The Evolution of Etro, From the Point of Origin to Today
Review of Etro Fall 2025 Fashion Show
By Mark Wittmer
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
Origin Story, Evolving Dialogues, Soft Seventies
In what can only be described as a creative frisson fall’s Etro show was a trip back to where it all begin – time that is, not the brand.
The origins of life on earth were the starting point for creative director Marco de Vincenzo who invited us to take a journey with him to trace the origins of creation and identify “the source from which the straight line leading to the here and now started”. And even though his Etro era has been firmly planted in the future he was thinking about the “dialogue between past, present, and future”, because one can’t exist without the other.
Backstage the creative director described achieving that rare balance of honouring heritage while creating modernity, something he felt he had achieved after only three and a half years, referring to it as “magma”. In a metaphorical sense this could be seen as something deep inside that the desiger has tapped into in order to create something new (therein aligning with today’s main theme).
De Vincenzo recognised the need for Etro to be part of, not just the customers decorative side, but also their everyday life and explained backstage “There are the flou dresses that Etro is known for, but its been important for me to find a new language for her day life, so its a collection that’s very [focussed on] day in a way”. Elements of the outdoors were brought into the fold starting with several extreme fur trapper hats, oversized fur coats, slouchy jeans, and a very good reworking of a classic shearling jacket with a knitted back panel. And as this is Etro each look received an overlay of an ‘Etroism’, from a Canadian tuxedo with a tonal paisley over-printed to a check skirt suit featuring the same. A pastel coloured filigree design on light grey tailoring was surely part of the nod to the future that the designer referred to, as the execution stays true to the brand while introducing a new perspective on what are sure to be prints from the houses extensive archive. Newer treatments such as a knitted co-ord with full trumpet-skirt was overlaid with a print demonstrating that innovation can come about by simply pivoting with the resources you have to hand. And it wouldn’t be Etro if there wasn’t a flourish of the fanciful and for that we had to look no further than the chainmail formed of jewel-like paisley pieces linked together which toughened up tunic blouses and baby-doll dresses. Explaining to The Impression “I use jewellery to tell the story of Etro from an ethnographic point of view, I used jewellery in this case as symbols to represent the universe, so bees that work with flowers to spread life”
The space in which todays show was set featured a curtain crafted from intricate crafted tiles that divided the runway in half. Acting like a modern take on ancient cave drawings De Vincenzo worked with the artist, research centre, and publisher Numero Chromatico (an outfit that incubates new research that hybridises varying sources of knowledge from art to neuroscience to ‘imagine new forms of relationships between humans, nature and technologies’) to replicate a similar installation from 2023. Here, the shapes depicted form part of a visual alphabet collected by the researchers, but also created through the power of AI algorithms. With some recognisable, and others as if alien life-forms it facilitates the questioning of “what it means to be part of [the[ natural organism” that is Planet Earth.
THE DIRECTION
THE QUOTE
I was thinking about the origins of the universe and of creation and at the same time the origins of the brand. I feel much more confident at Etro, after 3 and a half years, I think that I have found a balance, where I use the past to give a new interpretation without being to repetitive.”
Marco De Vincenzo, Creative Director, Etro
THE WRAP UP
In less than 4 years Marco De Vincenzo has proven himself to be the perfect fit to shore up Etro’s future, as per todays theme he has been able to take the best elements of the past, look to the future and create something in the present that is relevant. His brand evolution meant that for fall he was considering every aspect of the Etro customers life so more day was incorporated, and to great effect, as denim and checks were overlaid with Etroisms and dresses became much more fluid and soft allowing for an ease of movement through life. As was noted in todays press release “The Etro magma bubbles and boils, vital, infinitely metamorphic.”
