Milano Fashion Week Spring Summer 2015 – Day 2

Everything gone well even on the second day of Milan fashion week, no fashion shows scheduled on my calendar, but a lot of presentations and an unusual date: the exhibition event in Palazzo Litta dedicated to the new direction of the brand Krizia.

As we all know, 2014 began with the shoking news: “Mariuccia Mandelli sold her Krizia label to a Chinese entrepreneur” and in a few months the ownership of the brand was transferred to the elegant businesswoman Zhu Chongyun. This Fashion Week was the occasion to celebrate this passage of power from the creator of the brand to its current president, so they did it with an exhibition-event in Palazzo Litta, made with the collaboration of the most important Italian fashion magazines.
I have to tell you the truth, I was expecting a retrospective that celebrated the must-haves created in the 80s by Mariuccia Mandelli, but seems there’s no time to be nostalgic and this was just an occasion to re-launch the brand image, as the re-birth of a phoenix. This is why the mirrored halls of the palace became the theater of this metamorphosis and from the wooden nest made by the contemporary artist Faye Toogood, we pass to the rebirth of the iconic Krizia pleated dress, forged as new armor from the sacred fire of creativity.

After this cultural break in Palazzo Litta, the “tour de force” through the showrooms started again. First stop: the Italian Set by Alessandra Facchinetti for Tod’s. The new creative director presented a collection in which the Italian country lifestyle meets the contemporary and pragmatic spirit of the city, merging everything in a minimal aesthetic, but rich of handcrafted details.

Second stop, the shoe-brand Alberto Guardiani which proposed a so called POP collection called, even if it seemed to draw inspiration from art deco with clean lines alternating patent leather with mirror effects. Obviously there were also must-have shoes like the 15cm lipstick heels studded with crystals.

Then we passed from footwear to clothing with Vivetta, and what better location than a florist to present her collection with embroidered flowers taken from the pages of an old herbarium? A funny collection characterized by a lot of themes: powder shades as pink, orange and baby blue; embroidered giant butterflies and flowers; medium lenght dresses peeking out from oversized coats; surrealistic inspirations with two hands that become a collar; precious brocade fabrics and childish colorful printed polka dots. A fun mix of art and fashion with an high impact on street-style lovers.

Milan Fashion week also means “finding new talents”, so you can’t miss a visit to the Vogue Talents exhibition at Palazzo Morando, in which, in addition to the finalists of Who is on next?2014 competition, there were also new designers selected by Vogue Italia. Scrolling quickly the stands and remembering all the items seen on the catwalk at AltaRoma, it was impossible not to stop by Caterina Zangrando, who wowed visitors with her sculpture jewelry. On this occasion she presented new delicate colors such as pastel pink, green, lilac and applied a myriad o small lovely flowers on her edgy collars, balancing the sharp lines. It’s been a pleasure to finally meet her in person.

Marco Rambaldi and Xiao Li stood out among the new talents selected by Vogue Italia. The first studied at the IUAV in Venice and won the 2014 Next Generations award of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion; the second studied at the London College of Fashion, the Royal College of Art and made ​​her mark in the international arena thanks to the Loro Piana Award and the Diesel Award, so that Renzo Rosso (Diesel patron) wanted to launch a capsule collection with her in collaboration with 10 Corso Como concept store.
Marco’s collections are featured by a peculiar study of materials which he combines into overlays giving them a sense through his deep conceptual research. The SS2015 collection is dedicated to the revolution of free love, from the French protest movements immortalized by Bertolucci in The Dreamers, to the rights and laws for marriages between persons of the same sex. A collection that doesn’t simply define a style, but bears a message.
Different story for Xiao Li who experiences an unusual mix of rubber and knitwear creating maxi volumes that matched with denim for her collaboration with Diesel redefining a whole new aesthetic codes for the Italian brand.

Cocktail time in the new Costume National shop just below the Unicredit skyscraper by César Pelli where the origami installation ISO by Bastiaan Arler floated above the heads of guests and mannequins, adding a new step in the partnership of the Dutch artist and Ennio Capasa.

The evening ended with the presentation of San Andrés Spring Summer 2015 collection that paraded in July during AltaRoma and with which the Mexican designer Andrés Caballero wanted to celebrate his love for Rome, calling it “Amor de mis Amores”. Maison Almax was the perfect backdrop for the presentation, the clothes of Andrès animated walls and corners as masterpieces in an art gallery, inviting visitors to interact with the colors of Andres and his poetic Mexican melancholy.

Alessandro Masetti – The Fashion Commentator