Matty Bovan wins the International Woolmark Prize and Supreme collaborates with the silky, swirly Emilio Pucci
“It feels like now is a time for healing,” says Sarah Burton, “more than ever, a sense of humanity, of the team working together with a single aim – to make something beautiful, something meaningful – feels both precious and important.” The designer is, of course, referring to the AW21 collection that she has spent the past few months cultivating at Alexander McQueen, unveiled this week in a series of haunting images shot by Paolo Roversi.
“Healing” came by way of two reference points for Burton: anemone flowers and water. As such, big, blown-out pieces, including peach ballroom dresses, full-bodied, jet black silk skirts, and creamy boat neck knits, came layered in crimson floral prints, abstracted so that they fan out of garments like bloodied bullet wounds. Burton’s trademark hybrids infiltrated, too – a nimble, herringbone suit had been blasted with the sleeves of a bomber jacket while denim bustiers were spliced over regal peacoats. Romanticism, like always, only went as far as its antagonist, grunge, would allow.
Marc Jacobs also looked to grunge this week, debuting a pair of church bell Balenciaga jeans, which may well herald a (new) nu-rave aesthetic within fashion. Otherwise, Kanye showed off the first piece from his much-anticipated Yeezy partnership with Gap and Romeo Beckham fronted Saint Laurent’s latest campaign. The best link-up, however, came on Sunday night when Michaela Coel stepped out onto the Baftas red carpet in a custom-made gown by Dazed 100 nominee Maximilian.
In potentially more depressing news, Netflix dropped a line of Halston dresses having just documented the struggles the same designer encountered when surrendering his name to licensing deals. Oh, and we found out that fast fashion is basically 50 per cent plastic, so that’s good. Check out more fashion news you may have missed below:
MATTY BOVAN WINS THE INTERNATIONAL WOOLMARK PRIZE
Last week Solange dropped her first fashion film spotlighting the 6 finalists of the International Woolmark Prize – an accolade previously bestowed upon a young Karl Lagerfeld. Yesterday it was announced that the 2021 winner was North Yorkshire’s Matty Bovan, who also took home the Karl Lagerfeld Award for Innovation, with an overall prize fund of $300k in Australian dollars. “It’s a huge honour to win both of these prizes and I’m so excited for where it’s going to take me,” the designer said. “I’ve relished being a part of the whole process – it’s already opened my eyes to how I can create a best practice future footprint and will enable me to elevate my brand with an even greater awareness and knowledge of how I operate a sustainable business and label.” Read more about that here.
TELFAR IS ABOUT TO DROP THE UGG COLLECTION
First announced with a series of adorable Instagram shots last November, with Telfar Clemens himself as Santa Claus, surrounded by Andrex puppies, the hotly anticipated UGG and Telfar collab is finally coming. On June 14 the collection will go live on telfar.net for one-week, then come June 21, the line will retail on UGG.com and UGG stores in and around the US. Within the collection, calf high, graphite UGGs are spliced with Telfar’s logo, while t-shirts are sprinkled with diamante branding, and unisex boxers come co-branded. It’s only a smattering of items but there is more to come – all will be revealed in September.
YOU CAN NOW VIRTUALLY TRY-ON DIOR ACCESSORIES
Dior is launching its World Tour capsule which will see key pieces from the men’s accessories line put through a kaleidoscope of colourways. The drop includes a limited edition B27 sneaker, a saddle belt bag, a card holder, and a clutch in bright red, yellow, green, blue, and black. The label has also collaborated with Snapchat to create two new try-on filters, meaning you can test out Kim Jones’ new sneakers and saddle bags at the swipe of a finger. The World Tour collection will go live later this month.
SUPREME AND EMILIO PUCCI HAVE COLLABORATED
Supreme announced yet another collaboration this month, this time with the storied Florentine label Emilio Pucci, known for its swirling prints and silk scarves. The collection went live on Thursday and featured an array of sports-inspired looks – football shirts, hoodies, tracksuits, and karate jackets. The line has, of course, sold out and is already being schilled on resale websites for almost triple the price.
LOUIS VUITTON AND NIGO MAKE STREETWEAR FANS SWEAT
Following the success of last year’s collaboration, Virgil Abloh and Japanese designer Nigo dropped a second LV² collection this week. Think colour-blocked workwear blazers, denim suits in a monogram camouflage, rowing blazers forged from Louis Vuitton trunks, and kimono-indebted shirting. “The first season we did the unexpected by not employing a graphic look and feel,” Abloh told Vogue. “But since both of our careers have been championing this strain with fashion design, those graphic motifs take a more prominent space in this collection.” The collection will roll out into stores later this year.
JW ANDERSON RELEASED A VINTAGE PORN CAPSULE
JW Anderson’s latest offering comes via Tom of Finland, the pornographic trailblazer whose depictions of men enjoying guilt-free sex had a thunderclap impact on gay culture. The line emblazons one of Tom’s leather daddies on t-shirts, shorts, bags, and sweaters. It goes live online and instore on June 14 and if you get in there quickly you can also pick up an action man figure complete with adjustable appendages. In the meantime see more on Tom of Finland’s homoerotic legacy here.
VALENTINO AND CRAIG GREEN HAVE DESIGNED A SNEAKER
Valentino’s emblematic Rockstud has been reinterpreted by London’s Craig Green in a brutalist sneaker, which goes live today. The collaboration was announced last year as the first iteration of Rockstud X, a rollout of Valentino-designer hook-ups. “I love him as a person,” Pierpaolo Piccioli said of Green, “We’re different cultures, ages, different identities and still we connected instantly”. The co-designed sneaker, which comes in black, ivory, green, and grey, gets its official debut at London and Ginza’s Dover Street Market. The sneaker will soon go live on Valentino’s website so keep an eye out over there.
ASHLEY WILLIAMS UNVEILS A DARK TWISTED FANTASY FOR AW21
Ribbon-festooned tights and whimsical milkmaid gowns – which had been emblazoned with illustrated kittens – were offset with darker, emo knitwear and clomping mary jane platform brogues in Ashley Williams’ latest collection. It was that standard, slightly twisted kitsch which the designer, who has recently moved out of London and further into her cottagecore universe, has become known for. Check out the collection here.
BURBERRY HAS PLEDGED TO GO CLIMATE POSITIVE
2040 is the deadline that the British label has given itself to become not only carbon neutral but climate positive – meaning it will give more to the earth than it takes. Beyond reducing emissions by 46 per cent across its extended supply chain, the brand will be investing in programmes that protect and restore natural ecosystems. Currently on track to be carbon neutral by 2022, Burberry is the first luxury fashion label to make a pledge of this scale. Find out more about Burberry’s climate commitment here.
SUBMISSIONS ARE OPEN FOR A BRAND NEW FASHION SCHEME
Comms agency Reference Studios and the Italian concept store Slam Jam have now opened submissions for an incubation scheme for emerging fashion brands. The lucky winner will be awarded a tailored blend of support services from Slam Jam, while Reference Studios are offering a PR retainer free of charge. The ultimate goal is to enable a self sustainable brand. Applications run until July 31 – so click here to get the ball rolling.