Belated Regrets, And Again

1. Costume National Fall/Winter 2013
2. Rick Owens Spring/Summer 2013

It's too late to apologize. Clog and clog-alikes. Worn with or without socks. Missing something sucks. Luckily, fashion always returns. Some do, others follow, other-others are chasing missed opportunities. With or without socks. Think twice.
/HORST

Image credits Vogue.co.uk

Chain Reaction II

fig a. A panel dress by Martin Margiela. And a panel dress by Maison Martin Margiela. Restaged in the latest pre-collection lookbook that looked back to the label's beginnings.

fig b. A trench coat by Veronique Branquino. And a trech coat by Veronique Branquino, accompanied by variations of Anderson and Anonymous (Maison Martin Margiela).

fig c. A black suit and the iconic image of Stella Tennant by Mark Borthwick. Two classics that set the tone for the retro-designer-triptych.

fig d. A pinstripe dress. A striped dress. A checked suit. And a shirt bra. The chronological emancipation of menswear, seen here pushed furthest by Anderson who always bows to and borrows from Kawakubo.

1. Maison Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 2006
2. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
3. Veronique Branquinho Fall/Winter 2004
4. Veronique Branquinho Pre Spring/Summer 2015
5. J.W. Anderson Pre Spring/Summer 2015
6. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
7. Maison Martin Margiela Spring/Summer 1999 & Mark Borthwick Stella Tennant, 2000
8. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
9. Veronique Branquinho Pre Spring/Summer 2015
10. J.W. Anderson Pre Spring/Summer 2015
11. Maison Martin Margiela Pre Spring/Summer 2015
12. Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 1995
13. J.W. Anderson Pre Spring/Summer 2015
14. Veronique Branquinho Pre Spring/Summer 2015

The world is a faded cloth. Designers are looking back to their origins, their founding years. The 1970s via the 1990s. Even if they weren't there. Together, they are recreating classics.

Veronique Branquinho 2015 = Veronique Branquinho, circa 1995 (regaining)
J.W. Anderson 2015 = Comme des Garçons, circa 1995 (redoing)
Maison Martin Margiela 2015 = Martin Margiela, circa 1995 (remembering)

Their colours are beige, black and blue. Their garments are tailored and masculine with softened volume and deconstructed details. Everything is nostalgic like blurry sepia images in a family album. But unfortunately, those photos aren't real, they are the result of filters.
/HORST

Image credits Vogue

Tokyo Diaries XII

A mental travel preparation.




Phenomenon Fall/Winter 2010

An empty suitcase without underwear to fill with 'other' things. In boiled wool, washed silk and polyester. Dress coats and pleated skorts. A Tokyoite wardrobe for the Post-Raphaelite.
/HORST

Historiographed, Again

1. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
2. Gucci Fall/Winter 1999
3. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
4. Gucci Fall/Winter 1997
5. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
6. Gucci Fall/Winter 1997
7. Tom Ford Fall/Winter 2014
8. Gucci Spring/Summer 1998

Tom Ford just re-did Gucci by Tom Ford (1994-2004). Red crocodile, leopard, lacing, plush fur and shiny leather. Fashion is cyclic - as it should be. And this cycle has proven itself to be around 13 to 14 years.
/HORST

Voice Files

Instant one-sentence-interviews recording the commentary of people that matter.


Alexander McQueen Fall/Winter 2014

"Love the black skirts and long double-breasted coats. Clothes suitable for formal funereal fetes or cold-night dark back alley trysts."

/BRUCE LABRUCE, film-maker

"The stiff, square shoulders are the default here so the militant exits of five or so tailored jackets serve as perfect backdrop for the sporadic appearance of rounded shoulders on cozy cardigans, turtlenecks, and sweaters. 2014 is about hugging yourself. Even the menacing leather coat is lined with plush shearling. Little goth boy has a sweet side, just check his pink plaid."
/IRIS & DANIEL, fashion editors We Have No Style

"I found McQueen to be refreshingly dark."

/MATTHEW ATTARD NAVARRO, founder Platinum Love Magazine

"Stop, isn't that Oliver Bernard? What the fuck. He's the type that would get into drunken fistfights over le mot juste, but at least he'd recite Apollinaire to you in bed after."
/RUDY KATOCH, writer via twitter

"Bleak House. Less posh & polite than McQueen has been for a while. It reminds me of their pre-2000, pre-Gucci menswear; a bit messier, and a bit rawer. McComme?"

/JOHN-MICHAEL O'SULLIVAN, writer 1972projects

"Something has happened and something is happening. Bacon, Freud, McQueen? Intellectual, tailored goth transformations with a subliminal message: teenage angst is back in stock and it comes with a hand-written price tag."
/HORST

Wishful Thinking #4

Salvador Dalí Space Venus, 1977-1984

Long time desired, never acquired. It won't even be possible, ever. What would a contemporary equivalent be? A Sarah Lucas doll ('Nud') or distorted body with gun ('AKA Peace')? Or just some John McCracken sculpural nothingness ('Nine Planks IV')?
/HORST

Anti-Me Society II

Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2013

The last hurrah by Marc Jacobs for Louis Vuitton was a self-revolting revolution. Showgirl punk with graffiti lettering, ruffles, sequins and feathered bras. Not giving a fuck was never that delicately well done.
/HORST

Anti-Me Society

Junya Watanabe Spring/Summer 2014

Revolting against oneself and a new-found appreciation of the 'ugly' were the core motifs of the Paris Spring/Summer 2014 collections - at least the stronger ones, namely those of Comme des Garcçons, Yohji Yamamoto and Junya Watanabe. Those who know will wear spiked boots next season.
/HORST

Prince Charming

Comme des Garçons Fall/Winter 2013

The 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland' chess check, 'Prinz Eisenherz' hair, a 'Ken Park' cast. Infantile as core value, historic nostalgia as ironic pastiche. This season's Homme Plus is a Boys' Plus coming-of-age toy story.
/HORST