The rich colors of the sunset bathing the sky of Florence seen from the early-Renaissance Villa Medicea della Petraia had some great contenders on Wednesday night.
Homme Plissé Issey Miyake pulled in a rainbow-wide palette of mint, peach pink, buttery yellow, sunburnt brown, olive green, mauve and orange for its show in the city as guest of honor of Pitti Uomo, marking the first stop in the brand’s new roving format for showing collections.
As rural sounds (were they cowbells?) filled the maze-like gardens downhill from the villa, looks on the runway showcased quite a diverse, all-pleated range, even by the standards of versatility that the Homme Plissé wardrobe has already accustomed its fans to.
The olive green elongated blazer with a utilitarian crossbody on the opening look left space for short and long suits paired with organza ruffled shirts and ribbed thigh-high stockings — a quirky and somewhat sensual touch on many of the looks.
Pleated tailcoats, overalls and vests apt for layering followed, reinstating the modularity of the Homme Plissé offering, until silhouettes grew experimental and more fun.
A shawl drenched in sunset shades was wrapped around the torso, worn with matching pants, while brushstroke patterns enhanced the arty touch on asymmetric cape-like tops over shorts.
Paint brushes were tucked into pockets of harness-like tops over monastic collarless blazers, a reference to the tools the team used on its inspiration trip through Italy to reproduce the exact shades of zucchini seen at local market shops, or facades of buildings in Manarola, one of the picture-perfect villages of the Cinque Terre seaside hamlet.
Plush cardigans in sorbet shades and roomy see-through trenchcoats billowing in the wind were appealing departures from the plissé technique to expand the brand’s horizons. Ditto for the inventively styled pajama sets in Oxford stripes that mimicked the pleats.
The show closed on a playful note, with packable outerwear that doubled up as duster bags — or was it the other way round? Shown with hangers integrated into the hoods, one couldn’t really tell.
In the preview conversation a member of the design team said that “the intention is to design clothing for a person to live [in] throughout their everyday life.”
A vivid spectacle, the spring show definitely lived up to the special life moments occurring now and then, too.