Here’s the fashion presentation of Marni Menswear Fall/Winter 2020 Milan. Francesco Risso collaborated with Michele Rizzo to create an art performance inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.”
Metallic tunnels brought guests to the heart of the Marni show’s venue, isolating them from the outside world. Francesco Risso and choreographer Michele Rizzo were inspired by Prince Prospero, the protagonist of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death,” who locked himself in his safe castle to escape a horrible pestilence. In a dimly lit room where the audience stood on benches, the duo created a dance performance with young men and women slowly gyrating to tech music.
“This is just a dance that takes us to the end of love,” said the designer backstage. “They are a collective in this never-ending party moving with a multiform uniform, expressing the persistence of time and the beauty of remaining and leftovers. It’s just the reaching of the eternal love through the body language.”
The dance inspired emotion in some and left others puzzled – and struggling to see the actual clothes in the darkness of the post-apocalyptic feeling event. Backstage, though, what was clear was the designer’s signature intentionally destroyed pieces and mis-proportioned garments that felt as if they were old clothes repurposed for someone else too small or large.
Flashbacks and fastforwards, of styles and movements, united in a choral flow of gestures by the choreography of Michele Rizzo.
Faded fabrics were used in suits with a slightly Seventies appeal, Nineties techno raving inspired the silhouettes of baggy pants worn with tank tops and skin-tight knits, while outerwear styles mixed fabrics, such as a red leather perfecto jacket with a quilted insert on the back. Patterns of stripes, maxi polka dots and hearts with a psychedelic feel were splashed on oversized shirts and bell-bottoms.
Marni’s presentation captured the spirit of an artsy fashion collection. How that will translate when the clothes hit the shop floor remains unclear.
