The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
MILAN, Italy — Can a collection be designed by committee? It's an open question. Diego Della Valle recently declared that the era of superstar designers was over. Yet, a product without an author remains, well, just a product: lifeless and anonymous. It was apparent at the Salvatore Ferragamo show yesterday. The brand has been doing without a creative director since Massimiliano Giornetti's departure earlier in the spring. His team remained in place. But the resulting collection was lost in a middle ground between the past and the future.
Salvatore Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: Indigital
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The remains of Giornetti's thoughtful precision informed the strong line up of tailored safari jackets and demure blousons accessorized with sneakers and sneakers/sandals. But the effort lacked a twist, even a faint one: the touch of personality Giorgetti managed so subtly to infuse. That said, the collection will easily translate from catwalk to store, with no adjustment necessary. It was ok, but just so. As for quirk and true desirability, Ferragamo needs a creative director soon.
Sunnei Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: Indigital
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Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, the young guns behind up-and-coming label Sunnei, came to fashion via marketing. Their catwalk debut yesterday was a catchy, jolly and well orchestrated line up of ironic separates that looked like the perfect modular uniform for a party at the madhouse. Although not designers, and albeit clearly commercial in their aims, the two have vision, and a sense of humour, which makes a difference.
Missoni Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: Indigital
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Angela Missoni, meanwhile, continues expanding and exploring her idea of the nonchalant adventurer. The Missoni man is a charmer who favors en plein air scenarios and clothing that is wonderfully arty in texture and pattern whilst looking wonderfully easy in terms of use and practicality. Which, somehow, is both the plus and the minus of the label. At first glance, each collection is more or less always the same. On a closer inspection, though, patterns and even shapes evolve endlessly. This season, the voyage landed in the countryside, amongst hat-wearing cowboys and gauchos, keeping a multicultural tingle: bermuda shorts appeared on the runway, together with scarves worn like sashes around the waist. It worked: the collection felt upbeat and catchy, only a tad monotonous.
Moncler Gamme Blue Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: Indigital
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Damir Doma Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: Indigital
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Damir Doma chose to present his men's and women's collections together. The decision worked to his own advantage, making the message — poetic brutalism — strong, poignant and immediately felt. It's a matter of coherence. Doma knows how to handle a progressive show format. For a start there is the androgynous aesthetic: Doma has been an early champion of gender fluid styles. Second, there is the tribal mentality which comes attached to his work, focused on line and texture. In this sense, mixing men and women is natural to him. Yesterday's show saw Doma upping the ante on underground grittiness while not forsaking a certain gentleness. The friction of such opposites felt vital and primal, while the oversized shapes had both ease and precision. So far, this was Doma's best show since his arrival in Milan one year ago. It feels good to have such a personal voice added to the local fashion conversation.
Marcelo Burlon Spring/Summer 2017 | Source: Indigital
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