"The name is a paradox. They never functioned as a collective," says Kaat Debo, MoMu's director. "Some of them still describe that label as a blessing and a curse. But they were friends."
"They're everyday professionals who simply don't have the time to shop the traditional way," said Kneen about J. Hilburn customers. Instead, stylists manage fit, fabrics and wardrobe planning, effectively outsourcing the entire process for busy professionals.
The end of the show did not mark the end of the trip. Back at the Le Grand Bellevue the group divided between fireside hot chocolates and the hotel's spa. The hotel's Le Grand Spa is over 3,000 square metres and has eight different types of saunas, several ice showers, foot baths and an outdoor bubble pool (named thus as it's bigger than your standard jacuzzi).
Travelling for art can be incredibly virtuous and culturally rewarding, like collecting souvenirs for your eyes (and from the post card rail in the gift shop). Remembering to research what is on before I book flights is a lesson I learnt all too well after I missed the Metropolitan Museum's fashion exhibition in 2016 by one day. As a fashion obsessed 20 something, I did not take this well and have since improved my itinerary planning and exhibition calendar checking.
In the show, "dirty" extends to anything that breaks fashion's pact with propriety. Here are clothes caked in grime, blotted with makeup, stiffened by salt, pieced from trash, frayed, and faded. The garments span decades, from the 1980s through the mid-2000s, when the likes of Vivienne Westwood and Jean Paul Gaultier built their fame on defying convention, to today, when corporatization has made such daring increasingly rare. But forgoing practicality frees certain designers from the demands that the body be polite-and thereby policed.
Embroidery is a historic mainstay of traditional clothing in Asia or the Middle East, as well as Western Haute Couture, but it is increasingly present in Paris, Milan or New York on modern men's shirts, bomber jackets or blazers. Designers at Dior, Dolce Gabbana, Kenzo or Gucci have adopted it in recent runway shows, while Louis Vuitton's celebrity rapper-designer Pharell Williams dedicated his entire June collection to India after visiting the country.
A more-or-less universal pivot to hybrid working has further blurred the lines between what to wear to work and what you actually want to wear to work. Never before has comfort been such a priority when it comes to corporate dressing. It's why a dress styled with a sweater, jumper or cardigan has become the ultimate sartorial solution to carry your work wardrobe from this wet spell through to spring.
There are two types of shows during New York Fashion Week: 1. The official shows that happen within the venues. 2. The "shows" that happen on the street. Ninety percent of the people get dressed up, hoping to get photographed by a popular publication such as Vogue or WWD. Street style happens as guests make their way in and out of a brand's/designer's show.
London has always been a city of discovery. London doesn't just host fashion, it incubates it. Co-Director Biljana Poposka Roberts calls this season "fashion without borders," and that's exactly what it felt like: a cultural collision in the chicest possible way.
Choosing a particular model does not necessarily mean focusing on excessive colour, but rather knowing how to identify the lines and volumes that communicate a precise aesthetic vision that breaks with convention. This process requires a certain awareness of materials and proportions, as a shoe with a strong design has the ability to transform even the simplest outfit into a sophisticated and modern style statement.
Play Hard captures the essence of growing up surrounded by the echoes of empty arcades, the chill of coastal winds, and fleeting moments of joy found in skateboarding culture. It reflects on personal memories shaped by resilience, freedom, and creativity in an environment where opportunities were scarce. The collection embraces an aesthetic that values imperfection, emphasising the beauty found in fragility and the strength derived from community.
It's not a multi-thousand pound handbag from Hermes that best captures the new era of It bags, but a 149 tote from John Lewis. Launched this season, it's deeper (45cm) and taller (33cm) than your average handbag, and comes loaded with good intentions. It's able to hold your packed lunch, flask and book, as well at a push as your gym kit.