While many fashion designers are reconsidering formal wear, there's a new brand in town that's showing a different path for streetwear: logo-free, luxurious, and with a strong point of view.
In his debut on the Milan fashion programme, Mordecai made an impact with an attractive study in silhouettes and a fresh mix of outerwear, tailoring, nods to martial arts and mixes of different cultures, from North Africa to the Far East .
Founder Ludovico Bruno is no rookie. He began his career as a knitwear designer under Edward Buchanan, who, like a proud brother, walked through the presentation and filmed videos, before moving to Moncler to work on the Gamme Bleu and Gamme Rouge lines with Thom Browne and Giambattista Valli respectively. and later became chief designer of Moncler Genius.
So Mordecai is not a postgraduate project that represents a leap into the void, and it shows. Bruno's skillful hands, his trained eye for the product and, most importantly, the level of self-awareness that can only come from experience and maturity translated into a brand with a strong identity – the best asset you can have in an increasingly crowded market.
His point of view was expressed with a distinctive silhouette, loose but measured, with rounded shoulders and wide trousers, but still accentuating the waist. It was a continuation of the pilot collection that Bruno launched for spring 2024 and immediately caught the attention of buyers. Only here the focus on wardrobe archetypes such as parkas, windbreakers, field jackets and blazers was reasserted with even more vigour, as Bruno further explored the theme of lightness and how to offer garments that keep you warm and at the same time exude freshness.
The super-light quilts in large proportions, judogi-inspired jackets, and pants with deep pleats that open below the waist and taper at the ankle were beautiful and came in new fabrics and colors, such as cognac, burnt brown, and dark gray. Marking a return to his early days, Bruno also dipped his toe into knitwear, turning hoodies and sweatshirts into cashmere eyelet knits or offering textured vests and sweaters inspired by Berber rugs. Other graphic motifs evoked the reference, as seen in the details on the cuffs of Mordecai's first tuxedo, which led Bruno to also begin experimenting with slimmer shapes.
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