Lucie and Luke Meier’s Jil Sander collection show during Milan Fashion Week this season was described by the designers as “about embracing a positive future.” The same could arguably be said for the vibe that swept the runways this past week in Italy’s fashion capital. Following the general tumult of the past few seasons, and as lockdown measures lift, designers offered up a lesson in unbridled joy and optimism as brands opted for loose cuts, vibrant colour, and an overall sense of ease. Here are a few standout collections.
JIL SANDER
Lucie and Luke Meier’s Jil Sanders S/s offering was an exercise in letting go. This season the cut and line were, at turns, boxy and oversized with lapel-less jackets and medallion jewelry abounding. Proportions were playful, juxtaposing exaggerated silhouettes with cool calming palettes, whilst denim was cut loose and slouchy; rendered in washes beyond basic indigo.
Prada
Dubbed ‘Seduction Stripped Down”, Prada’s S/S 22’ output was our first chance to see Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’s work on the runway IRL. “We thought of words like elegant—but this feels so old-fashioned. Really, it’s about a language of seduction that always leads back to the body. Using these ideas, these references to historical pieces, the collection is an investigation of what they mean today.” The historical ideas in question? Familiar tropes and motifs of womanhood: bra cups and corsetry boning, all made unconventional by how they were presented: on simple, even plain, sweaters or as details on denim coats. Raw distressed leather was juxtaposed by slinky satin, reminiscent of the effortless styling of the late 1990’s. The collection at once demure and seductive, proposed a new vision for sexuality as we emerge back into the real world.
Fendace
Described as “a celebration of Italian fashion and a to-hell-with-it disruption of the established order of things,” according to the brands, Fendace is the brainchild of Kim Jones and Silvia Venturini Fendi of Fendi and Donatella Versace of Versace who swapped houses—apparently for one night only—to design 25 looks for their rival Italian luxury brands. The result? A fascinating melange and juxtaposition of house codes and archival motifs.
Blumarine
In just a few seasons, Nicola Brognano has flipped and twisted Blumarine into the quintessential harbinger for the Y2K renaissance, and this season was no different. Playing on unbridled nostalgia and sex, Brognano and stylist Lotta Volkova sent out what they describe as Military Fairies. Sexy Butterfly girls. Denim patchwork queens. Trippy, psychedelic, neon girls. Red carpet denim prints, red carpet bandanas, and low-waisted mermaids.” Need we say more?
Burberry
Riccardo Tisci’s outing for Spring 22′ aptly dubbed ‘animal instinct’ dug into what the designer does best for Burberry; deconstruction. Ripping apart and rebuilding the trench, and the check, and putting a personal stamp on it all, with abstract animal prints shaped like paper cutouts and hats with pricked up feline ears, the collection was at once sex and restraint, an investigation of the feral in the age of modernity.
Cody is the Editor in Chief and senior contributor at liminul.
He is a photography aficionado, fashion enthusiast, avid Lana Del Rey fan, and lover of all things aesthetically pleasing.
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