Francesco Risso is now in his ninth year at Marni, and it seems he’s only improving with time. Today’s collection was one of his finest yet: Though more restrained by his usual pyrotechnical standards, it still captured all the magic and enchantment Risso consistently conjures from his Mad Hatter ingenuity.
The show was held at Marni’s headquarters, a vast and spare space suffused with dark red light. Crowds in hysterics screaming for celebrities were nowhere in sight. The seating arrangement, a sparse and labyrinthine layout of chairs seemingly scattered at random, surrounded three black grand pianos. On each seat lay a poem, printed on origami paper, by an unknown author. It was about a white rabbit darting through the quietude of a dark moonlit forest. But swoop! In a flash, the bunny vanishes. “Beauty is a white rabbit. You chase it, though you fall short in capturing it,” said Risso backstage. Perhaps this time he succeeded.
Staying true to his whimsical radicalism, Risso crafted the entire collection solely from cotton, experimenting with its textures and weaves in various forms. Cotton, a perennial, honest material, symbolizes resilience and embodies the “purity of beauty” that Risso has been pursuing. “The cotton thread represents the thread that mends relationships and wounds, guiding us back to the right path after we’ve strayed, and leading us towards what I call the essential beauty routine,” he explained. Fittingly, this was also the title of the show.
The collection’s approach was “rather liturgical,” as Risso put it: he wanted to evoke the ritualistic nature of fashion shows from a bygone era, when the progression flowed seamlessly from daywear, through les tenues d’après midi, culminating in grand evening gowns. Here, Risso began with slender silhouettes in soft hues, punctuated by dashes of black and white—fitted blazers over leggings, cropped chemises worn backwards like capelets, and small hourglass dresses shaped by vertical pleats. Gradually, the designs transitioned into more voluminous forms, featuring broad-shouldered jackets and tuxedos paired with tight siren skirts with stiff ruched hems, introducing a hint of ’50s couture, further accentuated by wondrous hats “à la Audrey Hepburn.”
Nostalgia doesn’t feature in Risso’s vocabulary though; the stunning parade of evening gowns that closed the show was a masterclass in fresh, poised fabulousness. Bustier dresses with pannier skirts were printed with bold, blown-up roses or exquisitely fluttered with shredded cotton feathers embroidered with shimmering crystals. “They’re glimpses of impossible beauty,” said Risso. “Beauty is pervasive: it makes everyone feel more beautiful.”
