MILAN, Jun 21, 2009/ — Desire for relaxation, freedom, sporting vigour, to escape from the hectic rhythms of the metropolis. Spontaneous imitation of the sailors in the musical ‘South Pacific’ springs to mind, who decide at the end of the war, to stay in Hawaii where they had been posted.
Young and athletic, they are conquered by the sport, by water skiing perhaps, as the muscular protagonists of so many 1950s films. They live day by day in the open air, in contact with uncontaminated nature. In this way, at least with mind and senses, they choose the exotic islands as a refuge, the atolls in the middle of the Ocean, exactly half way between East and West…
It is the colours first and foremost, light and natural, that reveals this desire in the Carlo Pignatelli Outside collection for Spring/Summer 2010. Khaki uniforms and warm sandy beige.
The optical white of the blinding reflections of the sunlight and marines’ uniforms; the iridescent grey of just-caught pearls. Blue strokes in all shades, from aquamarine to turquoise, that bring to mind a cinema film, touched up with bright filters. Splashes of pink that, curiously, recall the personification of the geishas…
Materials too, although sophisticated and sought-after, talk of the summer language.
From satin silk to candid, featherweight suede and handmade jacquard fabrics with Japanese motifs, mutating in bright hues. Marked by applications, embroidery, ribbons and glass beads that design vaguely primitive patterns, as though stolen from indigenous crafts.
With the sporty range of techno textures offsetting the natural value of these materials: drip-proof, wind-proof nylon for blouses and parka jackets, double coated cotton for coats and trench coats, lycra for olympic swimming shorts…
The accessories, shoes and belts first and foremost, come from natural fibres elaborated with a craftsman’s care: the silver calfskin is cut with four different blades and coated with silver leaf; the suede is dyed and then stone washed, the leather has the logo heat-impressed, whilst the panama fabric guarantees body and lightness…
Japan is not too far away and the nearness can be seen in the presence of the silk kimono, embroidered or jacquard worked, which replaces the shirt, or is ‘translated’ with a full obi-belt into suits with squared shoulders and rolled sleeves.
If the shirt is there, it is long, to be worn as a tunic. The salopettes too, reveal a surprise, becoming a tailored suit that, in the ductile jersey version, reinvents and redefines the idea of the tracksuit. Bringing comfort and aplomb to a single item…
