Corsets are a hot-button subject in fashion, and rightfully so. After decades of suffering, women finally cast off the whalebones, took a deep breath and finished dessert — without fainting afterwards. Still, some brands and designers love them, including Ermanno Scervino, whose elegant collection melded corset shapes with tweed, herringbone and croc-embossed leather.
“This season it’s all about form. Waists are beautifully narrow and inspired by the corset. But there are no bones. It’s soft and comfortable,” said Toni Scervino, the brand’s co-founder, who runs the business. He was filling in for designer Ermanno Daelli, who was unable to attend the show due to last-minute personal reasons.
The brand was in tune with the Milanese mood for fall. Designers have been looking to classic shapes, traditional tailoring fabrics, and want to make clothes that last. Value for money, even at this level of the market, is a phrase on so many designers’ lips at a time when luxury spending is normalizing.
Daelli worked black-and-white herringbone, tweed and pinstripe wool into blazers with an hourglass shape, while a curvy miniskirt suit came in croc-stamped leather green as a Manzanilla olive.
Strapless pencil dresses also drew inspiration from the corset, and were paired with little knitted shrugs, while a satin peach-toned dress with quilting and rosettes had boudoir appeal. There were structured bra tops galore, layered under tailored jackets and paired with wide-leg wool trousers.
Corsets weren’t the only star. Backstage, Scervino said the brand’s winter wear is flying out of stores in resorts from Cortina to Gstaad and beyond, hence the hand-embroidered yeti boots, wool coats and shearling jackets in earth tones and gentle pastels.
A long tweed coat awash in sparkling embellishment captured the mood of this thoughtful, tradition-meets-glamour Milan season.
