Where, oh where, to start with the Marni show? With so many twists and quick turns, new ideas and buried details, the key moments on this Winter runway defy being boxed into a single category. Let's start, then, with the model's hair that was crumpled into a tangled, wet mess and gave the girls the air of a woman who'd been confined to her bed for many days in a row. Another clue to the women's subversive state were in their mid-calf length sheer pantyhose that left the models' ankles and calves with black tattoos of tribal blocking. Clearly, the Marni woman fits into no other fashion category - least of all the bourgeois one that her home city typically exudes - and the original, art-streaked clothes on the runway, together with wavy architectural tailoring, felt right in tune with the Milanese brand's signature quirk. Creative director Consuelo Castiglioni opened the show with a dramatic unfurling of stiffened wool, or bonded jersey ruffles, cut into tiers on long skirt fronts, or as pleating on lean dresses. From there, her silhouettes grew, blowing air into bell-shaped arms and oversized skirts in substantial weighty fabrics. The eyes moved everywhere all at once, flashing from a caramel leather anorak sprouting a grass green mohair hood to spotted goats hair coats. Bold street striping, meanwhile, made for one of the season's most effective graphics, paving its way vertically up long belted coats or boiled wool suits with long column skirts. But the highlight of the show was the finale of wool dresses, coats and sweeping skirts that were panelled with a jungle's worth of grass-like feathers and fur, and topped with two-tone beaver coats. That was one thing we could have feasted our eyes on for eternity.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
