Away from commodified ideas of perfection research by Stijlinstituut Amsterdam
The most prestigious, influential, and rebellious designers are using denim as a canvas to infuse with signature significance and cultural value, thus becoming personal, unique, disrupted, but evermore valuable: an artefact. In its contradictions, denim remains timeless: familiar and transformative, ordinary and extraordinary.
1. Denimolite, developed by Josh Myers, is one such proposition: a composite material made using discarded denim, reworked into a solid, tactile and machinable surface.
2. Acne Studios denim
3. Vawnupton’s (US) “tape” jeans use a special bonded adhesive.
Subversive classics.
Menswear’s classic suiting fabrics take centre stage across many womenswear collections though this is where the connection to the traditional masculine suit ends. The garments themselves are reimagined through an avant-garde lens, with construction and styling that challenge convention. In his second collection for Jean Paul Gaultier, Duran Lantink looked to Marlene Dietrich for inspiration, describing her as “a master in subverting clichés: sweet and dominant, sexy and graceful, the ultimate hybrid.” The show notes echoed this sentiment, framing the Gaultier brand as “a place where everything is perpetually turned upside down feminine and masculine, inside out, vintage and new, underwear as outerwear, technical and tailored all at once.” These experimental garments push the language of tailoring into new and unexpected territory.
Part of View #154
Concept & analysis: HILARY SCARLETT & LESLEY HURST
Catwalk images: LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Terra - Terra is a bold expression of identity, it signals a refusal to stay silent or invisible. It’s about reclaiming space with confidence rooted in self-expression and grounded in the richness of heritage.
A palette that speaks of what we know and love the familiar. These are colours of the Earth, of family and community in hues that connect us with solid ground in tones of foliage and undergrowth greens anchored to a subterranean black or give us our humanity in rich reds, oranges and jewel greens. Everything is done with passion and delight crafted, collaged, slow-made, handmade, recycled, upcycled and personalised. Naturally, harmonies are family bound.
Part of Trendhouse Casualwear & sportswear SS 2027
Christian Jeffery, Arte, Bottega, Subwae studios
Unadorned.
In contrast to many collections this season, this is a story which is all about pure simplicity and plainness. Kiko Kostadinov was inspired by a modernist architect and a Benedictine monk who devised a mathematical formula: a plastic number as a threedimensional alternative to the golden ratio. Their goal was extreme simplification. Kostadinov pieces centre around loose simple shapes, a refreshing departure from the complexity or structure of other seasonal stories. Fabrics here are modest and unembellished. Simon Cracker’s offering is titled “Slow – Listen Quietly” and the show invited “the audience to pause, breathe, and truly listen”. These are soulful pieces that capture unpretentious shapes in relaxed flowing fabrics.
Part of View #154
Concept & analysis: HILARY SCARLETT & LESLEY HURST
Catwalk images: LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Mythical.
Looking to myth and magic, the mood carries a sweet innocence, girly and dreamy. Airy pastels drift alongside whitened neutrals, while the materiality remains feather-light: tulles and organdies gather in frothy layers but are grounded when paired with sporty elements best seen in the Cecilie Bahnsen collection.
A devotion to flowers blooms throughout, in delicate motifs and 3D relief, crowning bonnets and accenting pretty peplumed jackets. Jonathan Anderson’s narrative for Dior was one of lightness and femininity, with fullness and frills in joyful abundance. The press release opened with a line from Radclyffe Hall’s The Well of Loneliness: “The fountains tossed clouds of spray into the air, and just for fun made an occasional rainbow.” A fitting image for collections that feel at once whimsical, luminous, and magical!
Concept & analysis: HILARY SCARLETT & LESLEY HURST
Catwalk images: LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Part of View Magazine #154
Pantone 20-0184 TPM Olivine, one of the 6 key colors for SS 2026 from Viewpoint Color Magazine — Rises as a symbol of conscious renewal. This luminous green gold invites us to redefine the meaning of wealth and embrace materials born from care, regeneration, and connection with the Earth. Olivine retains the glow of luxury, yet grounds it in natural abundance. It celebrates the living richness of ecosystems, the energy flowing through roots, minerals, and leaves, marking a shift from metallic opulence to the brilliance of life itself. In an age of uncertainty and retreat, gold has become a symbol of refuge and control. Olivine offers an alternative: a responsible luxury, an aesthetic of hope that merges biotechnology, sustainability, and the intelligence of natural processes. This hue embodies a dialogue between the mineral and the vegetal, between technology and emotion. It represents the new green utopias, where innovation grows from empathy and beauty becomes an act of respect. In visual culture, Olivine will appear through organic textures, natural metallic sheens, and evolving materials, echoing the Earth’s own regenerative energy. Olivine is a regenerative attitude, a reminder that true value lies not in gold, but in the living power of nature, our shared ecosystem.
k.m.film, isabel_rower, ETHICAL BRIGHT BIOGOLD by CAROLINA MORTARA, isabel_rower, Sakara, Loewe, Armani, Chelsielcraig, Tata Harper
ETHICAL BRIGHT BIOGOLD by CAROLINA MORTARA
In the evolving dialogue between material innovation and ethical design, BIOGOLD stands out as a radical proposition. Developed from Cellulophaga lytica, a bacterium that generates structural color without pigments or mined metals, this shimmering bio-based material reimagines the allure of gold while confronting its devastating environmental and social toll. Illegal mining in the Amazon, particularly in Indigenous territories such as Yanomami, Munduruku, and Kayapo, has long exposed the violent undercurrents behind gold’s visual seduction. BIOGOLD offers a living, luminous alternative that invites industries and consumers to rethink the gold supply chain and embrace materials rooted in care and regeneration.
Its resonance with the metallic hue Olivine is no coincidence: the color embodies the golden shimmer of wealth while grounding it in nature’s abundance. Together, BIOGOLD and Olivine signal a shift in values, where beauty aligns with responsibility, and the natural world is recognized as our truest source of richness.
Part of KEY COLOR INFLUENCE BY ELI MUÑOZ LOPEZ & GLORIA JOVER
VPC #18 Legacy
Formal fits.
Formalwear remains a fertile ground for experimentation where skill is honoured and forms the foundation, but designers take the freedom to explore far beyond the conventional departure point. The award-winning Japanese collection, Soshiotsuki, plays with fluidity and volume in trouser shapes that hang in vast folds usually associated with evening gowns, while Uma Wang takes a chalk strip, classic tailoring fabric and softens the construction, then crops the jacket revealing the waistband of crumpled balloon shaped trousers. Anthony Vaccarello takes the Saint Laurent label into queer territory; generous cuts are punctuated by the shock of striped boxers worn over trousers a deliberate tension between the conventional and the sensual. Elsewhere, precision takes hold: sculpted, scaffolding shoulders sharpen the frame, while Prada pares the silhouette back to a slim, uninterrupted line, disrupted only by wayward cuffs and deliberately crumpled, extra-long hems.
Concept & analysis: HILARY SCARLETT & LESLEY HURST
Catwalk images: LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Part of View Magazine #154
Offbeat.
This story springs from the sheer delight of mixing the incongruous high with low, precious with the everyday. The result is a joyful, wearable fusion of two distinct worlds: the erudite and beautifully adorned meeting the ordinary and familiar. A sequined skirt might be paired with woolly socks or a favourite cardigan; decoration is grounded by comfort, glamour softened by ease. The colour palette follows the same instinct, bringing together unlikely companions to create something fresh and unexpected. There is wit here, and a clear flair for fabulous amalgamations that allow the offbeat and the quirky to sing out loud and proud. The look feels intelligent and self-assured—feminine, certainly, but expressed with independence, creativity and a quietly confident sense of individuality.
Part of View #154
Concept & analysis: HILARY SCARLETT & LESLEY HURST
Catwalk images: LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
Opera arrival Ye stage design by Aus. For his April 2026 "Homecoming" show at SoFi Stadium, Ye (Kanye West) designed a groundbreaking 50-foot, Earth-replica globe stage. Co-designed with Aus Taylor, the massive, transforming spherical structure created an immersive planetarium-like experience, moving beyond traditional LED backdrops to redefine live performance architecture.
Growing the future of material culture milagros pereda, celiumTM by polybion. Research stijlinstituut Amsterdam.
Celium™ starts as raw bacterial cellulose, grown from fruit waste, and is transformed through our proprietary process into a refined, durable material with a natural feel.
Read more in View #154
Innovation.
We shine a light on designers who continue to experiment boldly, those who revolutionise fashion by fusing human craft with advancing technology. Their work is driven by curiosity and delivered with a sense of fun, producing collections that carry an undeniable wow factor. At Loewe, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez push boundaries with a collection they describe as “an intellectual, process-driven pursuit charged with playfulness. It is the idea of play as rigorous experimentation and problem-solving, moving between instinct and experience, between a devotion to craft and its endless opportunities for innovation and development, propelled by boundless curiosity.” Meanwhile Vaquera continues to celebrate fashion’s transformative power. Here, the excitement lies not only in the finished garment but also in the experimental fabrication and groundbreaking construction that brings it to life. Craft, ultimately, is the thrill of making.
Part of View #154
Concept & analysis: HILARY SCARLETT & LESLEY HURST
Catwalk images: LAUNCHMETRICS SPOTLIGHT
