Blumarine

This week, angels (and swarms of butterflies) landed on the Blumarine spring-summer 2024 runway, which itself was surprisingly a white box setting. This is minimal according to Nicola Brognano, who this season leaves behind the bold pinks and indulges in shades of neutrals and… nakedness. “I just felt it was time for more light, more lightness, more butterflies”. Butterflies, which in a previous collection were emblazoned on a skimpy top, came out in force this season, together with a parade of feathered wings. Butterflies are synonymous with frivolity. And angels, well, they’re angels. Blumarine’s were languid, lanky, handsome winged Adonises strutting down the catwalk in low-rise gold-leather trousers from which emerged smooth, naked torsos dusted with glitter. Brognano’s singular idea of purity and airy luminosity expanded into other literal translations: colors were pale, jerseys were flimsy like hosiery, ribbons and trains trailed breezily on the back of ultra-short sexy numbers. Bustiers and pencil skirts in clear PVC, studded with an abundance of rhinestones and crystals, were the pinnacle of Blumarine’s ode to very naked lightness. They didn’t leave anything to the imagination.To make the waters even murkier, models walked to the beat of The Idol’s Lily-Rose Depp’s World Class Sinner/I’m A Freak.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
Don’t forget to follow Design & Culture by Ed on Instagram! By the way, did you know that I’ve started a newsletter called Ed’s Dispatch? Click here to subscribe!

For resort 2024, Blumarine emerges from the armored chrysalis of the Joan D’Arc-themed autumn show and pops out as a butterfly in shining colors. Turquoise. Hot pink. Golden yellow. “The look isn’t as dirty as in the last few seasons,” Nicola Brognano elucidated. The designer said he wanted something more elevated and sensual, “a different energy, more joie de vivre, a more summer feel“. From the label’s archive he excavated a calmer color palette – nudes, pale pink, light blue, white – that he amplified into brighter vibrations. “There are no concepts, just sensations,” he said matter-of-factly. The look was ultrashort, body skimming and slinky, with viscose jersey providing a smooth, liquid surface malleable enough for wrapping, draping, and sash-knotting. Matching the barely-there minidresses’ colors, stretchy leggings that covered the needle heels of strappy sandals elongated the figure into a lean monochrome silhouette. Brognano unearthed a Blumarine lingerie look from years past, steering its once flirty, seductive attitude towards the overtly provocative. A tight-fitting bustier and leggings combo in stretch jersey with lace inserts was the season’s “new suit proposition.” Roses, another of Blumarine’s emblems, were also given the Brognano treatment. More thorny bush than manicured garden, they were laser-cut and appliquéd on a white minidress, or printed on a hot-pink mesh tube dress. The brand’s ubiquitous cargos came in a simplified evening version. In black canvas with a satin intarsia, they signaled a slight shift in the approach to Y2K that put Brognano’s Blumarine on the map in the first place. Asked how he feels about the in-your-face bare-midriff look that has ignited copycats by every high street brand, he was rather adamant. “Y2K? Honestly, I think it’s a bit passé.”