Guys, it’s finally February after a whole year of January. I love February, because Valentine’s Day is my second favorite holiday and I will not be accepting any slander against it. What the fuck do you have against a cute holiday with a perfect color scheme (pink and red)?
Anyway, let’s get into it.
Adrian Appiolaza has been appointed as the new creative director of Moschino.
After the tragic and unexpected news of Moschino’s last creative director, David Renne, passing before he could even show his first collection, Adrian Appiolaza will have his debut for the brand in three weeks during Milan fashion week.
Prior to his appointment, Appiolaza spent 10 years as Loewe’s ready to wear design director. Also included on his resume is a junior design position for Alexander McQueen and Miguel Adrover upon enrolling in Central Saint Martins, being invited to work at Chloé after Phoebe Philo saw his graduate collection in 2002, working under Miuccia Prada at Miu Miu in 2006, senior designer at Louis Vuitton under Marc Jacobs in 2010, and design director at Chloé under Clare Waight Keller in 2012.
He’s also an avid collector and has quite the archive, including pieces by Franco Moschino, AND has a very good personal style. Highly recommend following him on Instagram.
For this season, Simon Port Jacquemus was thinking of different bourgeois codes, as well as sculpture. He wanted to take what has become thought of as quiet luxury, and make it a bit less conventional with sculptural silhouettes. It honestly reminded me of Jacquemus collections of the past, think 2016 and back, when things were still good and interesting. However, with the commerciality and lack of attention to detail of Jacquemus collections of the present. The ideas were there, the execution was not.
The show took place in Nice at the Maeght Foundation, which is home to 13,000 pieces of 20th century modern art— you can even see the hexagon pattern of the floors reflected in some of the knits. While, Alberto Giacometti’s sculpture, Femme Cuillère (Spoon Woman), could be see translated into the circular shapes seen in a lot of the pieces.
Sweaters wrapped around shoulders and framing necklines also felt sculptural, and referenced the invitation to the show, which was a gray knit sweater. Rounded suits were nice, and tailored quite well, and I didn’t mind some of the fun had with waistlines. Some pieces had little tufts of fringe spewing out of them that looked like eyelashes you took off in bed and rolled around in. No, but actually, we’ve been seeing Jacquemus explore different kinds of feathery fringes in a lot of the most recent collections, without actually using feathers, which, hey, at least there’s consistency. That doesn’t mean it’s good, though. We saw a mosaic-like animal print, and draped chiffon dresses with that same rounded shoulder seen throughout, were some of the better moments, although waist seams could have been cleaned up.
Instead of quiet luxury, Jacqeumus would refer to himself as pop luxury, “because of the shoulder, the shape, the wrongness, and also the sense of humor,” according to him. Sure.
I love seeing Jacquemus reference his old work, if that’s what he’s doing, however, the difference in quality is far too evident, because let’s be honest, no one is buying Jacquemus for the quality. A lot of the fabrics puckered, and some structured shapes seemed to lack integrity and folded into themselves. The finale look, a bridal look nodding to couture, was interesting in idea, with its geometric structured top and fluid bottom, however you could clearly see the bottom of the bodice and how the skirt kept folding into it. Commerciality is not inherently a bad thing, and Jacquemus understands its customer, however, when there’s already other designers and brands adding intrigue to the mundane in more compelling ways, it’s hard to care about these clothes. The brand is also known for its show locations, so, at least the sculptures were beautiful.
I know the Lyst Index is a very small pool of data, but I still think it’s interesting to see what brands and items are at the top.
The top 10 brands are:
Prada
Miu Miu (Miuccia Prada rights)
Loewe
Bottega Veneta
Moncler
Saint Laurent
Versace
Jacquemus
Burberry
Valentino
Also, Skims is 14, lmao. ALSO, there’s maybe, like, three or four items on the hottest products list that I’m like, yeah, okay, that makes sense.
- Jonathan Bailey for Interview; Category is: bare chest and arms. Honestly, this is quite polished for Interview. I just love this man, ok. The styling is simple, but I’m really into it— especially the Thom Browne and Courregès. Styled by Richie Lee Davis.
- Honestly, what tf is going on? I also want to understand why some things get a pass for using AI and are even praised, while others are completely shamed. The only time it didn’t really bother me is when Collina Strada kind of used it for that one collection, but they still designed the clothes, you know? It also made sense with the show thematically, but I just think, maybe let’s leave AI out of fashion.
- GCDS took the paparazzi route with their Spring 2024 campaign, which seems to be quite popular lately. Just think of the photos that Bottega Veneta used of Kendall Jenner and A$AP Rocky recently. There is definitely a think piece here, and I do have a lot to say, but I don’t get paid for this, nor do I care enough to actually write it. So, what I will say, is that these kinds of campaigns have been done for decades, and that’s fine, but I feel like the lines between reality and campaign have been getting far too blurred. Not everyone has been broken by working in the fashion industry, so a marketing campaign isn’t always obvious. Also, what are the legalities like when it comes to using paparazzi photos, who has to disclose what?
- Now, Dsquared2’s Spring 2024 campaign, I’m into. The collection explored the adult entertainment industry, so exploring that with campaign is smart, and with Nadia Lee Cohen’s touch, it’s just scrumptious.
- Shera Seven for Brandon Blackwood’s Valentine’s Day Campaign?! This is perfect. It’s perfect. A mini series where she answers everyone’s questions on love and dating, while wearing things you can get you man to *sprinkle sprinkle* you with, makes obvious sense, and this just feels very organic as a collaboration. These are the kinds of niche celebrities we need more of in campaigns. Kendall Jenner can barely sell you on one thing, let alone all the things they plaster her on.
- Saoirse Ronan is Louis Vuitton’s latest brand ambassador. I know everyone gets worried when a celeb goes to LV, but y’all are haters and as you know, we stan Nicolas Ghesquière around here. She’s been wearing the brand quite often recently, so I was wondering when we’d get this announcement.
- I feel like I’ve been seeing Fear of God quite a bit recently, and I’m not mad at it. Donald tends to go a bit more casual with his styling choices, so this is quite dressed up for him, and I’m into. These fabrics are so buttery and I’m into the monochrome moment. I like the cummerbund, but I just wish the shirt was tucked into it a little bit more to create a cleaner line.
- Here’s the thing, this is from the Moschino collection where they had four different stylists design a section of the show. This is from Gabriella Karefa-Johnson’s section, and I loved it on the runway, and I still don’t think it’s bad here, I just don’t think it’s styled to its full potential. Being that it’s Moschino, this is the perfect opportunity to be kitschy and fun, and it’s missing that energy.
- I know you’re probably expecting me to hate how long and bunched these pants are, but I actually think that it works here— they just really commit. This might not be as method as some of her other looks when promoting a movie, however it’s very Matrix, so we’re still in the sci-fi realm, you know? The only thing I’ll say is, I watched this show and she kept adjusting her jacket, and I know damn well I wear things that aren’t comfortable sometimes, but I would literally never let anyone know that lmao.
She also wore this look by Andrea Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood and it’s hot. I believe this was a reference to Tina Turner in Mad Max and I’m obsessed.
- I want to love this, I do, but I only like it. Mariah is wearing a look from Schiaparelli’s Fall 2023 collection, and I’m not mad at a little snatched, exposed corset moment, I just wish the draping of the tulle was more spread out, the way it is on the model. On Mariah it’s too focused in one area, and I also kind of feel like the train is lacking a little bit of volume.
- Dua has been really committing to the black and red looks with this era, and that’s all good and fun, but this is not great. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great coat, but those pants make no sense with it. I would have preferred if she’d just worn the coat, no pants. Give us couture flasher!
- I believe this is a custom gown based on a runway piece, and listen, I get the Madame Web of it all. However, I just feel like there’s a bit of disconnect between the veil and the dress. You know I love a head piece, but it feels redundant here, and I think the dress alone would have been fine.
- Megan has really been eating the girls up recently. This is simple for her, but it’s good. The way the dress loops to create this drape alongside the cutouts is scrumptious. Oude Waag has also been one of my new fave brands to pay attention to.
- I know people hate this collection, but I was here for the Flintstones chic of it all. I really wish Tyla had styled it the way we saw it on the runway. That extra bone framing the face was so lovely, and the hood kind of made the look for me. Lately I feel like we’ve just been wearing clothes, but not at all styling them.
- There were so many scrumptious looks in this collection that were outshined by those sticker dresses, and this blue leather dress is one of them. I do think it’s a touch too long on Charli, though, as you can see it bunching around the thigh, because the fabric has nowhere to go.
- Harris Reed really needs to give as much attention to detail as he does to the grandiose moments he give us. This Nina Ricci collection was very confusing, and this could have been fine, but the seams on the side of this gown are scary.
- As we all know, since I will never let you forget, Tracee is a fashion GIRL!!! I love a coat as an outfit; this is what I was saying Dua should have done earlier! Styling it with this very wide belt to since the waist was fantastic, and its largeness makes sense with the thick coat— smart.
- Finally, I leave you with the people’s princess, Ayo Edebiri, heading into the SNL studios to be perfect, wearing Bottega Veneta— also perfect.
So that was this week! Alright, Grammy’s red carpet looks are rolling in, I g2g.
TTYL!!!
xx
Zendaya, Tracee, and Ayo are my fashion it girls! Would love to just exist in their closets