Capsule #61 ft. Kyle MacNeill

Hello hello,

Hope you are all okay 🖤

In today’s issue: a special moment from Copenhagen Fashion Week, tracing the bubble hem trend and how to style it today, plus Capsule newsy bits you may have missed this week. And don’t sleep on the new Addison Rae!

Hope you have lovely weekends!

Holly x

A special moment from CPHFW

As Copenhagen Fashion Week draws to a close, and I want to bring our attention to one brand: Sinéad O’Dwyer. The eponymous label of The Irish-born, London-based designer won the Zalando Visionary Award earlier this year, meaning they were invited to make their CPH debut this summer. Only founded in 2018, the brand already has a reputation for embracing body diversity, creating clothing that, in London Fashion Week’s words, accommodates “femme-identifying bodies that have historically been precluded access to luxury ready-to-wear.” Their SS25 show didn’t disappoint.

Against the backdrop of a neon green sculpture of the female torso, models emerged in form-fitting denim, halter-neck tops, and rah-rah skirts. I was pleased to see the puffball hem skirts and dresses, which we’ll explore more later 👀. You’ll also notice the ballet sneakers, which are an ode to Irish dancing shoes, and staying true to the brand’s values, models were a variety of different shapes and sizes (Sinéad O’Dwyer creates garments using multiple fit models of various sizes, instead of the one traditional sample size). The label also made history by casting Lucy Edwards, who became the first blind person to model at Copenhagen Fashion Week, and the first blind person to have walked for a London brand. The show’s hairstylist, Anna Cafone, told Vogue what this casting meant to her:

The show was set to music overlayed with spoken word. I listened closely for a moment, as the soothing tones uttered: “The body, joyfully breathing in the material. And the material suggests we have a party.” This was one of those shows that affirms that what matters most about clothing is the people wearing it, and it’s incredibly cool to see an emerging designer, with far less money to play with than the big hitters, use their space and platform to create the world in which they want to be a part.

Another quick note from CPH…

I also wanted to show you some of the looks from the Baum und Pferdgarten, which were very Olympics coded, very blokecore, very of the moment. Models walked down the blue running track at Østerbro Stadium, pairing sporty pieces with classic wardrobe staples - the way many of us put outfits together everyday. A few highlights:

I think this sporty, preppy feel will pop up again at fashion weeks in September. Sport inspiration isn’t going anywhere, and is felt even more strongly against a backdrop of patriotic events like elections and the Olympics. “People aren’t buying dresses anymore,” said creative director Rikke Baumgarten. I say that we do, but we dress them down with casual bits, exactly like this.

Back to bubble skirts…

You have probably noticed people on your feeds and out in the world wearing bubble (AKA balloon or puffball hem) skirts. As with most trends, it didn’t just fall out of a coconut tree 🥲. The style dates back to the 1950s, when designers Pierre Cardin and Hubert Givenchy created versions of the silhouette. We saw it again in the early 1980s with a YSL couture bubble skirt, and then in 2012, for a Miu Miu resort collection. Those historic reference points came to the fore once again in SS24 runway collections, which is why we’ve seen the style come around once again.

Celebrities and tastemakers quickly adopted the trend too, giving high street retailers a window to deliver iterations for the masses this summer. Searches for ‘bubble skirt’ are at an all-time high this August, and this viral AMYLYNN dress prompted the brand to create an entire line of puffball hem clothing.

If you’re a skirt person, this trend is likely to interest you, because they are super versatile when it comes to styling. Here are a few ways you could wear a bubble skirt in a way that feels contemporary, if you are tempted:

Links: Skirt (Weekday), top (Cos, with similar versions in Weekday, Massimo Dutti and Tala), sunglasses (Weekday), bag (French Connection), socks (Calzedonia), loafers (Vagabond)

Links: Skirt (Weekday), t-shirt (Urban Outfitters, with similar versions in Abercrombie & Fitch), belt (Free People), bag (Urban Outfitters), trainers (Adidas, similar version here), socks (Anthropologie)

Links: Skirt (Weekday), hoodie (Weekday), bag (Desigual), hair clips (Claire’s), boots (Dune)

And finally…

Newsy bits you may have missed this week:

• Iris Law is the new face of Versace glasses

• Rihanna news: she was back at Crop Over festival, on another cover of Perfect mag, and having fun on a boat with A$AP

• Ben Affleck giving newly-divorced 

• The Vogue September issue is here and not everyone is loving it…

• Hunter Schafer went on Call Her Daddy and talked about how being cheated on “fundamentally changed [her] as a person”

• Chloë Sevigny and her son wore matching Gap x Palace windbreaker sets 🥺

• We had the Apple dance and now we have the Guess remix dance…

• And Sabrina Carpenter made a rare appearance in a LONG dress

This week, Kyle MacNeill popped into Capsule to share what’s 🔥hot🔥 and what’s not 🙅‍♀️ …

Kyle is a freelancer who has written about pop culture for the likes of The Guardian, THE FACE, VICE, New York Times, Dazed and Vogue. He's interested in weird objects, obsolete tech, niche communities and strange crazes.

📺 Watching: The music video to the new Addison Rae song, ‘Diet Pepsi’. Very much here for Addison Del Rey…🇺🇸. One of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen at the Olympics. And sitting tight for the Closing Ceremony on Sunday, holding onto all the rumours (Beyoncé, Billie Eilish).

📖 Reading: This GQ profile on Lucky Blue and Nara Smith, which I think does a pretty good job of showing a glimpse of life behind the cooking videos (they seem pretty normal).

Also this stream of consciousness text from Brenda Weischer (@brendahashtag), about how it feels to be getting older, busier, and coming down from the high of achieving something you thought you never would.

🎧 Listening to: This Is How Tomorrow Moves, the new Beabadoobee album, Clairo’s cover of ‘Brooklyn Baby’ by Lana Del Rey, and this episode of the Gayotic with MUNA podcast, which discusses Katie Gavin’s solo career.

This week, Trixie brings some SPF intel to us. Positive news: we’re raising the bar for our SPF - this year, SPF 50 is being searched 180x more than SPF 30. Surprising news: this week, searches for sun cream for dogs overtook searches for sun cream for babies for the first time ever in the UK. Not that Trixie is complaining 😇.

If you’d like to adopt Trixie or one of her friends, click here to learn more.

Thanks for reading! I’d love to hear how you’re finding Capsule - let me know here. And if you have a friend who might like it, do refer them! 🥺

See you next week 💋