A new book, brand partnerships and eco-friendly products are in our selection this month.
Pop Culture
Founded by Wimbledon champion Fred Perry in 1952, the brand named after the athlete collaborates with the Amy Winehouse Foundation for a unique collection. Rooted in the singer’s sportswear and pin-up silhouettes, the collection sees influences from the modernday Fred Perry girl combined with Amy’s distinctive style. The singer loved to dress up and this line celebrates the playful side of her style references, drawing specifically on the ’60s soul music scene. The capsule is built on a monochrome palette with a checkerboard print used both as subtle detailing and more boldly across sweaters and outerwear. Each piece is signed off with two hearts — a reference to Amy’s distinct tattoos. Fred Perry supports the Amy Winehouse Foundation, making contributions to the charity.
Precious Gems
The film industry has been reproducing the stories of fashion icons, and luxury jewellery houses have been partnering with them, borrowing eye-catching pieces to portray the characters. Boucheron is featured in the latest release House of Gucci, an adaptation of Sara Gay Forden’s The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed (2000). A biopic of the Gucci family dynasty over three decades which looks back at how Maurizio Gucci, the founder’s grandson, and Patrizia Reggiani met and how their lives unfolded. In this scenario, Boucheron creations are featured in several scenes. Some of the jewellery pieces include the 31-motif; diamond-paved Serpent Bohème necklace in yellow gold; the diamond-paved Pompon necklace in pink gold; the diamond-paved Pompon Serpent Bohème bracelet in yellow gold; and the Cypris bracelet.
Motoring Style
Mercedes-Benz and the New York-based fashion label Proenza Schouler partnered to create a collection that brings a new experience in luxury fashion and responsible design. Taking inspiration from travelling and the open road, this limited-edition capsule includes seven gender-neutral styles. Each piece is a study in colour and craftsmanship that reflects the passion of both brands for exquisite materials and outstanding design. Recycled cashmere blankets offered alongside naturally tanned blanket harnesses, showcase Proenza Schouler’s take on the iconic Mercedes-Benz star. The knit turtleneck is made from luxurious recycled cashmere and the eco-cotton tie-dye T-shirt is produced using organic and eco-friendly dye methods. The campaign features the actress Laura Dern and her son Ellery Harper. A road trip of a mother and son in an all-electric EQS along the coast builds the dreamy scenery for Mercedes-Benz and Proenza Schouler’s capsule collection.
Environment Friendly
Mulberrry has launched a collection of bags using the world’s lowest carbon leather and crafted in the brand’s carbon-neutral Somerset factories. The limited-edition capsule is produced in partnership with Muirhead, a member of the Scottish Leather Group. In line with Mulberry’s Made to Last Manifesto, announced in 2021, the collection is created in the UK with a pioneering hyper-local, hyper-transparent, farm-to-finished product supply chain model, marking a bold commitment to transparency and traceability. Muirhead produces the world’s lowest carbon intensity leather. This achievement is possible by building close relationships with local farmers, utilising their pioneering thermal energy plant, which generates heat from waste, and maximising green water usage by filtering and recycling 40% of the wastewater back into leather production. This partnership with Muirhead represents the future of Mulberry.
A Designer’s Memoir
Since launching his eponymous label in 2008, Osman Yousefzada has created luxury womenswear with a unique approach. This month, the designer is releasing his first book, The Go-Between: A Portrait of Growing Up Between Different Worlds, offering a window inside the Pakistani/Afghan Pashtun community living in the west. British-born artist and renowned fashion designer Osman tells us about his own family living in a red-light district on the wrong side of the tracks. The stories he writes about, some fantastical, entertaining and funny, others moving and harrowing, take us from Birmingham to the banks of the River Kabul and the River Indus, and, eventually, to the London of Osman’s teenage years. As the designer weaves in and out of these worlds, struggling with the burdens of racism and family expectations, he is forced to realise it is no longer possible to exist in the spaces ‘in between’.