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Dagmar pacifies urbanity into deluxe wearability

House of Dagmar avoided a literal expression of metropolitan highs and lows with graffiti etchings, but instead, ikat prints mimicked mapping and played to the idea of the urban jungle as a fusion of cultures, writes The Local's Victoria Hussey.

Published: 27 August 2013 09:47 CEST

Dagmar pacifies urbanity into deluxe wearability

In the stifling fashion pavilion tent in Stockholm’s Kungsträdgården, House of Dagmar’s SS14 collection was, in more than one way, hotly anticipated.

Since 2005, Dagmar – a label run by three sisters – has been carving out a path in Swedish fashion that perfectly mirrors the Scandinavian penchant for less-is-more with a modern, refined femininity. There was more of this in Monday’s spring/summer 2014 show.

This collection was for the city. Inspired by artist Rebecka Andersson’s art work of Stockholm’s safer and rougher areas – Nolli Stockholm – House of Dagmar refined any notion of urban chaos and created rather a level playing field. Carefully combining niceties and wealth in smooth, pure cream knitwear and soft tailoring with fuzzy jumpers mimicking the artificial light of the night when mood changes and in every city, people present a blurred version of themselves.

IN PICTURES: Mercedes Benz Fashion Week House of Dagmar Women’s Summer/Spring 2014

In fact, the subtle lines in Dagmar’s collection were just that, subtle. This wasn’t a literal expression of metropolitan highs and lows with graffiti etchings. Instead, ikat prints mimicked Andersson’s mapping and played to the idea of the urban jungle as a fusion of cultures and styles whilst holographic square heels injected a hazy mix of summer sunshine and transition into darkness. Dagmar’s woman makes twilight her time to shine.

The colouring was urbanely placid – a lot of black – but there were hints of Stockholm’s pastel façade in road-lined soft, biker-style jackets.

Overall, it’s this wearability and mood that makes Dagmar so appealing. Add to that the collection’s hidden gems and much like a city-scape, things got more interesting.

There were zips in unexpected places – on the edge of a fine, sheer-layered dress – and raw edges that added another dimension to the staple leather jacket or covetable evening gown in nude.

Victoria Hussey

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French Vogue celebrates 100 years

French Vogue celebrates 100 years. Photo: Thomas Olva/AFP

But as well as celebrating the magazine’s storied history, the exhibit comes at a time of turbulence for the publication.

Just last month, it was confirmed that its editor of 10 years, Emmanuelle Alt, was out and wouldn’t be replaced.

She was not alone.

Looking to cut costs, owner Conde Nast International has axed editors across Europe over the past year, and put international Vogue editions under the direct control of global editorial director, Anna Wintour, in New York.

New York-based Anna Wintour now has overall control of French Vogue. Photo by Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP

Like much of the media industry, Vogue is struggling with tumbling sales and ad revenue in the digital era.

But the latest twist is also part of the endless push and pull between New York and Paris going back to its early days.

“The whole history of French Vogue is one of back-and-forth with Conde Nast in New York – growing more independent for a while, then being reined back in,” said Sylvie Lecallier, curator of the new exhibition, “Vogue Paris 1920-2020″, which opened this weekend after a year’s delay due to the pandemic.

The Paris edition was often the loftier, more bohemian sibling to its more hard-nosed New York version.

But it was also the hotbed in which much of 20th century style and womenhood came to be defined.

“Paris was the place to hunt out talent and content and bring it to New York,” said Lecallier.

The exhibition charts the evolution from art deco drawings of the 1920s through the erotic image-making of photographers like Helmut Newton in the 1960s and 1970s.

Its last peak was under editor Carine Roitfeld in the 2000s, who brought back a provocative Gallic identity by ridding the newsroom of foreign staff and becoming a fashion icon in her own right.

Her successor, Alt, was a quieter presence, though she still oversaw key moments including its first transgender cover star, Brazilian Valentina Sampaio, in 2017.

But internet culture has created “a perfect storm” for Vogue, says media expert Douglas McCabe of Enders Analysis.

“The first 80 years of Vogue’s life, it had the market to itself, it was the bible for fashion,” McCabe told AFP.

“But online today, there are so many other ways to get your information. Influencers, Instagram, YouTube — everyone’s a threat.”

In a world where new fashion trends can blow up around the world in seconds, it has become much harder for a monthly magazine to set the pace.

“It’s not that they can’t survive for another 100 years — but they will be differently sized,” McCabe said.

Vogue has tried to branch out into different areas, including events.

“I used to work for a magazine, and today I work for a brand,” Alt said on the eve of French Vogue’s 1,000th issue in 2019.

But the big money was always in print, and Vogue Paris sales are dropping steadily from 98,345 in 2017 to 81,962 to 2020, according to data site ACPM.

It is perhaps unsurprising that the new top job in Paris, redefined as “head of editorial content”, went to Eugenie Trochu, who was key to building the magazine’s online presence.

She declared herself “thrilled to be part of Vogue’s international transformation”.

For the curator of the exhibition, it is ironic timing.

“We had no idea it would end like this when we started work on the exhibition,” said Lecallier.

“Who knows where it will go from here.”

The exhibition Vogue Paris 1920-2020 is at the Palais Galliera in Paris’ 16th arrondissement. The gallery is open 10am to 6pm Tuesday to Sunday and is closed on Mondays. Tickets for the exhibition are €14 (€12 for concessions and under 18s go free) and must be reserved online in advance.

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