“There’s been a crudeness in the finishing, but recently I’ve been trying to elevate that and asking how to make it feel really considered,” said Edward Cuming. During a showroom walkthrough in Paris, the leggy blond Australian picked up one of the charmingly disheveled viscose pieces that featured swirled, Klimt-esque manipulations of torn linings. It’s become something of a signature for the designer, and appeared this time in shades of rusty red, with sky blue spirals peeking through.
“I’m really interested in making things that feel touched, they just have that kind of inexplicable quality of human interaction,” said Cuming, who is based in Madrid. Hems were left intentionally raggedy to invite further wear and tear. “I’ve always had this kind of obsession with holding onto things, cutting into them, modifying them. Over time, I find that their evolution and the way that they’re changing and evolving just makes me love them more and makes it harder to part with them.” If only more of us could love our clothes to death.
While tactile textile work is the thing, what Cuming’s work is really about is the humor and levity he finds in real life. Take this season’s paneled, bias-cut draped dresses with torn-off sleeves that are gathered at the hip. The detail was inspired by a stranger that he had spotted who was holding her own dress just-so. “A lot of my research is primary—maybe it’s a photo I take of a person in the street, or someone readjusting themselves on the metro,” he said. That gesture culminated in a few different iterations, namely a sequined black dress which was coincidentally the brand’s first ever evening gown.
A black trench coat, also with hems cut and sealed, will fray with wear but in a way that’s still controlled. “The brand has been associated with sort of a lightness, [and a] summery airness for a long time, but our in-studio secret is that we love doing big coats,” he said. “The fact is, they’re not the volume business driver but we have so much fun doing them.”
Surprising but delightful were the upholstery-like jacquards and textured florals that came from a reject pile of fabrics Cuming found in his studio, transformed into comfy-looking hoodies and stretch-cuffed pants. “I want to challenge ideas of what’s tasteful or what’s palatable and kind of push sometimes a little bit of ugliness, especially when there’s a lot of neutrality in the world at the moment.” He got that balance of crudeness and consideration just right.
