November 11, 2022 |
Marco de Vincenzo has been booked and busy as of late, walking the wire between his side-gig designing accessories for Fendi and his main squeeze as Etro’s fresh-faced creative director. Yet, he’s been riding it out with the aim of being one of fashion’s greatest names, and with the “see now, buy now” launch of the limited-edition Etro Love Trotter Tote alongside online retailer Mytheresa, which he unveiled as part of his first outing with the brand back in September. He had only one month to complete his SS23 collection for the storied house, and the bags were born from Etro’s rich textile-tied history.
“I visited the maison’s archives on June 6 2022 for the first time, a place brimming with made-in-Italy-history and inspiration,” De Vincenzo said. “There were eleven disused fabrics that captured my imagination that day, inspiring me to create a special upcycling project. And so, Love Trotter came into being, from the desire to transform and renew.”
The premium fabrics that captivated De Vincenzo – some of which were from Etro’s home collections – dazzled with curling paisley prints and soft fern visuals, Little House on the Prairie vibes and irrefutable folk influences. Brimming with velveteen brocades and embroidered denims, twill, canvas and leather, it was all very sumptuous and very Etro – a more youthful interpretation of its iconic radically romantic, fringed gypsy look. But despite the malleable conviction of the bag, it boasts a sturdy frame rendered in colourful recycled plastics. The logoed handle and infrastructural boning together create a trapezoidal compartment.
De Vincenzo wanted to “celebrate Etro’s unique textile richness,” and so, playing with new jacquard textures and a variety of decorative motifs, both whimsical and eccentric, felt like a suitable way to do so. Perched on top of the tapestry, an embroidered Pegasus soars, its grand wings as vast as the aura of Etro. It adds a three-dimensional accent motif to an already textural number that begs to be touched. Elsewhere, embellished with leather detailing, antique hardware, intarsias and striped jacquard linings, it becomes a timeless staple.
The Etro Love Trotter Tote is available in two sizes – one big enough for your laptop alongside your bits and bobs, and the other just right for a slow Sunday spent window shopping and people watching with a chai latte in hand. Plus only 200 bags will ever be made, crafted entirely by hand in Italy in order to incubate notions of longevity, wanderlust, luxury, and above all, love.
Photography courtesy of Etro.
