Gabriele Colangelo's first passion is fabric. For Fall, he got interested in the idea of erosion and rocks, which gave him the basis for a coolly elegant color palette of grays, beiges, and icy whites and provided a starting point for his deeply tactile materials. Among them: the richly textured, fissured wool he used for the opening leather-belted wrap coat; the chiffon trapped between double layers of organza that became a softly draped shift; and the charcoal flannel he twisted and tucked to evoke swirls of marble on an otherwise simple dress.
His sheared astrakhans and minks intrigued, too—you can chalk that up to the family furrier business. Thanks to new techniques, the details of which he wasn't divulging, Colangelo's vests, coats, and even skirts require no lining—call it double-face fur. No doubt his background helped him come up with the crinkly lightweight leather he cut into a streamlined collarless coat. In a Milan season of great outerwear, it was right up there. In all: another promising outing from this up-and-comer.
