Francesco Risso is now in his ninth yr at Marni, and it appears he’s solely enhancing with time. At this time’s assortment was certainly one of his best but: Although extra restrained by his standard pyrotechnical requirements, it nonetheless captured all of the magic and enchantment Risso constantly conjures from his Mad Hatter ingenuity.
The present was held at Marni’s headquarters, an enormous and spare house suffused with darkish pink mild. Crowds in hysterics screaming for celebrities have been nowhere in sight. The seating association, a sparse and labyrinthine format of chairs seemingly scattered at random, surrounded three black grand pianos. On every seat lay a poem, printed on origami paper, by an unknown creator. It was a few white rabbit darting via the quietude of a darkish moonlit forest. However swoop! In a flash, the bunny vanishes. “Magnificence is a white rabbit. You chase it, although you fall brief in capturing it,” stated Risso backstage. Maybe this time he succeeded.
Staying true to his whimsical radicalism, Risso crafted your entire assortment solely from cotton, experimenting with its textures and weaves in numerous kinds. Cotton, a perennial, trustworthy materials, symbolizes resilience and embodies the “purity of magnificence” that Risso has been pursuing. “The cotton thread represents the thread that mends relationships and wounds, guiding us again to the appropriate path after we’ve strayed, and main us in the direction of what I name the important magnificence routine,” he defined. Fittingly, this was additionally the title of the present.
The gathering’s strategy was “reasonably liturgical,” as Risso put it: he needed to evoke the ritualistic nature of style exhibits from a bygone period, when the development flowed seamlessly from daywear, via les tenues d’après midi, culminating in grand night robes. Right here, Risso started with slender silhouettes in mushy hues, punctuated by dashes of black and white—fitted blazers over leggings, cropped chemises worn backwards like capelets, and small hourglass clothes formed by vertical pleats. Step by step, the designs transitioned into extra voluminous kinds, that includes broad-shouldered jackets and tuxedos paired with tight siren skirts with stiff ruched hems, introducing a touch of ’50s couture, additional accentuated by wondrous hats “à la Audrey Hepburn.”
Nostalgia doesn’t function in Risso’s vocabulary although; the gorgeous parade of night robes that closed the present was a masterclass in contemporary, poised fabulousness. Bustier clothes with pannier skirts have been printed with daring, blown-up roses or exquisitely fluttered with shredded cotton feathers embroidered with shimmering crystals. “They’re glimpses of not possible magnificence,” stated Risso. “Magnificence is pervasive: it makes everybody really feel extra lovely.”