Scene setting: Risso’s weird and wonderful narrative knows no bounds. For A/W 2020, guests entered an industrial space through a tent-like tunnel, before emerging into a pinkish hued green house, like you’d imagine on in a lunar space station or as a weird enclave on a meditative retreat. Risso wasn’t confined by a solid definition. ‘Are we in a caged world trying to get out,’ or ‘are we trying to escape into a magic, techno psychedelic world escape,’ he mused backstage, clad in striped trousers and a long sleeved t-shirt, after removing the rabbit head he’d worn down the runway. His down-the-rabbit-hole designs referenced ‘beauty in leftovers’, reflected in the soft seating of the show, which was formed from piles of internal sponge from old sofas.
Mood board: Risso was preoccupied with finding new beauty from scraps, taking colourful fragments of leathers and tapestries, and patchworking them into coats and symmetric dresses tied with bows. He described his pieces as ‘collaged puzzles of remnants,’ which leftover shreds from ready-to-wear, being made into slouchy oversized bags. Elsewhere, chunky knitwear was colour blocked and accented with XL running stitch while velvet overcoats were printed with what resembled metallic space dust. In a beguiling blend of old and new, models sported their cut and paste pieces sporting futuristic glittering make up, sprinkled across their face and hair. Risso described them as ‘wild Alice in Wonderlands.’
Finishing touches: Cutouts on patchwork pieces (also noted on the Tod’s and Versace catwalks) were framed by pieces of metal in gold and silver, like hand-honed hardware. ‘We made the structures in clay in the studio then transformed them into metal,’ Risso explained. ‘Behind each object, there’s a hand.’ §
