Plus Ami Brings Le Marais to Melrose and Louis Vuitton Does Genderless Jewelry
Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL, MAX BERLINGER, AND KELSEY McKINNON
Languid Mornings Get Their Due at Fiorucci
Fiorucci’s calming summer hues evoke the stillness of sun-soaked mornings filled with hazy memories of the discoteca. The duality of muted peach, lilac, and baby blue paired with vibrant shades including fuchsia, lime, and teal plays out across slip dresses, miniskirts, shorts, wide-legged pants, and crocheted tops. The Italian house’s artistic director, Daniel Fletcher, also collaborated with graphic artist Nicholas Law on a pastel motif inspired by hazy sunrises for oversize knitwear and short twinsets for this languid Spring/Summer 23 collection. Woven patches of Fiorucci Angels, the house’s spirit animals created in 1981 by Italo Lupi, appear on tank tops, and a larger version of the motif covers pale-colored knit dresses, crops, and skirts. fiorucci.com.
Burberry Shows Its Roots With a New Tome
Encased in enlarged images of trench coats is a new volume, Burberry (Assouline, $195), containing a trove of archival images exploring British craftsmanship and the enduring style codes of the 165-year-old house that were unearthed for the book. Burberry’s evolution from its beginnings as a family-run company to its transformation into a global force is charted in five chapters rife with house emblems and illustrations of early technical gear worn by the daring explorers who relied on it for their survival. Ernest Shackleton remarks on the “complete protection” from blizzards offered by a gabardine polar outfit, and the origin of the classic check cashmere scarf is attributed to a buyer for Burberry’s Paris store who removed the lining from a trench to use as an accessory. The brand’s creative heads’ continued reinvention of house classics is also well documented, including a cotton gabardine ball gown inspired by Charles Frederick Worth that also nods to famed British initiatives including “Make Do and Mend,” dating to the Second World War. assouline.com.
Levi’s 501s Mark a Major Milestone
Whether worn to shreds or crisply maintained in pristine form, the straight-legged button-fly Levi’s 501 has more than held its allure and durability over the past 150 years. With a trademark copper riveting process patented in 1873, dry goods dealer Levi Strauss and workwear innovator Jacob Davis created a global phenomenon soon denoted by lot number 501 marking the pants as the highest-quality jeans on offer. The denim that for a time became Soviet black-market currency was variously donned by cowboys, rodeo riders, off-duty women vacationing, and GIs returning from war—until artists took notice and a Hollywood costumer gave Marlon Brando a pair to wear astride a motorcycle. The denim style favored by Californians from Kim Gordon to N.W.A., Steve Jobs, and, well, nearly everyone, are now ubiquitous. This May, the original Bay Area brand is opening an immersive pop-up at the San Francisco Armory in celebration of the anniversary. Spring/Summer 23 denim introductions include the slimmer straight-legged 501 ’54 for men, a women’s 501 ’81 with the line’s highest rise, and a slew of limited-edition drops sure to become instant heirlooms. levi.com.
A Celine Store Lands in San Jose
Hedi Slimane’s distinct architectural language of new brutalism, which incorporates steel, marble, and mirrors, is the defining feature of the new Celine boutique in Santa Clara. The ground floor space houses designs from his men’s Dysfunctional Bauhaus and women’s Saint-Tropez spring ready-to-wear collections alongside leather goods (including Triomphe, Matelasse, 16, and Ava bags), shoes, jewelry, and accessories. Art for the new space, curated by Slimane, includes pieces by German sculptor David Jablonowski and Danish painter Søren Sejr. Haute Parfumerie scents such as Bois Dormant, Rimbaud, Parade, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Cologne Française, and Dans Paris are also on hand, as are the house’s candles Grands Lys, with its white lily fragrance evocative of Slimane’s beginnings as a couturier, and Nightclubbing, conjuring scents of suede, nicotine, vanilla, and after-hours treks around the streets of Paris. 2855 Stevens Creek Blvd., Westfield Valley Fair, Santa Clara, 408-478-9105; celine.com.
Louis Vuitton Goes Genderless With Volt
Francesca Amfitheatrof is expanding her geometric Volt collection for Louis Vuitton, adding new diamond-laden variations on the original triangular melding of the house’s initials. The genderless pieces—including a pendant necklace and white or yellow gold earrings created by the artistic director of watches and jewelry—are bedecked with sparkling studs held with three white gold claws, an innovation that allows for maximum shine. Interchangeable Volt designs worn by multi-hyphenate creative Kid Cudi also include bracelets in yellow gold with the two-letter motif forming a rhythmic shape that, when stacked, also resembles a heartbeat. louisvuitton.com.
Ami Brings Le Marais Style to Melrose
The Parisian brand Ami has landed in West Hollywood, bringing with it a bit of the Marais to Melrose. With street-facing windows welcoming in that Cali golden light, glass-and-marble display cases, and black-and-brown checkerboard floors, the store is a sleek vessel for the brand’s insouciant designs: oversize coats, easy trousers, lovely button-downs—perfect for that ineffable French look of being stylish without looking like you’re trying. And to take advantage of the city’s notoriously lovely weather, an outdoor patio will soon be open to passing fashion flâneurs. 8583 Melrose Ave., L.A., 323-693-2630; amiparis.com/us.
WATCHBOX’s L.A. Showroom is a Collector Magnet
Since its founding in 2017, Watchbox has been a go-to destination for savvy collectors seeking classic pre-owned Rolex Datejusts, Cartier Tanks, and what the team dubs the “holy trinity”; i.e., unicorn timepieces from Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet, and Vacheron Constantin. After the opening of its debut brick-and-mortar in Dubai, it rapidly expanded with outposts in Switzerland, Singapore, UAE, Hong Kong, New York, Miami, Dallas, and now Los Angeles. In-demand New York–based designer Andre Mellone was tapped to design the new L.A. showroom as an antidote to the conventional display-case style watch shops of the past. “It’s all about warmth and excitement and appreciation for design,” he says. By appointment only. 9220 Sunset Blvd., Ste. 210, L.A., 213-723-4700; thewatchbox.com.
Dior’s Mystery Ranch Collab Embraces the Great Outdoors
A love of nature has always been a foundational principle for the French luxury house Dior. The brand is taking that ethos into its latest partnership with the Montana-based outfitter Mystery Ranch, which is known for its tactical bags created with adventure in mind. Creative director Kim Jones reworked the saddle, one of Dior’s iconic shapes—as well as a backpack, a wallet, and a small pouch—with a sense of rugged exploration to form a collection of tough-wearing recycled nylon, packed with functionally minded details including Y-zip closures, extra double-zipped pockets, and straps that allow for easy access to various attachments. The great outdoors has never looked so chic. dior.com.
Portions of this story originally appeared in the Summer 2023 and Men’s Spring 2023 issues of C Magazine.
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