Hemlines may once have been a cute way of monitoring the state of the economy – rather aptly, they are all over the place these days – but nothing gives a snapshot of global hard-currency health better than a flick through the September issues of the world’s glossiest fashion magazines.

Landing on newsstands with a reassuringly weighty thud early this month, the current edition of US Vogue has more advertising than any other American fashion or lifestyle magazine, with a whopping 631 ad pages. Yet it is still down 4.5 per cent on last year’s Lady Gaga extravaganza of 665 pages – which in turn was down on the magazine’s peak of 727 pages of ads in 2007.

The luxury sector may not have turned an economic corner – yet. And in fashion terms the mood is not exactly upbeat, either: think brown and black set against brutalist concrete architecture (Prada); corseted women hanging around in a drab hotel suite (Dior); and models trapped in a surrealist crazy golf course from hell, wearing equally disturbing knitwear (Kenzo). Yes, advertising matters, not only as a barometer of the spending trends of the fashion world, but also as a tone-setting exercise. The following images are how fashion should look this autumn/winter, straight from the designer’s eye, so take note.

Stella McCartney

Who: Kate Moss, shot by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.

What: Kate unzipped. The season may be awash with supermodels, but Ms Moss’s seventh time in front of the camera for Stella McCartney still seems like an event.

Where: A “funny turn” in the haberdashery department – supported by a surreal and shouty short film. “We’re all golden sunflowers inside,” says Kate. Of course we are, love.

Why: With friends like these? Why not.

stellamccartney.com

Alexander Wang

Who: Anna Ewers, Vanessa Moody, Katlin Aas, Kat Hessen and Lexi Boling, shot by Steven Klein.

What: You’re nicked – by the fashion police.

Where: Like the set of Orange Is the New Black, only less colourful.

Why: Wang’s “urban survival gear” takes a sinister twist. Unless Wang knows something we don’t about his customer profile.

alexanderwang.com

Moschino

Who: Models Linda Evangelista, Stella Tennant, Carolyn Murphy, Saskia de Braw, Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmermann, shot by photographer Steven Meisel.

What: Close your eyes, imagine Richard Avedon shooting a fast-food chain commercial in the early 1990s, and you are almost there.

Where: A studio set, just a stone’s throw away from a deep-fat fryer.

Why: Newly installed designer Jeremy Scott’s “Happy Meal” – inspired homage to a certain American burger restaurant has given the tired Italian label new cult status – and a lot of kitsch value to boot.

moschino.com

Louis Vuitton

Who: Danish-born model Freja Beha Erichsen, shot by photographer Juergen Teller.

What: Back-to-the-future, with new boy Nicolas Ghesquière hiring not one, but three big names (Teller, Annie Leibowitz and Bruce Weber) to shoot his late 1960s-/early 1970s- inspired collection.

Where: The subterranean lair of a James Bond villain. Roger Moore is waiting just offset to reclaim his car keys.

Why: After a year-and-a-half fashion “gardening leave” since leaving Balenciaga, Ghesquière obviously had a lot of fashion imagery to get out of his system with the help of stylist Marie-Amélie Sauvé, a starry model cast, three very expensive snappers and an ultra-cool car.

louisvuitton.com

Dior

Who: Model Julia Nobis (plus Helena Severin, Fei Fei Sun and Kasia Jujeczka), shot by photographer Willy Vanderperre.

What: Creative director Raf Simons airs his masculine-meets-feminine collection, styled by Olivier Rizzo.

Where: Waiting for room service to finally arrive; a charmless hotel suite somewhere, Manhattan.

Why: For all Simons’ skill reworking the Bar jacket, the bestselling Lady Dior bag and latest Fusion trainer heels take centre stage.

dior.com

Lanvin

Who: Model Edie Campbell, shot by photographer Tim Walker. Art directed by Ronnie Cooke Newhouse.

What: It’s a family affair. Edie is joined by various members of the Campbell clan, including mother Sophie Hicks, father Roddy, grandmother Joan, grandfather Jeremy, sister Olympia and even her horse, Dolly.

Where: A large, no doubt messy, studio in west London.

Why: Inspired by the French fashion house’s mother-and-daughter logo. Did Lanvin get a bulk deal by casting the whole family?

lanvin.com

Prada

Who: Models Mica Arganaraz and Karl Kolbitz, shot by Steven Meisel.

What: Miuccia Prada’s knitwear, inspired by Fassbinder’s The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972).

Where: Not some secret police headquarters in the Eastern Bloc but Bedford Hills, upstate New York.

Why: It taps in to the luxury shopper’s art-house side – with the requisite quota of covetable shoes and bags.

Prada.com

Dolce & Gabbana

Who: Models Claudia Schiffer, Bianca Balti, Kate Bogucharskaia, and Nastya Sten, shot by designer Domenico Dolce.

What: Would you Adam and Eve it? Claudia’s back, looking better than ever.

Where: A fairytale forest, wholly populated by Sicilian stereotypes.

Why: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Italian designer duo – recently found guilty of tax evasion – have escaped in to a mythical fantasy past.

dolcegabbana.com

Kenzo

Who: Models Guinevere Van Seenus and Robert McKinnon, created in partnership with Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari, both of the art magazine Toilet Paper.

What: A smart/casual date turns nasty at a local all-night crazy golf course.

Where: A set designed by David Lynch, no less.

Why: Designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon’s latest collection was their third inspired by film director Lynch’s off-kilter oeuvre – including Twin Peaks, of course. Unsettling? The knitwear sure is.

kenzo.com

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2024. All rights reserved.
Reuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments section

Follow the topics in this article

Comments