Feliz Navidad, angels! With the latest announcement from Chopova Lowena, all we want for Christmas is an adjustable carabiner kilt from the iconic London-based designers. Okay and a Mugler-filled mystery Heat box… and the Gucci Après-Ski collection, and the Palace x C.P. Company collab duffle coat, and a Givenchy Disney tee, and the new Wardrobe.NYC, collection, and a ticket to Lagos’ exciting new fashion exhibition celebrating POC designers. Ugh, December is an expensive month! Here’s what’s in fashion.
Palace bring a youthful edge to C.P. Company’s timeless archive
Your hypebeast loved ones will be frothing at the mouth when they unwrap your present on Christmas day to find a piece from the collaboration of two iconic brands. Yes, London based skatewear brand Palace and Italian sportswear legends C.P. Company have come together to create a capsule of pieces where the former brings its youth culture vision to the timeless archive and unique craftsmanship of the latter. From a long duffle-coat in aprint inspired by army blankets — and a snowflake-esque print jumper perfect for some festive spirit — to ski-ready embroidered nylon coats with attached sunglasses and padded bomber jackets with a vintage vibe. Palace also took staple pieces from both their own and C.P.’s history and then re-invented them using the technical dying practices first created by the Italian brand back in the 70s. Some things just never go out of style! Check out the collection in C.P. Company and Palace websites or in their flagship stores. TG
Look like Lady Gaga on the slopes with Gucci Apres-ski
While the recent snow may have been a bit of a bummer here in London – where it turned to grim AF sludge within an hour of falling and ground the entire city’s transport infrastructure – it nonetheless got us acting as if Clapton were Courchevel. Fondue parties, boozy hot chocolates at, like, 3pm – the lot. The one thing we were really missing, though, were the looks to pull off trudging through the slush. Well, just on cue, Gucci came through with its brand new Après-Ski collection, “a selection of pieces envisioned for mountain living and beyond’. Featuring cosy must-haves like cable knit cardigans, Adidas-collab puffers, lug-soled shearling boots and wintry riffs on some of the Italian houses most iconic bags, it’s the only collection that any discerning ski girly would be seen on the slopes in this season. Head down to your nearest Gucci store – or their website – to cop! MS
Get a hot new box of surprise Mugler goodies for christmas
Anyone with a finger even vaguely on the pulse knows that one of fashion’s greatest breakout success stories of the year has been Heat, the luxury mystery box shopping project that brings coveted high-end gear to its booming audience of fans at prices you can barely believe. As if it couldn’t get any hotter, Heat are now launching their first ever boxes curated in partnership with a single brand. Right on time for the party season, the London-based start up is linking up with Mugler to offer a series of boxes jam packed with goodies from the buzzy Parisian brand. With boxes priced at £299, £500 and £990, whichever box your budget stretches to is guaranteed to be filled with grails, including but not limited to Casey Cadwallader’s emblematic nude illusion jumpsuits and body-accentuating jeans. With drop now live –and with just a limited number available – this is one to jump on NOW! MS
Chopova Lowena kilts for everyone!
Is there any garment on this great planet better than one of Chopova Lowena’s eyecatching kilts? Well, now there is – one of Chopova Lowena’s eyecatching adjustable kilts! Yes, in a move that we’ve all been waiting for since the very first day we first laid eyes on the poppy pleated skirts, Emma Chopova and Laura Lowena-Irons have revealed an exciting development with their flagship piece, making it available to a truly encompassing size range. Adjustable skirts will come in sizes 1 and 2 – with the former accommodating sizes UK 6-16, the latter sizes UK 18-26 – and will be accompanied by a new iteration of the brand’s stunning carabiner dress in sizes UK 18-26. “It is really important to us to offer a wide size range and we are finally now able to invest in developing these styles so that they can fit different bodies and be adjusted to exactly your shape!,” Emma and Laura say, “The skirts can be shared between friends with different body shapes and we consider these skirts more long lasting as they can change with you! We are really happy to be taking this step and hope to be able to offer an extended size range in many more styles soon.” Truly the greatest Christmas news we’ve received so far. MS
A new exhibition asks POC designers what fashion will look like in 2121
Watch sci-fi classics such as the OG Star Wars movies or 2001: A Space Odyssey and you may notice that amongst all the imagined aliens, technology and utopias, one thing filmmakers and producers often, and sometimes still do, struggle to imagine is an inclusive future with people of colour in these spaces. An annual fashion exhibition from Dunsin Wright entitled “Speculative Everything’ in Lagos looks to challenge that by bringing an intersectional outlook to alternate realities and possible futures. This year’s theme asks creatives to explore what fashion will look like 100 years from now and amongst the works exhibited is CSM-student and fashion illustrator Zainab Mansary, CSM-graduate Feben, whose work is inspired by nomadism and the global Black diaspora; Kadiju, a women-led fashion brand redefining the meaning of beauty through a conscious lens; and model Adesuwa Aighewi’s fairtrade marketplace and multidisciplinary brand Legacy. If you’re in Lagos, go check out the exhibit at The Freeme Space. TG
Wardrobe.NYC returns to urban style for it’s latest collection
Attention practically-minded fashion fans! A gift! For you! Yes, everyone’s favourite wardrobe-oriented brand, Wardrobe.NYC, has just announced its latest offering, the sartorial theme of which is: utility. The brand’s 11th release entails “a return to urban style” for the luxury concept founded by Josh Goot and Christine Centenera, replete with winter-ready, technically-inclined garments like reversible padded bombers and cargo mid skirts, as well as ultra-luxe pieces like nappa leather leggings, resulting in a sleek, subtly sporty look. “We wanted to return to technical garment design and textiles with a performance spirit,” Josh says, noting that “we wanted to explore an elevated practical minimalism, and new proportions in wardrobe styling,” which sounds like exactly the sort of thing that we – and therefore presumably you – are into. MS
Givenchy’s new capsule collection is adorned by a beloved Disney character
To celebrate the upcoming Year of the Rabbit and 100 years of Walt Disney, Givenchy have partnered on a capsule collection with the legendary film studios that features one of their most beloved characters, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. ‘Who?’ we hear you asking, trying to remember if he was a new character in Frozen 2 or one of the queer-coded characters in Luca or something. Oswald, however, predates those movies your niece makes you watch annually, or even the hand-drawn princesses from your own childhood, or even colour! He’s a bestie of Mickey from 1927. Walt himself described the character as “peppy, alert, saucy and venturesome” which sounds like all the right personality traits to be the new face of the Italian fashion brand tbh. While, like the mouse, Oswald loves to walk around shirtless in little else than a pair of blue shorts, Givenchy have crafted a full collection of pieces from tees with the character flirting through Paris or full of bravado in NYC, to sweatshirts, bandana-print shirts, sweatpants and denim jackets with Oswald animatedly in action. Alongside the collection is a short film featuring Riverdale’s Madelaine Petsch, Elvis’ Alton Mason and singer Amber Liu, all going on a country-hopping adventure with the mischievous and fun-loving character. Full-length feature film about Oswald’s rise within the fashion world when? TG