Being a
tramp at heart
closet boho I’m partial to alt-bourgeois chic, which is why I look out for Marni’s collections at Milan Fashion Week every season. Ever idiosyncratic thanks to founder/designer Consuelo Castiglioni’s eclectic aesthetic: think a jumble of patterns and textures, easy looseness and heavily orchestrated whimsy. Naturally, S/S’12 was no different ‒ yet it felt fresh, rather like a sherbet to the palette after an artery-clogging meal (
gaudy overdose
that was the Milan Fashion Week).
It was fun and frolic contained within clean, clearly defined lines ‒ as always. On quick glance there seemed nothing off-kilter in the opening sequence of bone-plain trapeze-shaped (A-line) numbers with cut-outs to reveal panels of flesh, in lemon yellow, sugary pink, minty green and crisp white. Then, on second look, a good six inches of organza petticoats and colourful psychedelic floral collars came to view –
and all felt right with the world again
y-es, the Marni kookiness was very much intact.
It’s the interplay between prints and textures that is the hallmark of the Marni line, and this collection had to have its fill. The prints ranged from pop-art florals to Bauhaus-inspired geometrics, chevrons and lines, and the finish on them varied from shaggy to sleek. Positively edgy and artful they all came across; particularly fetching, to me, was the look comprising a intarsia leather skirt of blue and white circular motifs paired with a stripy top.
It was a masterful exhibition of textile skills from here onwards: graphic geometric pattern-hybrids of ethnic raffia chevrons and Art Deco sequin shimmer were placed on simple white shifts; sheaths in shards of plastic snow crystals in contrasting colours.
The mishmash went another level when the beaded, embroidered, fringed, raffia and patterned skirts clattered down the runway with mis-matching tunic tops. Sounds a
hot mess
little schizophrenic, but actually, it all came together so beautifully. Intricately crafted, especially the closing numbers of raffia-like beaded skirts with fist-size Perspex daisies applied in triplicate, which brought to mind Christopher Kane’s mesmerizing see-through numbers with appliquéd flowers.
And somewhere in the middle of all the noise came a series of sleeveless dresses, slim with sharp collars and alluring cut-out backs, in slight herringbone ‒ to sober things down.
The footwear ‒ block heeled, bi-coloured Mary Janes – didn’t catch my fancy in the slightest (not a fan of the chunky heel look), I’m afraid.
But, the bags ‒ of the woven variety with windowpane patterns and intarsia leather ‒ I loooooved!
Sadly, this collection is not for
skints
mere mortals like us – strictly for those with
incombustible vaults
deep pockets. Other than those colourful collars and the sheer underskirts peeking out and translucent flesh coloured ankle socks, both of which I found wonderfully quirky, there isn’t much I can think of that could be translated to a regular wardrobe. This one’s just for viewing pleasure… 🙂