“A tournament of competitive clothing,” is how Francesco Risso described today’s catwalk show in Marni’s show notes. It was an imaginary match compiled of sportswear codes with completely makeshift rules. Cricket, golf, tennis, water polo… All the sports in the world served as an inspiration, yet the end result had nothing to do with activewear. The look was charmingly dishevelled, almost clownish looking, depicting a guy that probably doesn’t even know the rules to dodgeball. But he doesn’t really need to know. His power lies in the awkwardness of dressing himself, layering a vest over a T-shirt, while wearing two sets of contrasting bermuda shorts and some mismatched socks. Yet somehow, the Marni man pulls it all off. Risso is not only a puzzle expert, he is also a master of contemporary references. He doesn’t need to look back all the way to the Renaissance – the artists from his mood board are sitting front row. The hypersexuality of Florian Hetz’s photography and the sensual female portraits of painter Betsy Podlach were clearly seen walking down the catwalk, through the printed pieces, but mostly through the aura the show exuded, with every look walking through a garage in the middle of Milan. A definite queer sensibility is what makes Marni seem like no other luxury house. Not necessarily just the sexual aspect of the word but rather the eccentricity signifying something (or someone) outside the norm. And if this is what outside the norm looks like, we hope to never go back inside.
Photographs by Jason Lloyd-Evans
