Cult Gaia. Resort 2026 - lookbook

(Images:  Cult Gaia 2026)

Is Jasmin Hekmat experimenting with late 1970s avant garde?  Dare I say, early punk looks of the refined imprint?  Ala the late Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm Mclaren, as an added flow to her sleeker, and yes, hedonic early to mid 70s and 1980s overture.  Maybe.  As noted for Cult Gaia's Fall/Winter 2025 review , her ability to meld the counterculture years, and the aesthetic which it formulated, and left a lasting imprint on fashion thereafter, offering further, by saying that her latest collection is, "A little distorted, they’re not so perfect".  With a little Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto touches also in there.

Yet, it is Hekmat's intricacy and her modernist cues, which keep it from falling too far into the avant-grade mold, which as a runway trend has certainly faded out from it's peak in 2015, with only the stalwart designers remaining.  More importantly is her flirtation with the carnal and its amorous resonation, despite adding a somewhat rawer stylization to her Resort 2026 collection, it still holds the cleaner, and defined looks that we have see from previous collections.  Including her now recognizable accessories to the looks on show, from loop earrings, to necklaces, and beautifully crafted Lilies, seen on dress straps and heeled shoes, also noted are striking, and very mid-century modernist stone shaped clutch bags.

Hekmat's Cult Gaia is now 13 years old, lasting the cut off at five and ten years for independent fashion brands, she is shown, that lowkey, and a steady persistency is the key to longevity in fashion.  To which Helakt has certainly mastered her craft, with a decade of collections and accessories under her belt, so to speak, and her latest array continues to impress.

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(A.Glass 2025)