It's the dawn of a new day at Blumarine, where new creative director Walter Chiapponi made it abundantly clear that he was eager to erase the work of his predecessor Nicola Brognano and take the brand on a different journey.
“I came to this company three months ago, so I didn't have much time to work on this collection, but I completely immersed myself in the archive for a week,” Chiapponi said backstage. “I wanted to smell what happened in these years and I wanted to erase what happened in the closest years, in the sense that I am not a person who understands Y2K culture and Ms. Anna. [Molinari, Blumarine’s cofounder] I wouldn't understand it either. She is a woman who never touched vulgarity. She was a frivolous woman, with a lot of romanticism and that is all she taught me when I worked for her more than 20 years ago.”
Talk about making a statement.
Chiapponi embroidered another on the back of a sheer dress, leaving little to the imagination that simply read “Le retour à l'amour,” telegraphing the designer's intention to reaffirm the romantic spirit rather than social media hype at its center. gravitation of its aesthetics.
Other Blumarine symbols were also revisited in this seminal effort, including signature roses, here worked into small floral patterns peppered across ethereal dresses, pajama sets and technical outerwear. The leopard animal motif and heart shapes also appeared on faux fur or the back of a fuzzy yellow minidress, respectively.
Chiapponi's goal was to portray different personalities, and that was evident in the variety of different aesthetics he included in the cast. The Blumarine cardigan reworked with marabou pom poms and combined with a matching skirt alternated with tomboyish maxi overshirts, while ornate mini dresses covered in floral applications mixed with the delicate transparencies of a lace suit.
The biggest novelty was the introduction of menswear, with 10 styles adding to the variety of styles through sweatpants in bright colors or furry coats with floral prints that could have fit Kurt Cobain's vibe. “There will be more and more masculine looks in the future, because I think we cannot talk about realities and personalities if we focus only on one gender,” Chiapponi said. “I want to create globality and make this brand as relevant as before.”
The intentions are noble and Chiapponi can count on his previous time at the company as an additional compass to guide his journey. But the need to offer a clean slate stylistically seemed to have led the designer to a knee-jerk approach to this collection, resulting in too many ideas thrown together. It will be interesting to see what concepts he prioritizes as his creative vision for the brand takes shape. The fact that it comes from a place of love is already an encouraging start.
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