These Are Not Your Average Fashion Collaborations
Spring/Summer 2021 fashion collaborations put an emphasis on community.
By Gordon Ng,
What really goes into the making of a dress or bag? With the pandemic
spurring fashion houses to put the focus back on community and craft,
we zero in on some Spring/Summer 2021 releases that prove
that sometimes, it really does take a village (or going back to one).
When it comes to nurturing a proverbial “village” of collaborators, the French maison is easily at the forefront. Every year, it shows a Metiers d’Art collection that maximises and shows off the artisanal prowess of its crafts workshops and studios. That technical wizardry also gets extended to its seasonal runway collections.
To create the tweed-like finish of the silk chiffon jacket on the right, the brand tapped into Montex – one of 27 metiers d’art it owns – to embroider on over 5,000 hotfix crystals, 6,000 straw and crystal sequins, and 24,000 glass pearls. The process takes 200 hours to complete.
The fabulously plumed look on the left is meanwhile the work of Maison Lemarie, a house known for its exquisite feather work. Calling for 75 manhours, the embroidered cape features braids of fine ostrich plumet on tulle and organza, and is further adorned with grosgrain braids and silk ribbons.
This range of perfect-for-every-day bags featuring the brand’s distinct spade motif might be one of its most popular. Did you know though that its woven fabric was created in partnership with Limonta – the famed textile mill in northern Italy founded in 1893? This season, it comes in a smart and versatile navy blue colourway and has been extended onto new shapes including a ’70s-inflected large shoulder flap bag and east-west totes with a web stripe running down the middle.
When a trend surges in popularity, it’s often a good idea to go back to its source. That’s what the French label did when it partnered with Filt on its new – and effortlessly cool – net tote this season. Based in Normandy, Filt has been producing this style of shopping bags since 1860. Longchamp’s rendition has the signature Russian leather handles and flap of the brand’s iconic Le Pliage as well as a shoulder strap for maximum convenience. Best of all: Since these net bags were originally used for carrying groceries and produce, they’re extremely hardy and can hold a considerable amount of weight. For everyday use, consider lining the bag with a scarf or silk square.
To give the cuffs and bracelets from its Sunset range its cool and youthful brushed metal effect inspired by the Californian skyline at dusk, the label looks quite literally to the golden state: A Santa Barbara-based studio is behind their coloured, anodised aluminium finish.
This season, the collection expands to include a range of hair barrettes at once trendy and sophisticated in shades like blue, yellow and green. There’s also the Kellywood Perspective Cavaliere, an innovative update on the brand’s well-loved trapezium bag. This version is a highly precise work of marquetry, joining nine different types of leather and wood spanning 12 colours and totalling 60 pieces. The “Perspective Cavaliere” artwork itself comes from a silk scarf design by the art collective Anamorphee – how’s that for some cross-pollination across the maison’s different metiers?
For the past few years, creative director Jonathan Anderson has been cultivating a web of co-conspirators for the Spanish luxury house. That notably includes the basket-weaving artist Idoia Cuesta, who has worked with the brand since it began exploring basketry in 2019. Anderson’s brief to her this season: make a “masterpiece” of what she does.
Cuesta – who hails from the autonomous community of Galicia in Spain – met this challenge by creating intricately sculpted cages of woven leather that girded voluminous fabric, resulting in some of the most dramatic and sublime dresses of Spring/Summer 2021.
This article first appeared in the April 2021 Community edition of FEMALE