Celebrate the arrival of a new month – and season – with plenty of new things to buy
A new month – and a new season – provides a welcome excuse for a wardrobe face lift. Much like the spring season itself, our latest wishlist is one of new beginnings, with Kenzo’s Memento 4 line, newly presented in Paris this week, to Plan C’s first-ever offering and The Vampire’s Wife’s eight-piece capsule collection for Net-a-Porter, there’s plenty to get you through the next four weeks.
1. Helmed by Susie Cave, The Vampire’s Wife has won a legion of fans for its Victoriana-inspired take on femininity. This month, the label is launching a special collection with Net-a-Porter, featuring eight gowns in signature floral-print silk, georgette and velvet.
2. London-based designer Stefan Cooke – part of incubator Fashion East/MAN – creates clothes that elevate the everyday with intricate craftmanship and visual tricks (what appars to be an Argyle sweater, for example, might be made from hundreds of threaded buttons). Now, he’s launching a collection of bags on Matches, including this playful tote bag printed with another bag entirely, and made of biodegradable natural fibres. Pieces such as these have made Cooke’s a label to invest in: just this week, he was announced as a semi-finalist for the prestigious LVMH prize.
3. The fourth edition of Kenzo’s La Collection Memento, presented at Paris Fashion Week on Wednesday via an energetic dance presentation, saw creative directors Carol Lim and Humberto Leon draw inspiration from Kenzo Takada’s vast archive of prints. Among the graphic motifs across this season’s mens- and womenswear offering – which launched straight after the show – are hyperreal tomatoes from the brand’s S/S92 collection, leopard prints, and the ‘running tiger’ motif, which first appeared on the label’s catwalks in the 80s.
4. The end of February saw the year’s first days of sunshine – prepare for the spring and summer ahead with Balenciaga’s newly released eyewear collection. We currently have our eyes on this pair of grey-tinted cat-eye frames, though with Balenciaga-printed ‘Logomania’ aviators and slim acetate Matrix-inspired frames (the ‘Neo’), there’s something for everyone.
5. This spring, fine-tune your fragrance collection by investing in Sana Jardin’s Savage Jasmine scent – a musky combination of clove, tobacco and jasmine petals. Committed to ethically and environmentally conscious production and manufacturing, the label also provides fair wages and teaches business skills to the Moroccan workers who harvest the flowers used in its products.
6. Founded just last year, Italian label Plan C is the brainchild of Carolina Castiglioni, the daughter of Marni founder Consuelo Castiglioni. Conceived with the same whimsical approach as her mother’s original collections, the label’s S/S19 collection presents several offbeat staples, like this sumptuous leather coat in seaweed green. Find it now at Browns.
7. No matter the season, The Row will always find a way on to our wishlist. This pair of barely-there sandals in midnight blue will see you through spring, all the way to summer heatwaves.
8. Central Saint Martins student Harris Reed – a favourite of former Another Man cover star Harry Styles – aims to challenge the constraints of gender with dramatic designs for men and women that evoke Victoriana, romanticism and glam rock, all at once. Theatrical balloon-sleeves, flared cuffs and ruffles (alongside plenty of metallic shine) characterise his latest collection, now available exclusively at Matches.