In past seasons, Austrian designer Arthur Arbesser often referenced art from the Viennese Secession for inspiration behind his collections. However, the only valid explanation for the designer’s dexterity in design and architecture intricately executed in his last collection is for him to hold himself to the same standards as one of these artisans. 

For Fall Winter 2019, the designer welcomed guests to an indoor sound-reflective rock climbing site on the outskirts of Milan . As the show began,  the space was first filled with an arrangement of elegant orchestral music complemented by the clank of approaching rubber boots. Calf high rubber boots fashioned in black, white and blue carefully paired with a selection of colours from Arthur’s palette. The collection took inspiration from the architectural context of his Milan studio which was designed by Luigi Caccia Dominoni in the late forties with a bourgeois classic Milanese aesthetic. Each look was skilfully paired with the most unexpected complementary colours: pomegranate and lychee shade pants, yellow and olive, checkered shirts and skirts,  feather textured blouses, architectural jewellery. This collection felt very personal to the designer, as if the woman he was dressing would be a woman he would not only be dressing, but be crafting, and grooming. She felt free, artistic and at the same time cryptic, almost like the a female Picasso who took you on a very personal journey throughout her abstract process, but instead of paint, her chosen medium is fabric. 

Cover image: Scott Mason

Tags: Fashion, Fashion Week, Milan Fashion Week, Womenswear