Ever since its foundation in 1872 by Eugenio Torelli Viollier—who would go on to launch Corriere della Sera a few years later—the Circolo Filologico Milanese has been dedicated to unravelling the most acute and nuanced cadences of language. This morning Norbert Stumpfl brought his Brioni, which is similarly committed to the minutiae of cultured menswear, … Read more
This epic Emporio Armani voyage was framed by the backdrop of a black lighthouse, and opened and closed with Loredana Berte’s 1983 classic “Il Mare D’inverno (Winter Sea)” on the Teatro sound system. The song is a raspily moody power ballad that includes the (translated) line: “I dive, perplexed, into moments I have already experienced.” … Read more
Neil Barrett’s elevator pitch for this collection was The Duke of Devonshire meets The Thin White Duke. He said: “It’s about a character who is modern and completely engaged in the contemporary yet who also has an understanding and respect for what came before: heritage and tradition.” The result was a collection of clothing that, … Read more
Dean and Dan Caten’s show was about—surprise!—the idea of twins. Who better than the irrepressible Canadian brothers should have a say in the representation of “the two sides of the coin,” as they said backstage? Drawing upon their own reality of being a sort of day-and-night double version of each other offered the Catens the … Read more
“I read some critics in September who said: ‘Oh, he just did a commercial collection for the brand: blah blah blah.’ This is bullshit.” Sabato De Sarno pulled no punches in a preview, and—while riled by last season’s snipings—he declined to let that rhetorical turbulence affect the course of his menswear debut at Gucci this … Read more
If success is measured by the size of a brand’s booth at Pitti Uomo’s Padiglione Centrale, then Brunello Cucinelli ranks pretty high. Vast as a ballroom, always crowded to capacity, populated by the designer’s posse of collaborators-turned-models, it’s presided over by the entrepreneur himself, entirely at ease among a constant coming-and-going of clients and friends. … Read more
Menswear has taken a gentle route to move forward, as the codes of masculine representation overlap with those ascribed to the feminine identity. Gentle was precisely how Alessandro Dell’Acqua defined the attitude of his men’s fall collection, where contrasts coexisted, played out with “quiet conviction.” Blurring binary references is increasingly becoming unavoidable practice for fashion … Read more
Luchino Magliano’s inaugural show was held at Pitti Uomo five years ago. Models walked around a heap of red roses, a sort of totem signaling the potent romanticism that still imbues the designer’s ethos and aesthetic. Today’s show in Florence marked a homecoming for the designer; it was staged in the vast Nelson Mandela Forum, … Read more
