MILAN — Marzia Bellotti has a new gig — Marbell, an outerwear brand that, she said, is an extension of her personal style and styling tricks. It draws its moniker from the designer’s name.
After parting ways last June with Khrisjoy, the luxury fashion brand now part of the Alsara Investment Group that she cofounded in 2017 and helmed creatively for eight years, she took some time off, plotting her next move.
“I wanted to do something, but I was left with a big question mark on what was best,” she said speaking from her tony apartment in central Milan inside a former monastery.
“My deepest knowledge was in outerwear, so it came naturally to center the brand on that. But also, it’s because I like that what you wear is visible. Underpinnings are hidden and don’t really help communicate who you are, which I think is what fashion stands for,” Bellotti said.
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Jumpstarting the self-financed project, Bellotti didn’t have an ambitious business plan. Rather she wanted to be able to express her creativity freely.
The seminal collection, a small edit, reinvents padded jackets turning them into grungy outerwear for the cool pack, staying away from the use of animal-derived materials and using instead faux leather and down-free insulation.
Bellotti is offering already-styled pieces. A shrunken bomber jacket comes with a built-in plaid scarf and shirt cuffs peeking from the sleeves; a waxed trenchcoat is in fact a two-layer piece, duster coat underneath and bomber jacket on top. She reworked ‘80s-nodding puffers into elongated and oversize jackets with quilted shoulder pads and a faux leather belt with a Plexiglas buckle. A mid-layer is inspired by British country attire and features mixed-media materials and patch pockets with Plexiglas toggles.
Overall, the first collection bowing for pre-fall 2025 comprises five outerwear pieces done in multiple colors within an edgy palette of army green, mud brown, burgundy and navy blue. These are flanked by a single trouser design, a straight-leg style in wool with a plaid scarf wrapped around the back as an overskirt.
“It’s just me without filters, my creativity channeled towards things that I love,” Bellotti said. “Retailers who have seen it all realized it speaks to my style.”
As Bellotti gears up for the main collection’s sales campaign this week, taking place inside her Milanese apartment with clothing displayed on racks in the circular foyer, she is introducing more designs, including a technical anorak, a shearling with a built-in knitted scarf, a knit sweater, as well as denim iterations on the pre-fall outerwear designs.
The collection retails at between 870 euros and 1,300 euros.
The brand has been picked up by about 25 stores globally, including Antonia in Milan, Amicis in Vienna and South Korean retailers Boontheshop and Space Mue, among others. Bellotti expects to add about 10 more during this week’s sales campaign for the main collection and is plotting in-store launches event later this year.
