JORDANLUCA SPRING SUMMER 2024

Cosmetics magnate Leonard Lauder’s popular phrase, the “lipstick index”, was coined in recognition of a singular fact – that sales of lipstick (and associated makeup) are inversely commensurate with the health of the economy. In other words, when times are hard, people buy lipstick – that most strident, armour-like and statement-making of cosmetics. This idea is the launchpad for JORDANLUCA SS24, which also marks the first full collection of womens- wear, presented alongside menswear. Lipstick is represented by the recurring red detail that threads its way through the collection. It’s no accident that red, a colour historically associated with power and ritual, also evokes blood, life, murder, sex and death, all reiterative themes in SS24. Among the various greys, browns, neutrals and muds, flecks of red appear and then recede throughout a collection that touches on glamour, crisis and the philosophy of absurd- ism. JORDANLUCA SS24 emphasises draping, high-necked austerity, lace, ruching and gathering, plus suiting across mens and womenswear with connotations of The City and Wall Street. These are not designs that look to the past or the future; they’re for right now. Lines and shapes are rendered according to an extreme and binary understanding of men’s and women’s bodies, while still challenging gender norms. The hunched ‘bulldog’ style from FW23 is carried over into the new trench, single and dou- ble-breasted blazers. Kilting is reimagined in the form of kilt-pencil skirts, dropped blazers, draped kilt/dresses and jackets. These are designs for a society in its post-anxiety period, for people wresting joy from adversity and finding happiness in the face of hard economic outlook. The search for supercharged sexual connection, whether ephemeral or long-lasting, whether tender or cannibalistic, is apparent in many of the garments, including the draped top with its devastating wisp of chiffon. SS24 is about facing the sometimes-Sisyphean challenge of life with a fearlessness and an optimism which, though it may be naive, still manages to outpace tired hardbitten cynicism.