Last week, Francesco Scognamiglio threw an extravagant bash inside Naples’ Royal Palace to mark a couple of milestones.
The event was meant to celebrate his 50th birthday, but also his return to business after recovering full control of his namesake brand earlier this year. It was aptly called “The Renaissance.”
On Wednesday, back at his tony Milanese apartment and studio scattered with baroque antiques and mirrored walls, he was clearly energized to unveil his first couture collection under the new course.
The concise and directional fall effort straddled out-there opulence and intimacy, rebooting the designer’s key fashion tropes, from ruffles and lace to sheer sensuality and bling.
Scognamiglio said he looked at his hometown of Pompeii for inspiration, the city wiped out in 79 B.C. by the eruption of Vesuvio and now home to one of the most informative open-air museums on ancient Roman civilization. “The Faun of Pompeii,” a bronze statue unearthed in 1830, was Scognamiglio’s chosen symbol of rebirth.
He conscripted Irish model Aimee Byrne — whom he said he discovered on the cover of last February’s WWD Weekend — to embody the mythical creature and front look book imagery.
Her androgynous beauty somewhat embodies the frictions inherent in this lineup.
Opening with a palette cleanser in the shape of a black tuxedo with an hourglassy shape, Scognamiglio seemed to tease an expanded vision of femininity, which also accommodated a stunning oversize faux-fur coat embellished with a silver metallic rose brooch and a coat that nodded to the ’60s with a built-in bullet bra.
The designer’s signature freewheeling bursts of opulence reclaimed their prime spot in looks that followed.
Sheer bodices and corsets trimmed in lace and embellished with cabochon crystals or powder pink feathers fanning out on the torso were worn with see-through tulle frocks, reading red carpet glam, while the black mesh minidress dotted in silver crystals and trimmed in baroque ramage could easily steal the spotlight at award season’s after parties.
Scognamiglio’s 1930s-inspired slipdresses and nightgowns were alluringly jarring, for example juxtaposing romantic, sheer organza with vavavoom billowing chiffon ruffles at the hem and waistline, floral lace insets, or crystal and sequins galore.
Although Scognamiglio is hoping to get back on the Paris Couture Week schedule where he showed briefly between 2016 and 2017, the intimate atelier presentation packed a punch.