What’s the view like from the mountaintop?
It might look something akin to Paolo Carzana’s fall 2024 collection, where delicate silk chiffon, organic cotton twill — both sometimes waxed, other times not — and vintage gauzy cotton swept around models as if invisible winds from a mountain’s summit whipped around them.
“It was the idea of journeying a mountain and everything you endure, weathering a storm to reach the top and be in the light,” Carzana said backstage about the collection’s inspiration.
Perhaps art drew from life: the designer himself is summiting the industry, recently being shortlisted for the 2024 LVMH Prize, and fresh from being featured in the “Rebel: 30 Years of London Fashion” exhibition.
The looks ranged from being lighter than air to practically rock-like: tops, trousers, bloomers and dresses featuring exposed, raw-edged seams whispered around the body, while garments made from hand waxed silk and cotton emulated battle-scarred stone.
Earth-toned hues — creams, olives, sands, blacks — were flecked with sunshine yellow and sky blue, and, in typical Carzana fashion, painstakingly created from a blend of plants and herbs, such as sappanwood, black walnut, and roses.
While the romanticism in Carzana’s work usually conjures fairy folk flitting barefoot through fields, this season felt more weighted to earth. And with two cloud-like looks closing the show, the collection reached the heavens.
