MILAN — Matters of identity were front and center on the fifth day of Milan Fashion Week. What is it that makes a brand stand out as one of a kind? And to what extent is brand identity static or elastic?
Bally’s brand DNA is rooted in Swissness, which for designer Simone Bellotti lies in the tension between rigor and anarchy set against a backdrop of green Alpine landscapes. In recent seasons, Bellotti’s highly personal interpretation of the mystery of Switzerland has turned the storied but once stale brand into the hot ticket of Milan, giving Bally a kind of fashion credibility it never had. So much so that the designer is said to have been snapped up by an edgier group for a larger brand.
Yesterday’s show, held on the 16th floor of the modernist Torre Velasca, was so radical, so personal, and so unequivocally Bally — the Bellotti Bally, that is — it could easily be interpreted as a farewell. For sure it was unapologetic: see the make up, the aerodynamic peplums, the coats and dresses spouting fur from their backs, the way even the simplest pieces enabled new gestures. Bellotti said he was inspired by the work of Swiss painter, photographer, sculptor and musician Luciano Castelli, who in the 1970s and 1980s used himself as an expressive medium. That led the designer to explore routine and disorder. Here and there, the shapes had something Loewe-esque to them, but Bellotti has a knack for the sculptural that’s all his own. It made for a sensational outing that further stretched the borders of the brand.
Over at Ferragamo, Maximilian Davis is still struggling to unlock the potential of a brand identity that is at once clear and elusive. With the recent departure of chief executive Marco Gobbetti, it seems the lack of clarity may continue a bit longer. Is Ferragamo about a rainbow wedge? It certainly can’t be about the unflattering hipbags that opened the show. Accessories missteps aside, yesterday’s outing looked like it was spinning in too many directions. Davis continued to explore dance, as he did last season, focusing on Pina Bausch and her Tanz Theatre, a fashion mainstay. But the results did not have the ease for which Pina was so splendid. Ultimately, the Ferragamo woman was not in focus: Who is she? Does she exist? These questions were left unanswered.
Stomping down the catwalk in grungy boots, woolen beanies, cargo pants, denim, crystals, lace and fur, and then hitting the street outside the venue, the “cool girls” devised by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana looked perfectly plausible. It was a major about-turn from the corsets and garters of a year ago that nonetheless felt in sync with the brand’s identity. Memories of good old D&G, Dolce and Gabbana’s discontinued but still beloved diffusion line, came to mind.
