The look is hard and fast: geometric silhouettes, graphic prints, strict
lines, strong colors. And this is what Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi’s
Spring/Summer 2013 collection for Aquilano.Rimondi was all about. By mashing up
references as diverse as Picasso, painted Japanese masks, Venetian
harlequins, and Fellini’s La Strada, they ended up with a parade
of checkerboard prints mixed with riotous rainbow hues. If at times it
felt a little like a circus, well, so be it. As Aquilano said minutes
before the show: “Fashion should be fun.” Plus, if you’re wearing a
kicky strapless dress with an emerald-green and black bodice in a skewed
diamond print and a poufy miniskirt, chances are that fun is exactly
what you’re dressing for.
Some of the color combinations evoked seventies YSL, but the supershort Empire-waist silhouette was all Aquilano.Rimondi. These designers have mastered that architectural shape and showed plenty of dresses to prove it. Maybe it was this season’s punchy patterns but, as well executed as the dresses were, they at times felt young. Where the mix of prints and tones worked better was in the straight, midi-length skirt and boxy top combinations. The effect offered more of a balance and still allowed the duo to demonstrate their talent for tailoring and precision.
And really, that talent is why so many of fashion’s major players considered this show a must-see in Milan. Everyone is hungry for the next generation of Italian stars, and these two show great promise. Sure, that’s a lot of pressure, especially in a country so committed to revering the past, but there’s no reason Aquilano and Rimondi are not up to the task. They seem eager, too. “The only way to have people listen to you is if you’re different,” Aquilano said. “Whether they like it or they don’t like it, the important thing is to make a statement.”
True, but here’s the thing. In jumbling together all these references, in jumping from Baroque fifteenth-century art one season to early twentieth-century Picasso the next, we’re left wondering what specifically that statement is. We look forward to next season, when hopefully the pair will present a sharper sense of what they want to say.
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Some of the color combinations evoked seventies YSL, but the supershort Empire-waist silhouette was all Aquilano.Rimondi. These designers have mastered that architectural shape and showed plenty of dresses to prove it. Maybe it was this season’s punchy patterns but, as well executed as the dresses were, they at times felt young. Where the mix of prints and tones worked better was in the straight, midi-length skirt and boxy top combinations. The effect offered more of a balance and still allowed the duo to demonstrate their talent for tailoring and precision.
And really, that talent is why so many of fashion’s major players considered this show a must-see in Milan. Everyone is hungry for the next generation of Italian stars, and these two show great promise. Sure, that’s a lot of pressure, especially in a country so committed to revering the past, but there’s no reason Aquilano and Rimondi are not up to the task. They seem eager, too. “The only way to have people listen to you is if you’re different,” Aquilano said. “Whether they like it or they don’t like it, the important thing is to make a statement.”
True, but here’s the thing. In jumbling together all these references, in jumping from Baroque fifteenth-century art one season to early twentieth-century Picasso the next, we’re left wondering what specifically that statement is. We look forward to next season, when hopefully the pair will present a sharper sense of what they want to say.
Selections by ANDREA JANKE Finest Accessories
Photo credits/Source: VOGUE
Runway: Photography by Yannis Vlamos / InDigitalteam / GoRunway
Details: Photography by Alessandro Viero / InDigitalTeam / GoRunway
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