Happy friday, our fashion-pilled friends! Gosh, we’re already halfway through summer, which means one thing: it’s time to start prepping our fall wardrobes! Luckily for you, newly launched AW23 campaigns from Burberry, Dior, Fendi and Givenchy are brimming with inspiration for all, whether you’re looking to channel subversive Roman heiress or farmboy-but-make-it-fashion the moment the leaves start to turn. The sticklers for preparation that we are, though, we’re also looking even further ahead to SS24, with Lu’u Dan and Nicholas Daley launching their proposals for the season.There’s plenty for the here and now, though, with new drops from Dior and our unofficial summer residence, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc, as well as a new exhibition to check out at Flannels! Here’s what’s in fashion.
Burberry celebrates the best of the British outdoors
Yes, we know your jaw’s probably still on the floor from the sight of Daniel Lee’s spectacular Spring 2024 offering for Burberry, but it’s high time to pick it up… and, well, let it drop again! This time, though, it’s for the campaign for Daniel’s very first collection for the British house – the AW23 extravaganza he presented during London Fashion Week back in February. Shot by longtime collaborator Tyrone Lebon between the Isle of Skye and Giant’s Causeway, the wistful image series and film amount to a ruggedly chic celebration of the great British outdoors – apt, given the spirit of country dressing that made itself felt in the field jackets, rubber boots and body-swaddling cashmere blankets found in the collection. Featuring an ensemble cast including Kesewa Aboah, Kit Butler, Sora Choi, Faye Wei Wei, Zhuo Chen, and… a cow, it amounts to an incredibly alluring illustration of Daniel Lee’s Burberry – the next chapter of which we can’t wait to see revealed in September. MS
Dior‘s AW23 campaign channels timeless elegance
Timeless elegance is a quality that countless designers have sought to encapsulate through their work, but few can lay claim to it quite like Dior. Indeed, since its founding in 1947, the gigantic maison has purveyed a vision of innately feminine chic that has secured its position at the height of the fashion pantheon, a vision fuelled by the house’s extensive roster of muses. In her AW23 collection for the house, presented during Paris Fashion Week back in February, Maria Grazia Chiuri looked to three in particular – Catherine Dior, Édith Piaf and Juliette Gréco: “Iconic figures driven by a spirit of independence, audacity and freedom,” a release reads. For the collection’s campaign, shot by long-standing house collaborator Brigitte Niedermair, their allure, power, sensuality and sense of rebellion is conjured in images that juxtapose sleek, sombre silhouettes with jewel-toned backdrops. A play of contrasts, the images offer a poetic snapshot of the qualities that have defined the Dior woman since the Maison’s founding day, and will continue to for years to come. MS
The Toujours bag is dripping in Dior savoir-faire
We don’t need to say much to explain the standard of craftsmanship that Dior prides itself on – we will, however, show you! In a new video, the house has revealed the extent of the savoir-faire invested in the creation of the Dior Toujours bag – an accessory first shown during the Maria Grazia Chiuri’s SS23 ready-to-wear show for the house. Decorated with the house’s signature intricate macrocannage motif across its elegant calfskin body, and with playful gold Dior charms hanging from its straps and a classic CD lock, it’s a testament to the impeccably honed skillsets of the leather artisans that call its ateliers home. A must-have, non? Pick up yours at your nearest Dior boutique or online. Trust us, it’s a piece you’ll love today, tomorrow, toujours. TG
Lu’u Dan SS24 is a schooling in main character energy
In the five seasons since Hung La – one half of Kwaidan Editions’ founding duo – founded Lu’u Dan, the brand has come leaps and bounds, now laying claim to a cult status similar to that enjoyed by his and Léa Dickely initial venture. Committed to introducing a more nuanced, by-us-for-us timbre to conversations around Asian masculinity in fashion – eliding imposed ‘model minority’ stereotypes and dated clichés — previous collections have peddled on grungy, cinematic narratives, offering clothes for characters that wouldn’t look out of place in a Takashi Miike movie, or in the moody black-and-white street photography of Jōji Hashiguchi – “villains and Sunday gangsters,” as Hung puts it.
Rather than extend the remit of his character-driven approach, Lu’u Dan’s SS24 collection sees Hung dig deep into the rudiments of garment design, revelling in embellishments, graphics and fabric finishes for their own sake. Elephantine tobi – trousers typically worn by Japanese construction workers – serve as the foundation for the collection, offering a grounding sense of utility, comfort and pragmatism. This relatively prosaic template, however, is filled in with a panoply of visual and haptic textures. The weighty grey denim of a hulking coat is haphazardly splattered with white, while a hand painted yellow leather flight jacket is spangled with punkish studs. Tobi-styled trousers figure in that same, mottled grey-white wash denim, in glossy black leather, and patchworked from the back panels of gradient grey straight-leg jeans. The collection’s moodiness is lifted by dashes of camp – silk shirts in auburn leopard print, and delicious lurid airbrush motifs of Tibetan tigers, snakes and phoenixes. Granted, these are clothes that demand a good measure of self-assurance to pull off – clothes that are less for those looking to dress like a main character, more for those that already are. MS
Delfina Delettrez Fendi inspires Fendi’s AW23 campaign
Working for a house like Fendi, you don’t need to look far and wide for inspiration – a fact that Kim Jones, the brand’s current artistic director of womenswear, knows first hand. For his AW23 collection, rather than turn solely to the archive, though, he looked to the figures at the heart of the family-run business – in particular to the Roman maison’s artistic director of jewellery, Delfina Delettrez Fendi. “It all started with Delfina,” said Kim on presenting the collection. “There’s a chicness but a perversity to the way she twists Fendi, which is what I love.” For the collection’s campaign, released this week, that spirit shines through, informed by idiosyncratic approach the Fendi heiress adopts in styling her Fendi archive – a what would otherwise be prim periwinkle cardigan is slashed at the collar, with a flap of its hem peeking out from a slip in a leather skirt like some Frankensteinian french tuck; the shoulders of a bell-sleeved tailored jacket are exposed, tempering ladylike elegance with a sultry peek of skin. If that’s how Delfina does it, then her’s is certainly a lead worth following. MS
Artist-of-the-moment Slawn takes over Flannels X
You’ve no doubt heard of Slawn, the British-Nigerian artist who counted the late Virgil Abloh among his starry roster of admirers. Having garnered a substantial amount of buzz for being the youngest person ever to design The Brits statuette. Now, the artist’s poppy work will be on display in Oxford Street fashion hub Flannels as part of an exclusive installation titled The Art Kiosk. Drop in throughout the two week residency and you’ll find Slawn and his talented friends and peers – including fellow artists Soldier Boyfriend, Motherlan’s Onyedi, Teoni and Cato – creating pieces there and then in the space, with the highly-sought-after canvases then going on sale, too. In the market for a unique phallus-featuring, spray-painted Slawn piece over your fireplace or looking to explore the city’s contemporary art scene? Then head to the first floor of Flannels X on Oxford Street anytime between now and 27 July. TG
K-pop’s Taeyang defines the Givenchy man for AW23
Givenchy’s AW23 menswear offering was one of Matthew M. Williams’ strongest so far for the house, replete with de- and re-constructed garments that seamlessly spliced tailoring with sportswear, tartans with denim and utility with extravagance, playfully scrambling the codes of modern menswear. Now, friend of the house and K-pop star Taeyang has imbued the collection with new life for its campaign, photographed simply and casually by Givenchy creative director Mathew Williams himself. “Taeyang is a friend, and to me his creativity and personal values make him an ideal ambassador for Givenchy. You can feel his presence: he has this easy, modern elegance and an edge — he clearly feels comfortable in the clothes and really personifies the House’s new aesthetic,” Mathew said in a statement. With Taeyang in these stunning camo Japanese boro trousers, boxy overcoats and Giv-Cut sunglasses, it’s an aesthetic we’ll do anything to personify, too! TG
Sporty & Rich x Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc bring OOO chic
Serving up the full The White Lotus fantasy – sans the murders, of course – is country-club chic brand Sporty & Rich, who, this week, dropped a 25-piece capsule collection with famed Côte d’Azur hotspot, Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc. Adorned with buoy and seafaring motifs and in luxury tones of navy, grey marl, baby blue and off-white, there are featherweight terry-cloth polos, bra tops, running shorts and sweatshirts to wear after your morning run along the corniche, or to wear for your 10am croissant, coffee and a Vogue as you scoff at the breakfast buffet. There are breezy breton-striped linen pyjamas – perfect for a light siesta on a chaise longue, or for lounging about your stately suite – as well cute tennis skirts, caps and tees to wear for playing (or posing) on the clay court. There you have it – all your boujie bitch holiday get-ups in one place! Check out the full collection in all its sporty, resort-y splendour on sportyandrich.com or, if you’re already on the Med, in the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc boutique. TG
Nicholas Daley SS24 was inspired by a Brummie reggae band
In his last few collections, Jamaican-Scottish menswear designer Nicholas Daley has been exploring the meeting point between music and fashion, specifically that of the roots reggae subgenre from the 1970s, a style that became popular with punk rock fans in the UK and went on to influence modern day dub, jungle and drum and bass. It’s a movement his parents were heavily involved in and, for SS24, the designer looked to Steel Pulse, a Birmingham-based roots reggae band that came up around the time and defined the culture. The early style of the band is documented by Adrian Boot – one of the UK’s most famed music photographers who began following the band after they formed in 1975 – and his photographs became a key source of inspiration for Nicholas.
Titled Reggae Club, dusty, hot and summery tones colour light gingham separates were paired with mustard, beige and siena striped knits and hand-crocheted bucket hats. The music genre’s signature aesthetic was juxtaposed with the United Kingdom’s weather with mustard toned mesh vests and retro 70s leathers alongside chunky knitwear, kilts and patched trousers in sun-bleached tartan. But mostly – from the trippy zebra print and earthy olive and navy leopard print across open collar shirts and a tee emblazoned with his dad’s old DJ name across it – this was a collection that, like Adrien Boot’s photos, transports you back to the nightlife and scene of the moment. TG