Evolving Chapter by Chapter
Review of Marni Spring 2027 Fashion Show
By Angela Baidoo
It can be hard for a brand to ingratiate the work of a new creative director with their audience, but if done right they can secure that rare find who comes with their own dedicated fan base that only needs converting. This appears to be the case with Meryll Rogge and Marni, a much-loved brand that has always been a champion of Italian-style eccentricity that has something to say, but is ultimately wearable.
Rogge has, in only two seasons, demonstrated that she has a handle on what the customer wants, while also creating new devotees who will grow to love the Meryll Rogge way-of-working.
THE COLLECTION
THE VIBE
With this her sophomore collection, those who championed the designer for this position will now be breathing a sigh of relief. You only have to take the example she citied backstage, when recounting how their latest bag release ‘The Trunkette’ was met with broad appeal, as the first purchase was made by a 17-year old, subsequently followed up by a woman of eighty. Both of whom recognised something about their own personal style in the silhouettes design.
Rogge has been keen to show us that she is deftly equipped at translating Marni’s particular type of quirk into a commercial proposition. Describing her process in the notes as uncovering truths by “cutting away, opening up and looking beneath the surface.” Looking at the positive and negative – space, not emotional response – became spring 2027’s theme. Creating openings and closings through cut-outs, and revealing the unseen, i.e. the inner layers of a garments construction.
The collection was an appealing collage of ideas that continue to evolve the brand for the next chapter. And new beginnings were what also played a part in how she formed the design thinking behind the collection. Explaining backstage that she too was entering a new chapter of her life.
Her tenure at Marni aside, her namesake brand is also going strong and expanding into the world of publishing – she revealed a collaboration during the June Men’s fashion week with the Brussels-based Saint Martins bookshop that started life as the Maison Martin Margiela Space, as it’s first curator. This method of continuing with an own-brand (though it may stretch a designer’s time and capacity) is an invaluable lesson for those who will follow similar paths. Not only as it provides an outlet for opposing creative ideas that are free from the sometimes rigid structures of a fashion house, but it also enables designers to continue building their own dream if and when they decide to step away from a major brand.
Back to the talking point of new chapters the designer put it like this when bringing the idea back around to Marni “this new chapter of my life is really exciting on a personal and professional level, and it made me think about different chapters that you have in your life, and Marni is a brand that can carry you through these different chapters.” This was seen in how the looks came together to represent those different phases. Acknowledging the brands history as one that has multi-generational appeal.
Her pre-season conversations involved considering not just what you bring, but also what you take away when approaching how to start a collection for a house that is still evolving. What is welcome in the way the designer is approaching her work is that it feels experimental and playful in a way that is also accessible. Enlarged buckles become a fun detail that is also functional, femininity is expressed not by the overt revealing of a bra, but its physical embedding into the construction of a garment, described as “turning an inner layer outward.” Proportions were skewed to speak to what the notes described as continuing the tradition of Marni welcoming “different ages, identities, and ways of dressing.” This also spoke to how the clothes will accompany each new phase of the wearers life.
THE WRAP UP
The notes that accompanied today’s show explained how the collection was a celebration of the “joy of dressing now.” At a time when many struggle to decipher how to express themselves when there are so many people they could be. Rogge understands this dichotomy and has baked it into her work that is still at an early stage with Marni. With each spring 2027 look she has worked on creating a sense of character that is built through the handmade and “a sense of the person who might wear it.”
Milan is a city where the effortlessly experimental never feels contrived, there is an art to layering patterns, textures, and bold details that only a few can master. An extensive archive from which to draw from helps of course. The decorative layered with the sober, the technical and the twee, the industrial with the natural. Her ’Tough love approach to making clothes’ will surely encourage steady growth in the future.
