Brains at the shows. Angelo Flaccavento - Illustration by Anna Higgie
Some of our favourite style analysts tell us what they saw at the latest catwalk shows and presentations of women’s fashion collection. Here is the contribution from Angelo Flaccavento, an independent fashion writer. He works out of Sicily, traveling most of the time on assignments for a roster of Italian and international publications. His writing can be found on the pages of Il Sole 24 Ore, L’Uomo Vogue, Fantastic Man, The Gentlewoman, Flair, Studio. He also serves as fashion features editor at Hunter and Dapper Dan.
The texture is the message, twisting the words of McLuhan. Although products are multiplying at a relentless pace and there is very little time to reflect on progressive design, there is still room for experimentation in the fashion industry. We need to shift our focus from the silhouette to what it contains, or better still identify brand new and more forceful dialogues between form and material. This may lead to the discovery that, in design too, the material is where innovation is to be found, and not the other way round. This was apparent in the latest round of Milanese catwalk shows, which stood out for the quality of the offer and the high standard of styling. Materials and textures played a star role in the best collections. The design of the articles is primary, elementary – the elementariness resulting from precise editing, which is not at all the same thing as the simplicity of the basic – while the textures come to life, merge, add body and embellish, in a drive for opulence that certainly satisfies the big spenders of the driving markets, always attracted to anything that conveys the authentic luxury of fine craftsmanship, but which also blends in with the new aesthetic or economic austerity, depending on the country in question. It is a triumph of an all-Italian handcrafted ability, driving prêt-à-porter up towards couture, whilst preserving a single characteristic and value: excellence. In short, Italian fashion is once again dressed to impress. Not least in the use of incongruous materials, or fabrics combined according to seemingly bizarre criteria. It is packed with invention, distortions and exaggeration. The method is steely and free from excessive sideshows. The atelier becomes a workshop, a theatre of unprecedented morphing that freely combines neoprene, padded satins and industrial zips, and mixes jacquards, crusting, scarification and liquefaction; a place of alchemical processes such as needle punching, able to produce uniform textures out of the clash of animal, natural and artificial qualities. Talented designers manipulate the surfaces in the same way as abstract or kinetic artists, while always seeking to create feasible silhouettes, just like the pioneers of Italian Style. The resulting collections are packed with immaculate design and magnetic energy. They are rooted in the present day, far removed from any nostalgia. Uncompromising and with a clear vision: new Italian fashion starts here.