Consuelo Castiglioni's Fall collection for men was hard-working, hard-wearing, and all the better for it. She injected the same utilitarian edge into her pre-fall range for women, with the same happy result. Even when the patterns, colors, and layers began to pile up in time-honored Marni fashion—hand-painted yellow tweed over ruffled black and white polka dots, say—it felt like Castiglioni was keeping a lid on the signature quirk by emphasizing compatibility rather than clash. Multi-striped jacquards paired with windowpane-checked stockings might once have been a Technicolor challenge, but here they were sleek and accessible.
Castiglioni's self-control was at its most impressive with the strong, straightforward outerwear, much of it puffa-based in muted military tones and accessorized with very functional mitts. When there wasn't quilting, there was shearling, artfully arranged on one coat in two different textures (sheared and curly) to create a trompe l'oeil effect.
After all that function, Castiglioni indulged her love of form with a fabric-coating technique called vernice, which loaned a lacquered shine to skirts and jackets. And she had a riot with her jewelry: old vinyl 45s melted and ingeniously reconfigured as necklaces of fortune cookies and flowers.
