September 23, 2023 |
Big questions were asked at Sportmax, as the design team of the Milanese brand used this season to study how we’ll dress in a post-naturalistic world. “Is there a future without acknowledgement of the past? Is artificial the new natural? Is science the new art?” Asked the show-notes. It was less about man vs machine, but “the cyclical battle between tradition and progress”. Models walked a tiled runway, backdropped by a glass enclosure that bloomed with tropical flowers, in a procession of progressive design ideas. Mostly in a clinal palette of lab white, and cream, out came shift dresses with raised, boxy necklines, organza tops which were constructed in off kilter formations and minidresses with enlarged, padded belts. Wipe-clean vinyl pencil skirts and space-age eyewear in collaboration with Oakley accentuated the mood.
Throughout, Sportmax proposed wrap-around tailoring informed by kimonos, as well as outlandish accessories that looked like they’d been crafted by artisans in a galaxy far from our own. A series of standout dresses and skirts featured the work of Czech artist Krištof Kintera, that saw flowers sprouting from circuit boards; a “reverent quest for purity and contrasts”, as described by the brand.
Photography courtesy of Sportmax.
