One year in at Trussardi, and it seems it’s clear what Benjamin Huseby and Serhat Isik are up to with the Italian brand. The latest collection is an ode to the Milanese style that made Trussardi prominent between the 1970s and ’90s. It all started with the puffer jacket, taken to the extreme to become XXL, like a bathrobe, padded and super soft. The leather on men’s and women’s skirts was distressed, softened, while the duchesse silk and nylon imitated the leather on classic cut blouses and less classic skirts with diagonal zippers. Everything read “sciura,” a Milanese term for the typical city lady, who only wears black, hazel, ecru and bordeaux, as in this collection, allowing herself to wear a jacquard motive that is reminiscent of the tapestries in the palaces she frequents. Isik and Huseby played with these clichés without mockery, rather using them as a key to a brand story that would otherwise be left untold. The final look was a mermaid skirt paired with a jewel belt and a sober turtleneck, completely black. It was like a contemporary version of the Trussardi look for the Teatro alla Scala premiere, an unmissable event for the typical Milanese. However, is this (quite convincing) storytelling enough to turn new clients on to buying Trussardi?

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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