Italian Tailoring Brands Rejuvenate Classic Designs
MILAN — Tailoring is back in a big way and brands are rejuvenating classic designs with new proportions and fits for an easier and more relaxed look, raising the luxury level with precious fabrics and details.
Lightness was a key word at Brioni, as design director Norbert Stumpfl showed another sophisticated collection of double cocooning coats and blazers, silk-lined cashmere jackets with details in leather. The silhouettes were stronger and volumes were larger on pants and knits, allowing ease of movement. A vicuna bomber jacket lined in cashmere and a puffer woven in leather with mohair and cashmere telegraphed the brand’s luxury positioning.
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The palette ranged from vicuna, camel and coffee to ice-white and night blue.
The designer was inspired by Mariano Fortuny for the evening, and also showed two stunners — a jacket with a harlequin-pattern patchwork intarsia and a silk jacket embroidered with tiny glass pearls.
Stumpfl continued to include a few women’s designs, but more is to come as, for the first time, Brioni will present a dedicated womenswear collection at Milan Fashion Week in February.
At Kiton, proportions of coats and pants were expanded, and stretch pants pointed to an increased need for comfort but “being elegance is the most important word,” affirmed chief executive officer Antonio De Matteis. The brand’s long-standing research and development of fabrics and materials applied to its fall collection, too, as velvet shirts and overshirts made with four strands of cashmere became more relaxed. Mixing and matching was key, he said, showing fine gauge jumpers worn under jackets, and double-knit cardigans flanked Japanese denim jackets lined with soft cashmere or embellished with geometric drawings.
Kiton this season further expanded its range of accessories, with a plethora of belt bags, rucksacks and shoulder bags in leather, nylon or cashmere, as well as a cool cashmere sneaker. De Matteis was upbeat about the 2024 outlook, riding a 26 percent increase in sales last year to 205 million euros.
Canali presented its fall collection at the Milan Stock Exchange — although president and CEO Stefano Canali said this was not a reference to a potential public listing but rather explaining that the expansive space allowed the brand to create a natural set, “in an ode to the outdoors,” with various greenery contributing to the idea.
This mood was reflected in the textured fabrics — bouclé, alpaca, mouliné, mélange, and double wool or cashmere — seen in double-breasted pea coats, Sahariana jackets and car coats. The inspiration trickled down to soft knits with tricot patterns. The palette hinged on a precise green seen through the haze of winter days, said Canali.
The theme was further stated by a range of suits in a dark gray plaid, Prince of Wales or corduroy motifs and bombers with shearling collars. In sync, the shape of the pants was more relaxed and easy.
Canali’s expertise with handicraft — seen in parkas with leather pockets for example — was worked into the new super chic shoes and accessories — and even on the loops and toggles of a taupe Montgomery coat.
Corneliani emphasized the artistry of tailoring by showing its tailors at work in the brand’s stately Milan showroom. This contributed to highlight “the three main phases in tailoring — assembly, model making, and stitching,” said style director and visual merchandising manager Stefano Gaudioso Tramonte.
Layering and cocooning looks were in sync with the trend in Milan. Comfortable outerwear was voluminous but light — seen on a timeless herringbone coat, for example — worn over more fitted suits, although pants were either narrow at the bottom or wide with flowing hems. The earthy color palette of blacks, browns and camel was jazzed up with touches of lavender and brandy seen in super soft wool and cashmere knits. The Corneliani logo was revisited and broken down in a new graphic motif on the shirts.
Isaia brought a touch of Naples and its vibrant scene to Milan, where the sartorial specialist staged its first runway event centered on the themes of rebirth, reinvention and superstition.
Against a backdrop covered in red cornetti — Naples’ signature horn-shaped amulet worn for good luck and protection from the evil eye — the brand paraded a focused collection intended to honor the Mediterranean city that is home of the brand and that has been witnessing a cultural renaissance and booming attractiveness as of late.
Fashion-wise, such a revamp was translated into bold pops of color and rich textures peppering Isaia’s sartorial codes. From purple suits with drawstring-cinched pants to acid green corduroy jackets worn over pin-striped pleated pants, key looks telegraphed a more casual and contemporary approach to tailoring and mingled with the brand’s more classic propositions.
“This collection is a homage to Napoli: in order to capture its essence, we began by focusing on color as the initial step, even before considering fabrications,” confirmed CEO Gianluca Isaia.
Still, the brand’s manufacturing skills shined, from the meticulous luxury Casentino treatments, involving labor-intensive hand pilling, to the fully canvassed, hand-stitched suede trenchcoats and double-breasted jackets.
“Isaia emphasizes constructions that exude individuality and intellectual sophistication,” said creative director Michael Handis. “This approach symbolizes the brand’s commitment to fusing the past and present to shape the future.”
Luigi Lardini, creative director of the Lardini men’s brand, knows that a navy blue suit, cerulean shirt and a tie immediately convey corporate attire and stiff formality, but he believes that there are subtler, yet effective ways to add some swagger to sartorialwear.
Take fall’s standout double peacoats, overshirts and hooded coats, done in sorbet tones of pink and cream or yellow, or the signature textured knit blazers, here offered in a variety of tones, from subdued grays and olive greens to fiery red. “A red jacket could probably be too much for many, but how about styling it with a tonal turtleneck and gray pants?” Lardini said.
Even waistcoats, the epitome of the suited-up look, got reinvented and used as a stand-alone underpinning to statement coats with military-nodding strong shoulders or Prince of Wales trenchcoats. Separate suits had their own moment, with juxtaposition of gray pants and camel blazers. Worn with fluid shirt and no tie, they telegraphed an overall sense of nonchalant elegance.
A relaxed approach to tailoring was seen also at Pal Zileri, where the assortment mixed a vast array of classic suits in different fabrications with more casual bomber jackets and soft crewneck sweaters in solid colors ranging from classic navy to chic burgundy shades.
At the same time, the brand further committed to classic formalwear and heritage sartorial skills by launching the new Club line, intended to represent the pinnacle of its offering in terms of fabrics and craftsmanship.
Seen as natural extension of suits, coats took the spotlight at Boglioli, with charming renditions in cashmere, houndstooth wool, Prince of Wales and windowpane versions, among others. While velvet was the go-to choice for eveningwear and tuxedo jackets in new shades of beige, the brand relied on Shetland to inject a new informal spin on daywear. The Windsor blazer jacket was a prime example, evoking British countryside charm with an Italian twist given by its soft and combed hand.
Quickly becoming a bestselling item, the Boglioli field jacket also pushed into this more casual take on tailoring. A cashmere rendition in powder pink was among the highlights of the whole collection, to be worn over pleated pants for a sophisticated everyday look.
That Jurgen Çanaku can count Måneskin and other performers among celebrities frequently donning his ‘70s-flavored attire certainly gave him confidence to further his proposition and build on its rockstar-ready tailoring.
Displayed through showroom appointments, the fall collection showed enhanced manufacturing prowess, with key sartorialwear pieces ranging from double-breasted suits with pleated, wide-leg trousers and sharp, wide lapels, to pin-striped shirts with golden buttons used as blazers over frescolana wool bottoms and Lurex thread pin-striped numbers befitting a concert’s stage.
See-through shirts with polka-dot and snakeskin motifs exuded languid debauchery, while rose pins were scattered on herringbone overcoats and blazers’ lapel. “I envisioned the image of a man walking across multiple blocks with a cigarette in his hand and dreams in his head. It’s a rock star, an elegant and carefree man,” Çanaku said.
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