BEAUTY: Clothing--Egonlab

Paris. Men's Fashion Week. Fall Winter '25-'26

First up: Egonlab.

Kévin Nompeix and his creative partner Florentin Glémarec came back to Paris Fashion Week after taking a year off. And they came back at an interesting time for not only the United States but the entire world. They call their collection "S4LEM," a reference to the Massachusetts witch trials, as a way to speak about the current "witches": outsiders, and the misunderstood. "We are the new witches of Salem."

"We" as in minorities, they explained. As in gay, trans, queer, Black, brown, immigrants, outsiders. "You know, based on what’s happening in politics everywhere," Nompeix continued. Everywhere, yes, but most notably in the current White House occupant's first stunt, er, address as the 47th President of the United States on Monday, when he declared that it would be "official policy" of the United States government that "there are only two genders."

But instead of using witch tropes which would have been the easy path, Egonlab actually turned up the volume on the "We" section...if the machine of the current president's followers run on "liberal tears" as they have often crowed, then they don't get tears anymore. They just get us, in all our fabulous gay, trans, queer, Black, brown, immigrant, outsider glory.

The garments for this FW '25-'26 collection are subtle but once one really starts to look, they are simply amazing. One of the things that really strikes me is the brilliant juxtaposition of a tight, tailored torso with bell shaped, Kimono-like sleeves (the version in denim is surprisingly elegant). I am in love with those long coats that feature an asymmetrical one-button closure...especially the version in claret (look #16 below). Love the skirts over voluminous pants, and the maribou-esque collars and cuffs, too...very "We." But I think the most startling moment is the black leather trousers that continue up and morph into a long scarf to wrap around the neck (look #23). Wow. 

The cumulative effect of this collection is ultimately one of dashing romance. All of us witches, man...We're powerful. And We're staying right. where. We. are.

https://egonlab.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Hilary Pecis

I am fascinated by the detailed work of Hilary Pecis. I love her interior shots of people's homes, their coffee tables with objects, their collections of books and records, the daily bits and bobs...

For years, I had dreams where I would enter someone's home at night while they slept, simply because I wanted to see their "things," how they lived, what they collected. Invariably though, they would begin to wake up and it would dawn on me how this would look to the homeowner. I meant no malice and I was honestly not there to steal or to harm. But how would they know that? So in the dream, I would have to flee to the backyard, perhaps hop a fence. Interestingly, these dreams stopped after I became an interior designer. But Hilary allows me to take a long look at the titles on someone's bookshelves!

I am also drawn to street scenes and hers are marvelous. An abundance of details and signs make them worthy of study. There is something of the "outsider"/naïve style in her art, a bit of charming self-taught homeyness, like the art of Howard Finster...

https://www.instagram.com/hilary_pecis/