designers

On my radar: Soshiotsuki



Soshiostuki ss26

Congratulations to Soshi Otsuki, who just won the LVMH Prize.

Since launching as a menswear brand, Soshiotsuki, in 2015, his “distorted elegance” (also the name of his AW25 collection) in the tradition of Armani, Cerruti and even Studio Nicholson, now includes a number of women’s pieces.

To be specific, that means taking western men’s tailoring and filtering it through a Japanese lens – cardigan-soft fabrics, gentle gathering and draping, voluminous tailored trousers, enveloping knits – and juxtaposing them through careful styling. (more…)



Random recs: a Phoebe store, the Versace exhibition, Conde Nast-algia and my summer Supergas



Phoebe Philo store Carlos Place

A few snippets of digital ephemera and IRL recommendations I’ve enjoyed lately…

1/ PHOEBE PHILO (above) is returning to Mayfair. I confess I’ve found it harder to engage with Phoebe’s brand without the traditional catwalk show, look book images, or physical retail. So having an IRL store in London is welcome news. (more…)



Michael Rider’s Celine Spring 26: first impressions are in



Celine Spring 26 by Michael Rider

Sunday saw quite the buzz around the New New Celine show – the debut by Michael Rider, a well-liked alumnus of Phoebe Philo’s Celine, Nicholas Ghesquiere’s Balenciaga and Polo Ralph Lauren.

The result was – quelle surprise! – an amalgam of Ralph, Phoebe’s Celine and Hedi’s Celine. What does that look like? Classic Ralph-like preppy-isms (camel coats, primary colours, blazers and rugby shirts), Phoebe-era scarves and bags, and Hedi’s cool factor in the skinny pants (hated those!) and indie-Oxbridge haircuts. (more…)



Me+Em’s Goop-style glow-up



Me+Em Marylebone

Has Me+Em had a secret Goop-tinged glow-up without me realising?

The successful British brand is going from strength to strength, catering for a mid-tier busy working mum customer with a contemporary edge. But stopping by its new-ish Marylebone store, it suddenly felt less ‘Marylebone mom’ and more LA-London luxury-lite-core.

The store itself does a lot of heavy lifting. It’s beautiful; light-filled, spacious and fabulously merchandised. But the product also looks really good. (more…)