...and more fashion news you missed this week
When Casey Cadwallader and H&M unveiled their joint collection this week, fashion commentators started to Tweet things like: ‘Oh no! Who is going to buy full-price Mugler if there are cheaper versions of it available on the high street!’... which is precisely the point of the collaboration existing in the first place. The launch coincided with a balls-to-the-wall campaign video, all frenetic jump-cuts and celebrity cameos. ShyGirl, Amaarae, and Eartheater form a fictional girl band with a whispered and woozy rendition of Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better With You” alongside Arca, Mariacarla Boscono, Anna Ewers, and Imaan Hammam. True Mugler-heads will recognise the inclusion of OG muses Jerry Hall and Connie Flemming, who host a late-night talk show in redux skirt-suits from the house’s 80s archive. Click here to watch the film and gawp at all the bodysuits and sliced denim due to be released on May 11.
In other news this week, Jeremy Scott made a sudden exit from Moschino, bringing his ten-year reign of cheap-chic fashions to a close. Praying announced a collaboration with Death Grips, FLANNELS unveiled a newgen advisory board of culture leaders, SZA became the new face of Skims, and Telfar upended the fashion industry once again. For everything else you may have missed this week, click through the gallery below.
YOU WON’T BREAK MY BANK ACCOUNT: BEY COLLABS WITH BALMAIN
It almost seemed as though Beyoncé had taken her own advice this morning – to “release ya job” – when TMZ reported that adidas had shuttered the musician’s Ivy Park imprint. But when one revenue stream closes, another opens and Beyoncé soon went back on her word when she announced a surprise collaboration with Olivier Rousteing at Balmain. The 16-piece collection – titled Renaissance Couture – was designed as an accompaniment to the album, with each look corresponding to a particular track. There are embroidered columns with feathered necklines, solar-spiked breastplates, tinselled capes, metallic corsets, and chandelier hoop skirts. Everything is extra and OTT and sculptural: phonograph headpieces and pagoda-brimmed chapeaus, pannier-hipped gowns made from braided hair and draped mini-dresses in stretch sequins.
CARLOS NAZARIO GETS MOOSE KNUCKLED
This week, Moose Knuckles unveiled its new artistic director: Carlos Nazario. The Hood By Air alum, who has styled a number of the label’s most recent advertising campaigns, will help establish a new creative vision for the brand across design, image, content, stores, and marketing.
LORO PIANA’S GOT A NEW BAG
It takes a full day to produce Loro Piana’s Bale Bag, a slouchy accessory inspired by bales of cashmere. Handmade from calfskin, handstitched, and handpainted, it’s all about savoir-faire and heritage and excellence in craft. Click here to see more.
MONCLER THINKS ALICIA KEYS IS A GENIUS
Drawing inspiration from 90s streetwear and that concrete jungle (where dreams are made of) Alicia Keys has launched her Genius collaboration with Moncler – all bolshy colour blocks, bleached denim, and metallic silvers, oversized silhouettes, bucket hats, and shrunken tees. Click here to see more from the two-part campaign (shot by Ibrahem Hasan and Laura Jane Coulson).
SAUL NASH TAKES ON LUXURY GYMS
For SS23, Saul Nash prodded at the middle-class obsession with skiing and he now seems to have done the same with London’s private members' gyms. This week, the designer launched a capsule collection with Equinox and an exclusive group fitness class, Saul Nash: Creativity in Movement. The offering comprises ribbed vests, technical sweaters, joggers, laser-cut pants, gilets and jackets. Click here to see more from the collection and book a class here.
GUCCI BRINGS AN OLD LADY BACK TO LIFE
Tom Ford’s iconic Horsebit bag was revived on the SS23 Gucci runway and while that has yet to land in stores, the brand has released an even older iteration of the handbag from 1955 – a variation of the one first introduced on a signature loafer precisely 70 years ago. Halle Bailey, Hanni, and Julia Garner star in the accompanying campaign shot by Mert and Marcus. Click here to see more.
NAOMI CAMPBELL PLAYS PEEKABOO WITH FENDI
Photographed by David Sims, Naomi Campbell has reprised her role as the face of Fendi’s signature Peekabo. The bag first appeared on the SS09 catwalk and is one of the many legacies left behind by Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi’s joint tenure at the house. “I think that carrying a Peekaboo says something about a very strong, powerful and empowered person who is not afraid to hide,” Fendi said. “It has its two compartments – one you can keep close to you and closed, and the other you can choose to reveal something of yourself to the world.” Click here to see more.