Krizia’s indomitable Mariuccia Mandelli has worked with a battalion of gifted designers, from Walter Albini in the ’70s to more recent conscripts Alber Elbaz and Jean-Paul Knott. This season Mandelli tapped the 34-year-old Hamish Morrow, whose own-name collection was a highlight of the London shows, to be her creative squadron leader. Morrow’s goal was to stay true to the spirit of a house celebrated for its sophisticated knitwear and adult approach to Milanese style, creating, as he put it, “expensive, luxe clothes that are effortless without being banal.”
Instead of the opulent fur and crocodile seen on some other Milan runways, Morrow opted for a sense of luxury through the “volume of the fabric.” His pelican-collared coats and waisted jackets, often worn with skinny-leg pants and boots, provided a more creative take on the ’80s/Alaïa trend that has surfaced so strongly this season. Brought in to collaborate on the collection just two months ago, the designer worked with existing fabrics, which juxtaposed double-face wools, metallic python and a thick, cracquelure leather with airy chiffons and crepe; the typical Krizia palette was in effect—carbon, tarnished silver and storm-cloud gray—with some injudicious viridian-green accents. But even if Morrow’s quirky, innovative use of color was missing, his hand could be sensed in the studious draperies and in details like the cashmere gauze pieces poetically overlaid with cloudy tiers of chiffon ribbon.
