Plus Paolina Russo’s optical illusions at DSM, Chopova Lowena’s new book launch... at DSM, and other fashion news you might have missed
Artists have been using clothes as a reference point since time immemorial, and it’s no surprise that some of their most striking (and controversial) images are indebted to lingerie, from the work of contemporary artists like Arvida Byström or Anna Weyant, all the way back to the likes of Egon Schiele. There’s fantasising about lingerie, though, and then there’s John Kacere. For some 30 years, the American artist painted nothing but women in their underwear – specifically, their midsections, from the waist to the lower thigh – in his pioneering photorealist artworks, and it gained him a cult following, including a significant shoutout at Christopher Kane’s SS18 show.
Started in the mid-60s, the artist’s series of obsessive, larger-than-life erotic artworks was also documented in a 1995 book titled Kacere, published in Japan. IDEA describes it as “the best looking book in the world”, and luckily for us, the bookseller finally has a few copies in stock. In other words, if you’re looking for masterful renditions of intricate lace falling over a ribcage, yellow silk puckered into a bum crack, and sheer knickers with caging that digs into soft, hyperreal flesh (paging Michaela Stark), click here.
In other news, Maison Margiela has brought its Americana-tinged Cinema Inferno art installation to Tokyo, France is set to pay its citizens to repair their clothes rather than chucking them into landfill, and Maccapani – the recently-launched label from fashion royalty Margherita Missoni – landed in London. Flick through the gallery below for more.
PAOLINA RUSSO’S OPTICAL ILLUSION KNITWEAR HITS DSM
With yarn sourced and spun in Yorkshire, fabrics hand-dyed in Glasgow (from natural materials gathered across the UK) and garments assembled in London, Paolina Russo’s latest collection has finally reached the final destination on its UK tour: Dover Street Market. Reopening after its AW23 seasonal changeover, DSM is now exclusively stocked with the British designer’s “illusion knits” – made in association with the International Woolmark Prize 2023 – alongside her signature warrior knits, lycra shapewear, and pieces crafted out of reflective leather, all captured in an incandescent shoot by Aidan Zamiri.
CHOPOVA LOWENA’S CONVERSATIONS WITH ANGELS COMES TO LONDON
Last month, Chopova Lowena shared Conversations With Angels, the label’s third book, featuring surreal prose from Precious Okoyomon, photography by Charlotte Wales, and a starring role for Chloë Sevigny in a romantic retelling of the 1844 fairytale The Snow Queen. “I gave myself over to whatever fantasy they wanted to create and enter[ed] into their world,” Sevigny told Dazed at the Manhattan launch. “Hopefully, I channelled whatever they wanted to present.” Reader, she did. And now, Londoners will get a chance to absorb some of the poetry and pageantry at the UK launch of Conversations With Angels, taking place this evening (August 4) at DSM.
LABRUM FANCIES A PINT OF THE BLACK STUFF
Labrum’s AW23 show paid homage to Brixton’s immigrant communities, so it’s only right that the trailblazing British brand’s new collaboration with Guinness revolves around founder Foday Dambuya’s fond memories of his hometown, Freetown, Sierra Leone. Via a one-of-a-kind print, the collection tells the story of the capital’s streets, where friends and family meet to chat and play checkers over a glass of the black stuff. The drop itself includes Labrum’s famed safari shirt, alongside a t-shirt, cap, bucket hat, and socks. But, as Dambuya himself says: “[The] collaboration goes beyond clothing... it’s a union of passion, heritage and community.”
LEVI’S FLEXES JAPAN’S DENIM CREDENTIALS
Double denim might immediately conjure visions of Americana, rodeos, Lana Del Rey lyrics, etc (or, if you’ve been keeping up with Timothée Chalamet’s wardrobe, a return to the worst parts of 00s hipster fashion). Thousands of miles away, though, Japan boasts some of the most coveted denim in the world, and Levi’s are here to serve up a reminder. The brand’s AW23 Made in Japan collection features fabrics sourced from the renowned Kaihara Denim Mill in Hiroshima, which still uses rare, vintage shuttle looms in a nod to traditional craftsmanship. Launching today (August 4), the collection features a range of jackets and jeans in time-honoured, intricately-assembled silhouettes, with an accompanying campaign captured on the streets of Tokyo.