At first glance this collection looked like minimal Milanese fashion, full of rich fabrics that had been folded, draped and tailored with discretion. Up close, though, it was entirely different, with layers of detail and nods to history and botany.
Gabriele Colangelo took the iris as inspiration, specifically the one that appears in the foreground of Botticelli’s “Primavera,” and the symbol of the artist’s native Florence.
Colangelo turned the flower into 3D embellishments on coats and dresses using tiny, tubular black glass beads. The flowers drifted down the top and sleeves of a long, white A-line coat, while the stems and leaves were twisted into the delicate straps on a black evening dress.
The designer said he loves when the glass beads shimmer under the light and cast shadows on bare skin.
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Colangelo also created a lily-shaped lace by laser-cutting and embroidering fabric. He turned the lily lace into delicate tops, skirts and the hemline of a long, dark jacket.
Other looks were inspired by flower petals, as in the delicate panels that formed a deep V-shape at the back of a cape top, and the origami-like folds on the collar of a white coat and a black skirt.
When Colangelo wasn’t tending to his garden, he was focused on designs that were both sharp and sensual. Standout pieces included a gray cashmere sable jacket and a lineup of cocooning mohair and alpaca tops and scarves that added a soft edge to Colangelo’s stricter, but still elegant, silhouettes.
