows room for luxury and good taste. After all, what girl wants to be satisfied with a cheap plastic vibrator bought in a seedy porn store? This is the line of thinking Sam and Justine Roddick, the co-founders of Coco de Mer, took. “One of the thoughts that came out of my involvement in a feminist rights movement,” Sam Roddick says, “was the idea that women deserve a space where they can feel comfortable and not ashamed of their sexuality. That is the type of store I wanted to create.”
     The first Coco de Mer New York store, opening today in Nolita, certainly reflects this manifesto. It is an inviting space with an intimate atmosphere, a boudoir and not a brothel, reflecting the implicit understanding that kinkiness arises out of feeling of comfort and that true pleasure only comes from the willingness to please. And there is no shortage of kinky, but sweet, touches, from the purple silk blindfold that reads, “Freedom is deciding whose slave you want to be,” to the improbably sexy lingerie.

Images courtesy of Guidi

It’s no secret that the landscape of fashion manufacturing is changing. More and more high-end designers are outsourcing production to China and other third world countries in order to increase profit margins. Guidi, one of the most prestigious leather tanneries, is also one of the few left in Europe. Located in a small Tuscan town of Pescia, where leather tanning is a tradition that goes back to the 14th Century, Guidi has been producing fine leather since 1896. Today, it supplies leather to many top fashion houses. Several years ago, Guidi’s owner decided to start producing leather goods under its own name. This meant traditional artisanal production in limited runs, using its own leather, ranging from supple cowhide to hard cordovan. The footwear and bags are hand-finished and their styles rarely change, bucking the traditional notion that fashion must be fast-paced. Instead, Guidi is focused on longevity.
     Insistence on permanence is not the only reason why Guidi stands out. The hard-core aesthetic of distressed, rugged-looking footwear and bags purposefully goes against the conventional image of polished Italian style.