Happy holidays our festive fashionistas! This will be our final broadcast on all the fashion news to know for 2023 before we’re back with some new campaigns, collabs, collections and culture in the new year. So what’s Santa put under the sartorial christmas tree for us nice girlies? We have beloved Motherlan designer Soldier’s link up with Awake NY, some sustainably wrapped Haeckels goodies, a Swarovski-studded, Bimba Y Lola-clad Caroline Polachek, a new Saint Laurent store, a MadeMe x Alpha Industries bomber jacket, a Dr. Barbara Sturm space to pause in London, and Lacoste knits for some cosy, preppy vibes. Here’s what’s in fashion.
London designer Soldier brings his doggo prints to Awake NY
Anyone that’s anyone in the streetwear world knows about Soldier, the multi-hyphenate skate rat famous for his provocative art (and graphic design) practice, co-founding Nigeria’s Motherlan label and for starring in umpteen Supreme campaigns. In fact, if you’d been watching closely, you’ll know he also cover-boyed our Winter 2019 issue alongside compatriots Slawn and Onyedi. Back then, Motherlan had already collaborated with Awake NY, the hot-shit brand headed up by former ‘preme brand director Angelo Baque. But now, Soldier is offering his wares on a solo basis, showcasing his signature camouflage designs, infamous for their ban in Nigeria. Replete in multi-tone colourways and transposed with a bully-dog graphic, it’s a satisfyingly simple and immediately snacky collab, tapping into his rich history as a Lagosian woodpusher and Nigeria at large, where he first began making art. Of course, it also blends the gritty New York aesthetics Queens kingpin Angelo has purveyed at Awake since inception in 2012 with the Naija-boy London-isms that have coloured much of Soldier’s output. With shots in the artist’s studio, the campaign also gives us an intimate peek at Soldier – AKA Leo or Leonard Iheagwam – and his iconic works, from the politically charged Nigerian passport screenprints to yet more doggy-style aerosol pieces. It’s a poignant moment for the artist, who had grown up in the strict confines of Nigeria’s Christian church, desperate to kick out. Supported by mentors Skepta, Grace Ladoja and Alex Sossah, who literally paid his way through university, the runaway rebel has now become an integral part of London’s creative scene, and, as this campaign so eloquently tells, New York and the globe itself. Hypebeasts and It-kids alike, you’ll be pleased to know the collection is prêt-à-cop at Awake NY. JB
Haeckels want you to gift sustainably this holiday season
Christmas gets a bad wrap, if you’ll pardon the pun. Indeed, year in, year out, we scramble to open questionable gifts from our loved ones, strain a smile and then proceed to stuff our chrome Brabantia with layers upon layers of chintzy gift wrap. The result, as you well know, is the heinous haemorrhaging of waste and a complete eschewal of whatever our local council has asked us to do with our recyclable refuse. Of course, we don’t want to shame anyone into doing the right thing – individualising capitalism’s systemic destruction of the earth is never chic. But we would like to suggest some damage control and a workaround for actually pleasing presents. Enter: the ocean-loving beauty brand par excellence, Haeckels, and its ingenious gifting sets, perfect for keeping us fashionistas firm-faced and without an ounce of guilt on our conscience, save for whatever inane gossip we spilled at the Christmas soirée last night. Whether it’s the Spiraglow set, primed with lab-grown and renewable goodies to freshen up your sallow visage during the betwixtmas slump, or a little bit of the Bladderwrack sink set’s seawood extract and pumpkin-based delights to match your pumpkin-spiced latté, you can rest safe in the knowledge that each and every treat in the range is packaged in recycled paper and given an arty treatment based on the very waste Haeckel’s crew have collected from the Kentish enclave of Margate’s Walpole Bay. This way, you’ll be giving a gift someone actually wants and earn wholesome points in the process of chic-ing up your finely fashioned relies, who despite their biological ties, never seem to learn that you’ve moved on from your Abercrombie & Fitch phase circa 2008. Oh, and 10% of sales go to Margate Independent Food Bank, making it a worthy purchase all round. Shop the range, here, you serum-sluicing fash-packers. JB
Petra Collins lenses Caroline Polachek for Bimba Y Lola
Who doesn’t want to live in the hazy, euphoric world of Petra Collins? After directing the Bimbaylolaized film earlier this year, the beloved photographer and filmmaker known for capturing a nostalgic, 80-esque sense of girlhood, turned her lens on pop icon of the year Caroline Polachek for the Spanish label’s latest campaign. Set within a prom-like festive party scene, tinsel and streamers glisten against the room and tables are pushed to the side and filled with a bounty of sweet treats that could send you into a food coma for the rest of the holidays. The popstar – whose song “I Believe” was i-D’s number one song of the year – holds various colour iterations of the new Swarovski studded Hobo pocket bag from Bimba Y Lola and is decked out in sultry red leathers that play on a heart motif – a look that is bound to be the talk of the work Christmas party. TG
Saint Laurent opens its biggest flagship on Champs-Élysées
Of all the fashion houses clamouring to stake their claim as the most tastefully cacheted and finely furnished institutions, Saint Laurent, as this brand-new outpost on the Champs-Élysées so succinctly proves, is up there with the best. Of course, this is a maison founded by Monsieur Yves Saint Laurent, an aesthete renowned for his exacting, if not a little extra, eye for interior design. We all remember his not-so-humble abode on the Left Bank (Rive Gauche), designed by none other than Art Déco icon Jean-Michel Frank and decked with Eileen Gray, Pierre Legrain and Pierre Chareau rarities, right? Well, this new chapter in the Saint Laurent legacy, led today by Italo-Belgian Anthony Vaccarello, is a little more austere, serving up a sexy retail haven of cold, concrete surfaces, a winding staircase with cool black veneer and minimalist showpieces care of Donald Judd. Keeping to this very less-is-more theme that Vaccarello has made his sartorial signature at Saint Laurent, the new space is also adorned with an icy LED hanging installation by conceptual artist Cerith Wyn Evans. Très pensif! But don’t be fooled by such achingly chic aesthetics. This is still, at its core, a spot to splash a little cash on the finest fashion fares, running the gamut of investment-worthy womenswear, menswear, jewellery, footwear and accessories, ideal for bookmarking an afternoon in the artisanal paradise. Oh, and, being the seasoned luxurian you are, you’ll want to enquire about the private client garden, so you can shop in true tranquillity. Fancy a nosy? Load up your Amex, slip on some Vaccarellian cubans and clip-clop your way down to 123 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. JB
MadeMe & Alpha Industries collab on a bomber for the girlies
Since 2007 MadeMe has made a name for being the NYC brand for the girlies, by the girlies, and so it may come as a surprise that they have partnered with Alpha Industries, the US military clothing manufacturer on a rework of their MA-1 bomber jacket. To MadeMe founder Erin Magee though it’s not that unexpected. “The MadeMe girl wears things that are somewhat traditional, but that also come from a tradition of rebellion. I can identify the MadeMe girl pretty easily — she’ll wear a pair of old Dr. Martens, long Dickies shorts with an Alpha MA-1 Bomber; all brands that are steeped in tradition but come from rebellious spirits. That is the MadeMe girl,” She said in a statement. Available in olive or black from Alpha Industries website and in select stores, the Barbenheimer energy of this collaboration sees the classic outerwear given excessively long sleeves and ruching across the arms and the body that gives the gorpy style a frilly, girly edge. The yassification of your dad’s Top Gun look? We love to see it. TG
Dr. Barbara Sturm opens an IRL anti-inflammatory 4D world
If there’s one thing any Londoner knows, it’s to avoid the chaos of the busy shopping district of Mayfair for the entirety of december. But Dr. Barbara Sturm and Xydrobe may have given you a reason to push through the crowds of last minute Christmas shoppers and people gawping at Piccadilly Circus: Pause. The new luxury VR environment brings the anti-inflammatory knowhow of our Dr. Babs into a multi-sensorial space designed to alleviate stress with surround sound, hyper HD visuals, and natural scents gently breezing around you in a 15 minute meditation session. What then follows is a trip to the red room. No, not that red room! The low-intensity red and near infrared light therapy works by going deep into your body’s cells and promoting rejuvenation, ease muscle fatigue and enhance your mood. Finally, you’re given a cup of special herbal brew of skin tea and two Dr. Barbara Sturm products to take home with you. A little extra something for when you get home after being packed onto the Piccadilly line. Want to give yourself a little R&R treat this holiday? Book your session here. TG
Lacoste come through with preppy winter warmer knits
Tennis may be a summer sport but the preppy-meets-sporty tennis aesthetic is seasonless. And for the winter months, just ahead of those Holiday nights carol singing and firework watching, Lacoste have dropped a collection of winter knits to keep you and your loved ones cosy. The pastel cable knits with chunky, colourful embroidery across the hems, cosy pink turtlenecks, retro long-sleeve polos and button up sweater vests are all paired with thick joggers and hoodies in the famed Lacoste croc green. What’s more, the collection comes in all sizes, meaning the entire family can be decked out in René’s brand’s finest as they open their presents on Christmas morning! Shop the collection here. TG