Chiara Boni’s show peaked at the opening look, when Anna Cleveland appeared on the black catwalk in a checkered suit, long leather gloves, pheasant feathers pinned on her sculptural hat, crop in her hand and confidence aplenty.
Her sassy entrance set the mood of the show, which unfurled to an original soundtrack composed by Thomas Costantin that included excerpts of the autobiography Boni released at the end of last year. In a passage, the designer details her Swinging London days and how she arrived in the country “dressed like a good girl of a good Italian family and in the timespan of a week I completely lost my mind.”
Yet more than that specific period, the collection celebrated Britain at large, nodding especially to Savile Row as she splashed sartorial mannish codes like Prince of Wales patterns over fitted suits with flared pants and her signature eveningwear pieces.
A few renditions featured wide, puffed shoulders that could give Emma Stone’s “Poor Things” character Bella Baxter a run for her money, while others were twisted in subtler ruches that injected dynamism into frocks by distorting patterns.
In addition to the signature jersey dresses, other options came in regal red velvet or were covered in sparkling and iridescent sequins. Boni tossed in a few leather-looking frocks and fetish touches via gloves and whips as a reminder that she might have turned out to become an occasion wear expert but her cheeky days aren’t forgotten.
