In three seasons Andrea Incontri has insinuated something of himself into the output of Tod‘s—which is an achievement considering that this is a brand that has always been so powerfully authored by its owner. Incontri has pulled off this feat by making sure to pay assiduous fealty to the codes and tone of the house. A pilot jacket is still an alpha-male proposition, for instance. But that monotone masculinity has been subjected to a subtle eddying via over-dye and a sunset bleeding at the seams of acrylic color—a technique that ran throughout this collection and worked well off leather too. The thematic touchstones were three water-washed Italian playboy playgrounds: Como, Portofino, and Venice—so far, so obvious. Less so, though, were the geographically inspired tics that Incontri incorporated into some of the clothes; scudding clouds over Como became a cloud camo—camo! at Tod’s!—that was very pleasant to gaze at. And the fluttering ensigns of the craft that surround Portofino were translated into a finely subtle 3-D jacquard on a neatly cut polo shirt. Yes, there was an enormous red gommino-soled driving shoe floating in the swimming pool of this presentation’s venue, the Villa Necchi Campiglio. But through Incontri, Tod’s is dipping its suede toes into a new phase of considered thoughtfulness—and the technique behind its often gorgeous luxury leather outerwear is impressive.
