Monday, September 24, 2012

Gianfranco Ferre Spring 2013 Milan Collections


A Brava is due to the designers of Gianfranco Ferre! Stefano Citron and Federico Piaggi have masterfully mined the DNA of the late designer and turned it into the 21st century edition of the legendary brand/designer.

I am so pleased to see that the heritage of the eponymous designer has not been tossed away nor disregarded when a new collection is presented. These 2 very talented designers have extrapolated the roots of the brand and not just “copied’ or recycled the original designs. Unlike Mr. Simons at Dior, these 2 talents did not merely decorate the archival styles, they modernized the modernity of Ferre himself.

The stark black and white is 100% Ferre as are the hard edges especially when in white as one always has visions of those gazar shirts or the stand up and salute cottons and linen. There is a great pride when a house such as this makes a conscious decision not to reinvent itself and start from square one but to use what is handed to them and turn it skillfully into the next incarnation of the brand.
With all the references that are inherent in these designs, the collection is still not as razor sharp and hard edged as when Mr. Ferre did it but that is not necessarily a deficit here. The clothes are more approachable in 2013 than they once were in the 80’s or 90’s.



I am truly hopeful that Messrs. Citron and Piaggi will have a long life at the brand and that whatever the issues are with the owners will be resolved to everyone’s advantage and that includes the late Mr. Ferre.

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