From one Italian fashion stalwart to another, James Tregaskes follows up Missoni with Marni at Milan’s menswear shows
On to another off-beat Italian fashion house with its own sense of style – much like that of the Missoni clan. Marni is a brand with a loyal following of predominantly creative independent women – not men – and so their menswear has always been overlooked despite the fact that it’s actually rather good.
The past couple of seasons we’ve seen Consuelo Castiglioni and her team up the tempo in the men’s department, resulting in rave reviews front row. But this season things have calmed down a little and Castiglioni chose to hold a presentation to flaunt her newly designed wares as opposed to doing the full-on runway thing… yes the credit-crunch has hit the fashion world. But despite the lack of models stampeding down a catwalk, the clothes held their own in a classic, simple way.
Castiglioni admitted she has a thing for “elegant punk” and this was seen in yet more grungy pieces in luxe fabrics such as cashmere. We honed in on the most “Marni” items of the collection; a green mohair sweater, t-shirts printed with watercolours by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and an ombre-effect shirt in blue and white.
Stay tuned for more menswear from day one.
