After months of anticipation , yesterday afternoon , the moment many of us have all been waiting for finally arrived. The debut of Prada’s first collection since their announcement of Raf Simons’ appointment as co-creative director alongside Miuccia Prada. The SS21 collection was presented digitally and it seems to have ticked all the boxes of what one would imagine a Miuccia x Raf Simons collection would look like. Considering the current circumstances amidst the pandemic, a lot of the collection was shaped by the social restrictions , but the notion behind it was the idea of uniformity. The collection touched on different definitions of what a uniform should look or feel like , both through the eyes of Raf Simons as well as well as Prada being visual representations of identity as well as a representation of shared values.
Each look throughout the collection felt carefully constructed, with elements of both designers being quite evident. It was like a painting of some sort — Miuccia gave one brush stroke, followed by Raf’s splash of paint which all came together to create a picture that was not extravagant or questionable , but rather solid and finished. There were pleated skirts paired blouses with holes, hoodies paired with pleated skirts and kitten heels and many other other elements that had evident traces of both designers. Many pieces throughout the collections are held in hand , or drawn around the body, artworks by Peter de Potter one of Raf’s long time collaborators were transformed into prints but it also saw a revisiting or some of Prada’s archival prints. This collection felt like a perfect harmony, orchestrated with equal effort, perfectly setting the ground for that which is to come .
Last week on the occasion of Milan Digital Fashion Week, Prada put their best virtual feet forward with a presentation entitled “Multiple Views SS21 – The Show That Never Happened.” The digital show — which is allegedly Miuccia Prada’s last solo show before the Raf Simons partnership — took the form of a 10 minute live video, that showcase the SS21 collection interpreted through the lenses of 5 different creatives, being Terence Nance, Joanna Piotrowska, Martine Syms, Juergen Teller and Willy Vanderperre. Each artist created a film that showcased a different view of the Prada collection and at large , the Prada ideology and identity, which served as a representation of flexibility and multiplicity, in a time where many are not able to commune, a different kind of community is then established.
Throughout the collection, this season the house opted to focus on simple garments with use, value and longevity as the key themes. The collection is constructed around the quintessence of the house of Prada, its meaning, how clothes are worn , where and why. The meaning of multiplicity and compound uses , as paradoxes through sportswear, formality, classic and futurism are explored. The collection was co-ed and for menswear the silhouette was sharp, narrow and fitted , while for women couture volumes and treatments were explored. Leathers, cottons, taffeta , nylon , and other innovative fabrics are tailored with the flexibility to tell the stories that the wearer wants them to tell. Overall the SS21 collection is a much needed dose of simplicity during a time of chaos, the type of simplicity that can bend to whatever way you choose and embrace complexity yet still avoid chaos.
Late last month during Milan Fashion Week , the Italian chamber of fashion Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiana launched an exhibition entitled Memos on Fashion in this Millenium, in collaboration with Museo Poldi Pezzoli and with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
The exhibition was inspired by the series of lectures written by author Italo Calvino called Lezione Americane which he was set to give at Harvard in 1985, but was never given the chance as a result of his sudden death. During the time, his wife opted to publish the lectures with the author’s original title, Six Memos for The Next Millenium.
Calvino’s work inspired the exhibition simply because it poses the question as to whether fashion, as a cultural industry, a communication system, a rich, hybrid yet problematic terrain, be considered a scientific and a poetic practice, and therefore naturally literary? By using his words as a guide , the exhibition takes its audience through a guide throughout the history of fashion by way of memorable images and garments created with deeper meanings to them.
Featuring a collection of garments, images, objects, magazines that serve as a part of fashion history by designers and creators such as :
Giorgio Armani, J.W. Anderson for Loewe, Arthur Arbesser, Demna Gvasalia for Balenciaga, Boboutic, Riccardo Tisci for Burberry, Karl Lagerfeld for Chanel, Gabriele Colangelo, Maria Grazia Chiuri for Dior, Marco de Vincenzo, Fendi, Maria Sole Ferragamo, Paul Andrew for Ferragamo, Alessandro Michele for Gucci, Maison Martin Margiela, Francesco Risso for Marni, Noir per Moncler Genius, Moschino, MSGM, Fausto Puglisi, Prada, Pier Paolo Piccioli for Valentino, Giambattista Valli, Random Identities Versace and Zegna, all of whom help to shape the 3 dimensional structure of the exhibition’s aesthetic visually designed by Stefano Tonchi.
The exhibition is now underway at the Museo Poldi Pezzoli in Milan and will be open until the 4th of May.
It is safe to that Creative Director Silvia Venturini Fendi has been hitting her stride within the past few seasons. For FW20-21, the designer explored what it means to be a FENDI woman , or rather FENDI women with a collection that spoke to the different interpretations of what it means to be feminine. It was a collection that was charged with power yet stroked with softness and delicacy. It was a play between between a total dominance and a graceful elegance that was brought out even through the fabrics used. A mixture of cashmere, leather, lace and even fur were the headliners.
“Tailoring and outerwear is built around nipped waists; flared officer’s coats, burnished perfectos and high-octane blazers are boned through the bodice with shoulders that plane to a flat point or drop into a Juliet sleeve. Voluptuous shapes unfurl into cozy loopback sweaters, a bonded leather accordion skirt and bibbed organdie blouses.”
Each silhouette was defined by its respective story. The FENDI Fall/Winter 2020-2021 Accessories Collection were also optly paired with this season’s boudoir themes, as padded lambskin ‘brace’ booties and satin ‘suspender’ pumps elicit vampish airs.
In three sizes, a new accordion-frame Peekaboo bag opened in a deep ‘smile’ to reveal interchangeable inside pockets in smooth leather and precious skins. It appeared also dipped in gold leather fringes or traced with appliqué lacework and beaded tassels. The iconic Baguette bag in handknit wool was joined in leather shopper bags and charms inspired by vintage FENDI packaging, returning from the last Men’s Collection.
The city of Milan was the inspiration behind Arthur Arbesser’s FW20 collection which he presented just this past weekend. The designer was fascinated by the subtle and at times hidden beauties of the city such as the vintage architecture and design.
As a foreigner, living in the city for the past six years, he’s had the opportunity to observe the city’s gems from an objective perspective which he re-interpreted into this collection. Within the that he created strong graphics that were balanced with clean silhouettes and aspects that were to be discovered.
The collection played with an interesting autumn palette of warm burgundy, milk white , black velvet and different shades of brown that also featured the designer’s signature pattern. He also collaborated with his fellow designer friend Marco Guazzini, who is the creator of a ceramic-like material named Marwoolus that mixes pressed marble powder and wool. In white, but flecked with attractive abstract plumes of color, these were Marwoolus single-button jackets, belts, pendants, earrings and a few skirts, shirts, and pants as well.
This weekend Francesco Risso presented his FW20 collection for Marni as an abstract reinterpretation of the age old tale of Alice in Wonderland.
“Where are you, Alice?
I’m not here right now, and probably not there. I am down the rabbit hole, luxuriating in a time warp.
Are you coming back anytime soon?
I don’t know. I feel like I have been here for a while, but probably I just arrived. Who are you?
I am Venus, Alice. Venus of the Rags. Do you recall me? I come with no tags, usually in full drag.
What can I do for you?
Please make sure you make, do, ment, and that you never bend. Take scraps, bits and pieces, never to be shredded in pieces. Be a militant, always vigilant.
Is this your vow?
Aim for the rainbow. But tell me, Alice, what was it like to fall in the hole?
I felt micro, then went macro, as the natural sped up to supernatural.”
The collection saw remnants of fabric collaged to create each look. Coats and tabards were created and worn with mini and maxi skirts made from scraps of leather and the calico that dress toilet were made from. Velvet, fragments of metal and even scraps of cotton fabric that were woven togethers by hand in a factory in Venice on looms that were originally designer by Leonardo Da Vinca. It was all an exploration of patchwork , a collection of memories, of thoughts, and fabrics, pieced together to create one story.
It was one those stories that left you asking yourself a question , as Risso noted, “ Are we in a psychedelic world and we need to be more grounded, or are we in a caged world and we need to be freed by psychedelia?”
Either way the designer’s collection fell into neither the categories of grounded nor caged but in all senses was an exploration of psychedelia from the details of glitter doused make up and hair to the precision of weaving of all the separate scraps of fabrics in a way which seamlessly harmonized them as the voices on a choir.
Designer Miuccia Prada is no stranger to the movement of feminism. She has not only covered the topic in past runway shows, but her presence in itself as one of the leading female forces in fashion is symbolic for many.
For her FW20 womenswear show the designer tackled traditional standards of what it means to be intrinsically feminine as she challenges the notion of femininity equating to softness, fragility and sensuality and proposing that this tradition delicacy can and should be what defines strength. With this in mind, she dresses her woman with the idea of finding power and strength in such paradoxes. Vents, layered fringes and deconstructed pleats reveal skin, and underscore locomotion.
Movement is tied to the corporeal , to athleticism, hence to sportswear. All these forms of everyday glamour are challenged from practical to aesthetic. Cinched waists of nylon puffer coats create a classic feline shape paired with gum boots for contrasts. The collection is a reflection of the construct of femininity, and an ode to it’s many different shapes, forms , sizes and manifestations. Each pairing , each look acts as a protest against the idea that there is a singular definition to what it means to be feminine, or what it means to be a woman.
Men’s Fall Winter 2020-21 marked the dawn of a fresh new direction for creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi. This season, guests were invited to the FENDI headquarters in Milan to witness the presentation of Madam Fendi described as the man of tomorrow. With this notion, she crafted a collection with retro-futurist undertones. The goal was to approach menswear and clothing on a whole from an entirely different perspective, seeing a garment as a body wallet.
A vessel which can and should evolve throughout time. Inside – out constructions and quilting were traced across blazers, coats cut in compact matte satin and outerwear shapes in waterproof gabardine were bonded with felt tabs and FENDI Roma taped seams. There was a sort of gender fluidity throughout the collection, as some jackets were cropped and a few pants were tailored to move like skirts.
The house also debuted pieces of their collaboration with Japanese designer Anrealage who added a selection of photochromic outerwear and accessories that transform with the FF logo when exposed to UV sunlight.
This menswear season, creative director Miuccia Prada was conflicted, stuck between contradictions and dichotomies as the theme for her FW20 menswear collection.
Guests were invited into the classic PRADA space in Milan, which was transformed by AMO into two identical voids. Situating the audience above looking down on the depths of a colourful arena like runway with a white statue of a man on a horse centrestage. The collection itself was a bridge between opposites: new & old, past & present. Madam Prada played on the notion of creating classic menswear with subtle touches of modernity. Some models donned full three piece linen suits white others sported versions of the house’s classic nylon fits.
There were stylised gumboots, leather & shearling vests and a flash of pajama patterns in liking to the work of artists during the Vienna Secessions which signalled towards the finale (these are bound to be a hit by Prada fanatics ). This season the designer took the time to deliver a collection which she described as optimistic and valuable.
“ I thought to give an indication that only thing that makes me calm and optimistic is to give value to work… to give value to things that matter any our life and your work, and so the creativity is mixed with technicalities, which is a little bit similar to the Secessionist period when ideas, creativity, and actual work had to be all together,” she explained.
For the first time, British fashion house Alexander McQueen presented it’s menswear collection during Milan Fashion Week earlier this week.
For FW20, creative director Sarah Jane Burton, created poetry, and no, this is not in referral to the violinists who welcomed guests into the space with their ever so elegant strums, but rather in regards to the symphonious binding of fabrics and tailoring carried out throughout the collection.
Many may argue that classic menswear in its purest form is a straight line, a linear scale of techniques and patterns that must be followed and abided by at all costs. Yet with this collection, it is as if Burton breaks up the parts of a puzzle, and pieces them back together in an entirely different way no one knew was possible.
With inspiration from Northern landscapes , the designer crafted a collection of razor tailored razor sharps suits , and doubled breasted overcoats inspired by minerals rocks and stones. Coats and jackets were rendered in grey sharkskin mohair and black wool are spliced and slashed, echoing the lines of military harnessing. Panels from classic military coats cut into signature tailoring and camel overcoats.
Each look was made and styled with an intricate level of artistry. An added touch were are the silk suits and coats that were printed with an engineered artwork of Henry Moore, Three-Quarter Figure 1928, reproduced courtesy of the Henry Moore Foundation.
A few pieces were created in reference to the house’s SS20 womenswear collection like some of the shoes and a few accessories. Nonetheless, the designer’s approach to menswear is a breath of fresh air for the industry. Serving as the perfect example that there is no one way of creating elegance, no one way of creating menswear, the options are not limited to classic or street but is open to a vast variety of undiscovered proposals.
Was an excerpt from, “ A call from Prince Prospero,” a part of Marni’s FW20 men’s press release. This season creative director Francesco Riso escorted his audience into a psychedelic trance of poetic movement. With the help of choreographer Michele Rizzo , the designer curated a performance which seamlessly crafted garments as a creative collective. Clothing was given new life by matching pieces which were crafted from once useless scraps. Trousers were composed of multi coloured fabrics, trench coats bisected and reassembled from a variety of textures. Left sides were asymmetric to right, hems scaled like waves and pants bore holes just small enough to appear eaten.
Every look was deliberately curated to fit too wide, or too long or too big. With a unconventional approach to tailoring, each piece fit so wrong yet so right. A side from the magnificent performance, the clothing spoke in a way that was paradoxically trendy, with a voice that only some could hear, appealing to a customer that understands what it means to be entranced by fashion with a capital F.
The mind of Marni’s creative director Francesco Risso has proven to be both a maze as it is a museum especially in the case of metaphors. For his latest show, Act ll , presented during the past weekend in Milan, the designer presented a collection that was inspired by the idea of seeing his fashion as a form of pharmaceutical drug which he called Tachitropirinia, used to treat an imaginary tropical disease.
“It is recommended for use by all subjects who are hypertensive to tropicalism: bulb women, mangrove ladies, cocoon females, Liana amazons, jungle janes, palm elves,” reads the press release.
This was brought out through a series of brushstroke prints on garments that wrapped the body like cocoons in a variety of different colours and prints. Flared skirts with balloon smock tops , raw edged painted coats, net dresses , flip flops and all made from accumulations of old recycled fabrics. For the past few season Risso has managed to drill in the topic of sustainability not only with the physical collection, but with all aspects of his show as well. This season guests all sat on recycled cardboard stools and were surrounded by a tropical jungle of artificial trees created from recycled materials used during Risso’s last two shows.
Austrian designer Arthur Arbesser is one who each season never fails to relay the tales of his rich heritage through his garments. For SS20, the designer drew inspiration from a large box in his late grandmother’s wardrobe. Only a few months ago, Arbesser discovered this box that belonged to his grandmother Mathilde which contained scraps of fabric cut from her own clothes from the 1920’s up until the 1980’s.
From this he was inspired to create a collection in her honour that was crafted in patchwork using a variety of fabrics and leftover scraps from Arthur’s past collections. From silk, to crepe and cotton popeline, all presented in light blues, white, and a variety of several prints. The collection contained several aspects of vintage references including the sailor collars and waistcoats which were tributes to his grandmother during the days when she wore school uniforms. Each piece of fabric had a story as well as the way in which they were crafted, which gave the collection not only a poetic dynamic, but a feel of handmade sincerity.
Since the passing of her mentor the late Karl Lagerfeld , Silvia Venturini Fendi has taken the bull by the horns and managed to craft interesting collections that which although are sealed with her signature, still remain under house’s codes. For menswear SS20, the designer charged towards a direction where she drew inspiration from the actual seasons as she dreamed about gardening in her holiday home outside of Rome. For womenswear, shown earlier this week , the designer took a similar route, crafting a collection under the theme “Solar Flair.”
Think summer vacation, which means yes, there were bathing suits , mini skirts, PVC coats, but not only, there was a range of pieces to cover every type of vacation, from a weekend in the alps with a line of fur coats, trenches and knitwear , to simple loungewear for a week’s cruise. Prints took centrestage with a variety of graphic florals as well as the house’s signature paperbag fabric in shorts and trousers from waxed and organic washed cottons. The collection also capitalised on creating going green at least with its accessories, by creating a version of their famous peekaboo bag in compact raffia in addition to a few tote bags, as well as the Baguette which was done with blanket flower marquetry.
For SS20 , designer Miuccia Prada took a few steps away from the glamours of fashion to focus on the concept of personal style. Each look from the collection was tailored precisely to fit and highlight the model’s personal and physical attributes. The opening look, a simple grey wool blouse with a white matching skirt and leather loafers. Every one thereafter mirrored this concept of not overshadowing the woman’s personality with the clothes but rather complementing her in subtle simplistic manners. A green velvet summer dress was simply paired with a lilac purple hat and big glasses, a gold leather suit given a simple white collar, put on a bare faced model. Hints of vintage aspects were also sprinkled about the collection with accessories and silhouettes that so likely resembled Prada silhouettes in the late 90’s as well as references of several different eras including the 70’s and 20’s. The collection itself was self referential , and centred around the idea of putting the woman first and clothes second.
Last week in Milan, Marni’s creative director Francesco Risso, who has in some ways become the enfant terrible of Milanese fashion invited guests to a show space that featured a net ceiling filled with plastic bottles for the presentation of his SS20 collection. The show’s set, although containing a strong message to environmental matters we face today was simply just a backdrop, or as the designer himself put it, “a reminder of the issues we’re facing with plastic hanging over our heads.”
The collection itself was a celebration as much as it was a rebellion. Risso imagined an unlikely marriage between Argentine revolutionist Ernesto Che Guevara and American novelist Truman Capote with himself as the wedding planner. This resulted in the harmony of two opposing worlds, carnival meets military. From hats made from staples, to old furs, plastics and debris by artist Shalva Nikvashvili, to slippers crafted from cardboard cut outs and plimsolls dipped in oil.
“A study in clashes, and the uneven harmony that ensues by mixing opposite worlds, jumbling it all together. The extreme graphic properness and formality of suits. The radical rebelliousness of field jackets and militaria, with a tropical slant.”
For the first time in a very long time, Italian fashion house Fendi stepped off site their routined Milanese show space and headed for the gardens of an 18th century villa in central Milan for their SS2020 show. A switch that had been prompted by creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi’s need for a break from the virtually infested world we live in as she takes a minute to appreciate the fruits of Mother Nature . This collection was a version of the Fendi man that goes fishing on weekends and gardens in his spare time. Sartorial workwear pieces were presented with a casual elegance that allow their wearers a sort of relaxed eased approach towards life.
From khaki cotton overalls, to striped beach slips, to fishmerman style vests and cargo pants. Throughout the collection, the house also revealed their collaboration with renown “Call Me By Your Name” director Luca Guadagnino who drafted a few botanical prints for the collection. These were brought out through digital prints and cut out knit wear. The colour palette was one that blended with the habitat ranging from beiges, to greens , browns and whites. In regards to accessories, the house debuted a Pequin printed Fendi watering can, garden baskets, big totes, pouch bags as well as versions of the Fendi baguette and peekaboo bags. This collection was a breath of fresh air for the house, one that in some ways allows for a sort of reset, and more than anything conjures the desire for a vacation.
On the occasion of their fifth anniversary, Italian minimalist brand SUNNEI adopted an urban space in the Rubattino area of eastern Milan, which they transformed into what they now dub as Bianco Sunnei. The space, an entirely normal concrete area that sat underneath a giant bridge in Milano’s Parco dell’Acqua and has been regenerated as a visual oasis coated in white paint. A type of maximal minimalism that didn’t call for much to make a statement than a well thought out concept. This sort of effortless assertive simplicity was strung throughout the brand’s SS2020 collection which had their freshly created space as it’s backdrop.
The collection was aimed towards a specific colour palette which not only complemented the space, but embraced some of the house’s iconic runway history , from plain white, to the khaki browns, somber citruses, lime greens to sky blues and midnight blacks. Each transition gliding into another as if it were some sort of poetry. But not just any kind of poem, no, this was a haiku — three lines, seventeen syllables, 17 words. Very simple but meticulously planned as to evoke all the right feelings. Boxy volumes were in abundance with cargo pants, monochromatic suits, denim jackets and coats, knit dresses that explore a few moments of layering. Fabrics move like liquid as the brand uses this moment to highlight their collaboration with Albiate 1830 — a branch of Italian eco-friendly fabric company Albini. This is seen through 3D woven nylon yarns, fresh leathers, and a deckchair-striped cotton poplin. Last season the designer duo presented a collection as a stance resistant against the wave of streetwear by referencing the 2000s. This season they affirmed that notion of in some ways being anti-fashion- Not like Rick Owens anti-fashion, and although similar not even Marni’s anti-fashion. Just simply riding , moving , sketching to the beats of their own rhythms, which happens to be in the opposite direction of everyone else. Either way this has become the duo’s strong suit.
Weekend past Italian streetwear label GCDS presented their Fall Winter 2019 collection in their signature show space in Milan. This season , creative director Giuliano Calza’s inspiration for the collection was a play on the notion of how society’s boundaries and expectations for today’s youth represents a toxin of creativity and imagination. Though quite simple inspiration, the designer wrapped his mind around a rather complicated show concept. The first half of the 49 look collection revealed a cast of models bouncing down the runway in 90’s inspired looks which included cheetah and zebra prints, bouncy pink hair, logo printed coats and lots of vibrant colours. It also revealed the house’s collaboration with pasta company Barilla and toy company Polly Pocket which carried their logos across sweaters. The second half of the collection was when the magic apparently vanished from the youth as a result of having to succumb to social norms and standards. This revealed a cast of models dressed in veils, catsuits, mini dresses, work suits in a palette of black, purple, blue and other dark shades. This was a simple yet interesting statement made with a simple change of lighting and music. Giuliano Calza often delivers a show which gives you all the fun, but at the same time never borderlines on costume. He creates these concepts for his consumers which not only makes them want to purchase pieces but also makes them want to join in the story. He creates a narrative which is very much street, and although some may argue at times he may border on cultural appropriation , has not yet crossed the line, especially as a result of his selection of such a diverse casting. This makes you wonder, if by doing so, he’s in some ways subconsciously aiming to challenge the walls down around the concept of appropriation itself.
This weekend Italian fashion house Marni’s Fall Winter womenswear show took place in the same location as the menswear show only a few weeks ago. Guests were welcomed into the space of dim multi-coloured lighting and speakers as they eagerly waited for the show titled “NEUROEROTIK” to commence. As the name suggests, creative director Francesco Risso envisioned the show to be a fantaerotic escape game. A game based on the themes of sexuality, sensuality and mind play. It was about exploring the possibilities of re-directing the mind to think of alternative body parts and even garments as erogenous zones. As the electric soundtrack from the movie The Shining was cued, each piece from the collection walked with a double meaning, gold and silvers chains wrapped around the neck and body, silk pleated scarves which hung from the neck and almost dropped to the floor, skirts with two waistlines, mens blazers and jackets cut in half, and sleeves were slashed. It was a quirky humour sort which made one marvel at the possibilities of sexuality, the power of the mind and the concept of fashion design as a means of neurotic exploration. Each piece told a story and gave a stimulus to a different conceptualization of what we know as reality with a primary palette of red, black, orange, white and hints of rhinestones. This woman Risso created around the themes of sexual liberation and experimentation fruited a line of wardrobe components that is in many ways reflective of the feminist zeitgeist we are currently living in.
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