Milan Women’s Fashion Week F/W 2018

Part 4: Marni

Marni F/W 2018

The Marni show space is something special now. This time it was filled with old newspapers, clothes recuperated from waste bins, old mattresses and car tires to remind the audience that it was literally sitting on yesterday while looking at tomorrow. Francesco Risso works his collections like a great DJ builds a memorable set. There are long, classic tracks which are left untouched and played to the end – one of the greatest DJ skills is patience – and so his opening five or so looks of bold tailoring in bonded plastic coats were the equivalent.

Welcome to Marni: the set feels like a giant, but tidied up waste disposal site.

Then he started mixing, going back and forth between tracks – in the days of vinyl DJing a master like Junior Vasquez would often have three records playing on his Technics turntables at the same time — which for the clothes meant fusing halves together in dresses and coats, often finished and often with still open seams and threads hanging. Also, protective blankets were draped into capes to reaffirm the collage aspect of the clothes. With technology as Leitmotiv expressed through innovative fabrics used in a raw way and laser cut finishes juxtaposed with frayed ends the clashes came in PVC against silk or polyester sparring with pony leather.

Color-blocking: green, blue, orange, pink – the bolder the better is the motto at Marni next Autumn.

What makes this so fresh?

Probably it’s the vibrant and positive color sense that makes the Marni Sunday morning show so fresh and upbeat. Opening with Yves Klein blue often combined with pastel greens and reds in bold stripes, the show’s color palette is like a trip through Pantone land.

The art of getting dressed?

For Risso and his co-designer Lawrence Steele getting dressed is a ritual and not a chore. Hence, they provide a wardrobe, which allows the woman to affirm herself, ideally in front of a large mirror.

Twin-Trend: the outcome of Risso and Steeles work is a wild mixture of various patterns, materials and color palettes.

Siamese style?

Risso and Steele seem to be serious researchers and surely have read Mark Twain‘s short story “Those Extraordinary Twins” about Giovanni and Giacomo Tocci, from Locana, Italy who even went on to tour in the US in a freak show. The fascination of Siamese twins is obvious but to use them as fashion thinking where opposites unite within one look is rather ingenious.

Celebration of Dressing: model Adut Akech Bior wears a shocking pink and red dress with v-neck and fringe details as well as matching patent leather sling heels.

Model Mayowa Nicholas wears the opening look: a long plastic coat in a Yves Klein blue with broad shoulders above a light blue sheer turtleneck, a giant white waist belt with a silver bucket and contrasting dark blue boots with a patent leather toecap in cognac and white plateaus.

Craftsmanship?

The opening coats were all made from shiny plastic, which was bonded onto synthetic felt and sewn together leaving some seams undone with dangling threads. At Marni big statement belts hold it all together.

Versace’s final line up yesterday evening in Milan

Fetish?

This time the duo went crazy for cats and several looks featured a cat face to add a human or better feline touch.