A Sartorial Tour De Force for the Senses as Marni Proves There is Life After 30
Review of Marni Spring 2025 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Stiff & sculptural, something slimline, graceful ladies
As three musicians bashed away maniacally on identical Steinway pianos devoid of their lids, they set the audience on edge, ready for anything. As it turned out it was the perfect introduction to the equally off-beat nature of today’s collection.
Teasing todays show with a cryptic text message thread mimicking the act of typing on a phone, the two people in conversation were musing on looking and searching. One respondent didn’t quite know where they were, but in the last message they stated that if the sound of a piano was followed, they could be found “where it all began”. Could this have been creative director Francesco RIsso’s reference to Marni’s 30th anniversary? As the brand was founded in 1994 by Consuelo Castiglioni. If so then those expecting a greatest hits show would be disappointed, but as it turns out, not for long .
Starting at the top with the strongest pieces of the collection, were several Marni specialities i.e. the ladylike dress which often comes full-skirted. Frequently abstracted and then re-constructed by the brands founder the collections of Spring 2016 and 2018 immediately come to mind , as the former featured a pinafore dress cut-away at the front and layered with multiple knitwear pieces in primary brights, surely a collectors item now in one, or two lucky customers archives. In celebrating those graceful hits a square-neck fit-and-flare dress in suede was a fitting take on the idea of prim and proper, as the wearer will have to keep all liquids at bay, and an extra-pouffy tulip dress with a painterly rose print was quintessentially Marni. For the less daring the fish-tail pencil dresses were a silhouette that designers haven’t delved into for a number of seasons, so here it looked very much novel, just remember where you saw it revived first when the imitations start popping up on other runways. Slimline and sculptural could sum up the collection outside of dresses. And the stiffness applied to the volume of tie-neck blouses and woven tops offered a new angle on better basics. As for those skinny capri pants for all genders, we can only assume that the #europeanvacation summer trend will live on for another year.
THE DIRECTION
THE WRAP UP
Turning the show into a performance worthy of a 30-year celebration – and becoming a bit of a theme for Risso who included a lab-coated orchestra for spring 2024 – music, art, and unmatched design prowess have continued the brands reputation as a sartorial harbinger, as we all try to catch up to a design house that has always gone its own way, and led from the front.
