Pre-Fall collections often require designers to act as nimble tightrope walkers, juggling high artistic standards with market demands to dilute their company’s dominance to appeal to a wider range of consumers. Torn between the desire to maintain. This tension often causes conflict between brand management and creative teams, contributing to the departure of designers heading fashion houses that we see today. The uncertain state of the luxury goods market has made this struggle even more pronounced.
No designer is immune to pressure. At Etro, Marco de Vincenzo strives to balance the brand’s tradition with his forward-thinking vision. “It’s both thrilling and challenging,” he said, acknowledging that the friction has broadened his horizons and strengthened his adaptability muscles, allowing him to maintain integrity while navigating limitations.
As a designer more drawn to graphic, vibrant maximalism than the languid charm of flowing dresses, negotiating the brand’s bohemian heritage proved difficult. But he seems to have found his stride, using Pre-Fall as a springboard to refine his own approach to style. Etro’s signature billowing silhouette takes on a new slender shape in stretchy silk jersey, hugging the body with youthful, sexy lines, and echoing past designs with sparse floral prints. I got the impression that it was lighter and more restrained in comparison. The same hourglass shape appears in everyday staples like coats, blazers and minidresses, as in this slim cashmere coat in muted tone-on-tone caramel paisley, featuring a handcrafted leather lace-up motif The waistline was emphasized and sculpted.
A great example of De Vincenzo’s artistic yet realistic vibe was a masculine straight-cut camel coat with chunky sides and sleeves woven in a vibrant abstract pattern. He calls it “a cut-and-paste specimen, a cross between a jumper and a city coat”, and there is a reductionist attitude (“I’m trying to simplify and find in Etro a kind of minimalist spirit. ” he said) coexisted. With a cunning wanderlust.
Several men’s looks were presented alongside women’s looks, reflecting the brand’s traditional clientele. De Vincenzo’s tenure at Etro was not about radical change. Not all revolutions happen suddenly.
