Luca Magliano looked at scorching summers, and the creativity that can come from all that heat and boredom, for this collection, and he could not have picked a more perfect moment. The designer staged a presentation at Maxim’s during one of the hottest weeks on record in Paris, and filled a room with models in various stages of dress, and undress.
They gathered around a long table, as if after a long meal, somewhere by the sea, smoking, talking and solving the problems of the world in ways that only family and friends can, after a few carafes of wine and plates stacked high with delicious food.
He described the collection as “Mediterranean Gothic.” The looks had a makeshift feel, a gritty, cinematic edge and ’70s style.
He took silk scarves and turned them into sarongs worn with belts and tank tops, or twisted them into halter tops and paired them with rolled-up trousers. He paired many of those hot-weather looks with that Italian summer staple, open-toe wooden clogs.
Magliano even adapted his tailoring and knitwear to the summer heat. He rethought sleeves, slicing them off suit jackets, and rolling them up high on trenchcoats. A sweet sweater with twinned cherries on the front and a boxy one with brown stripes were both styled with scrunched-up sleeves.
One plaid jacket with crumpled lapels looked as if it was wilting in real time in the hot weather.
And what’s a summer without the right accessories? Magliano teamed with Carrera this season on a series of ’70s-flecked lenses, and with Diadora on vintage-flecked tracksuits and a lineup of simple Equipe sneakers. It was a stylish outing, and proof that the heat and humidity can certainly get the creativity flowing.
