With widespread popularity in terms of huge sales and gratification of the most psychopathic camera-conscious vanity, streetwear scored a bull’s eye, but on the flip side of this craze we have witnessed the consumer‘s desensitization to clothing’s practical application in the light of modern times and of a man’s engagement with the external world. ‘Housecleaning’ was in store this season in Milan, it was necessary for several brands that, after having changed their tenets for lucrative business opportunities, have lost track of their authenticity. After months of unimaginative and lackluster performances, for the Fall-Winter 2019/2020 designers have blown their creative lethargy away and have taken their aesthetic faculties back, even though some collections left a great deal to be desired.
Zegna
Through an exploration of craftsmanship and construction, the path-breaking approach of Satori to Ermenegildo Zegna made a practical difference to the way men’s clothes reach their broadest sense. Each season Sartori heightens the workability and functional performance a little bit more with highly elaborated elements that enable appropriate features for the end user’s needs. With a show outstanding in magnitude at the ‘lived’ spatiality of Milano Centrale Station, Alessandro had a good mind to tell a story of humaneness, culture, and philocaly with his power to create. The silhouette is straight cut throughout for conventional comfort and fit, trousers are tightened with straps, long or cropped outerwear is roomy, felted coats and duvets are fancifully embroidered. Under the hashtag #UseTheExisting, Sartori pointed out that wool, cashmere, and nylon fabrics are recycled and recyclable; after all, we have experience of Zegna’s environmental sensibility and ecological thinking.
M1992
At M1992, Dorian Tarantini has made huge strides towards the consolidation of his rep as a talented fashion designer. Tarantini made good use of his gift to such an extent that even though what was in his mind and prompted his action was a prosaic ‘Brit plus something’ inspiration, all resulted in a favorable outcome. Here fits well the proverb “Genius is ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration”. The nods huddled together, from the 1960s dignified elegance to the London scene of the 1990s, was well fused and the designer exerted a coherent control over the collection all along. As an aesthetic whole, the line crossbreeds slightly square-shouldered blazers and flared trousers, tailored suits, Adidas’ cult model Gazelle, the Isko Denim’s environment-friendly jean, snakeskin patterns, and Swarovski crystal. Well, well, ‘perspiration’ saved you, Dorian!
Versace
A vivid suggestion of emancipation ran through the latest from Versace where Donatella gave full play to a man’s self-expression and assertion of his genteel sexiness though not totally deprived of that indisputable dose of roaring alpha maleness. Clothes shouldn’t be bound to established conventions, just as male self-confidence shouldn’t be subjected to oppressive power. In this offer, Versace redefined the outlines of men’s wear to the utmost degree with its idiom and with all kinds of far-out designs as leather coats, PVC raincoats, bejeweled denim, t’s with bondage harness prints and the grey glen plaid suit with a marabou-trimmed jacket. Donatella had the nerve to change her tune and to break a deadlock in the way the current men’s fashion is intended, culturally.
Prada
Miuccia Prada has thrown everything into a state of disarray to combine Prada’s perception of beauty and her Weltanschauung – or worldview. The designer treated the bodies as naked stalks by slimming down the shield of garments. An insight into the real world submitted to cold intellect and injured feelings. Cardigans arranged on one-breasted or double-breasted jackets choked at the waist with heavy leather belts, loose-fitting trousers, structured coats, furry shoulders, and earflaps and the full-color designs by Jeanne Detallante printed on shirts and jumpers are all assembled elements of a collection that is susceptible to emotional responses. An irrational, sympathetic dialogue between the ugliness of modern society and the brand’s willingness to give shape to the strong agitation of our times with its own style of dress.
N21
N°21 set new codes for the wardrobe suited to the elegantly stylish jeunesse dorée. Since a couple of seasons Dell’Acqua’s fresh, vigorous and perpetually youthful offerings have deviated from the previous “too naïve charm” pattern and made eroticism –not to be confused with virility!- mainly predominant. Weightless tank tops and lace shirts in pastel hues revealed an embryonic sensuality that thereafter delved into a more voluptuous hyperbole as the vitrified shirts and coats came into sight. Alessandro set upon the stereotypical conception of masculinity by altering the parameters of his men’s wear with unprecedented cleverness.
MSGM
Massimo Giorgetti is going great guns with MSGM, and this season he performed with extra energy and at top speed towards the evolvement of his brand. The impelling force of the collection came from the racing culture, but more with regard to the extreme excitement of motorsports than to clothing. Italian craftsmanship expanded with force from the bomber jackets and overcoats with images from the manga series Captain Tsubasa to blouses with reflective details, pilot pants with padded knees, neon technical outdoor gears and printed shirts. Giorgetti also paid homage to the late Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna, who appeared throughout the line, and to the city of Milan. What confers excellence to Massimo’s creative fever, here and in many of his collections, is his executive ability and the resourceful use of his persuasive expressivity.
Marni
With Francesco Risso in the groove, the desirability of Marni is not in question. Risso is keeping a weather eye on his brainwave for further product development and for deepening the brand’s imagery. The unrestrained fancy of the designer created additional worlds where real elements are minutely investigated through metaphors. Marni’s offering was intense beyond compare, “made greater in size” with ease and grace; it showed Francesco’s artistic temperament, confidence and ability to image. The bouclé wool coats, the long, padded anoraks, the moleskin jackets, the sagging trousers, and the shirts were assembled with no uncertainty, and even if all this may sound overmuch, the collection attained proper relations between its constituents.
Fendi
“Chère Silvia, pour garçons et filles c’est jolie avec les revers étroit”/“Dear Silvia, it’s nice for both men and women with narrow lapels”. With these few words, the guest artist of Fendi’s FW 2019/2020 collection sent a sketch of a jacket to Silvia Venturini. The men’s wear creative director hasn’t gazed off into space for so long before designating the talent of the season. The pick fell on Karl Lagerfeld, a style icon who has a theoretical and practical understanding of the Roman house and is truly in a league on his own as a fashion designer. Venturini centered on the complex and refined construction of the suit, a subversive action if contextualized and integrated in a moment of streetwear mass hysteria. Lagerfeld’s contribution reflected on some cashmere overcoats, wool jackets, prints and collages, and on the elaboration of a new monogram with the double FF logo not typed but nicely handwritten. The collection of time-honored staples shaped with consummate expertise dropped a bomb; it informed us of a new course of fashion that will bring streetwear to a dead end, eventually.
