Missoni

Angela Missoni can make her Missoni collection as sweet as the Spicchi de Arance e Pompelmo from the newly published The Missoni Family Cookbook. By that, I mean the softness of knits and a spectrum of pastel colours that appeared in the line-up. Missoni is more than fashion; it’s a lifestyle that’s about love, family, friendship, celebration – all somewhere situated in a very Italian villa. Light, plissé dresses in knitted Lurex and palazzo pants (note that delicate transparency) suggested fresh airiness, while the abstract floral prints and sea-shell jewellery brought on even more charm. Yet still, the collection feels dynamic, with that leading, signature “Put Together Look”, where different patterns, colours and textures are gracefully matched up. Plus, Bibi Cornejo Borthwick’s photography and Vanessa Reid’s styling fit contemporary Missoni’s image very, very well.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.

Backstage of the show, Angela Missoni explained that “this is Missoni’s 65th anniversary; I thought, ‘Let’s start celebrating.’” Not only was a sense of laid-back felt all over the collection, that contained of both womenswear and menswear. It was a delightful, effortless play with the brand’s heritage knitwear. The Missoni nomads had something of Scottish, African, Italian and Jamaican reminiscence. But the nonchalantly tied shawls around the neck and the heavily Jean-Michel Basquiat inspired colour palette was a reference to 1970s New York, as the season’s moodboard suggested. Angela’s recent ways at Missoni make the family label even more relevant that ever, with its relaxed styling and remarkable ad campaigns lensed by Harley Weir. Not forgetting about the model diversity present in the autumn-winter 2018 show, which is something to be learnt by other Milan designers.