Maybe it was Paul Hanlon's Vidal Sassoon-influenced, heavy-banged, dead-straight dolly-bird hair that cued the response, but there was a 1960s edge to the Marni collection today. It was helped along by the white stockings, drop-waist silhouettes, and decorative elements like metallic discs and the big rhinestone brooches that defined a neckline. Two coats—one red leather, the other butter yellow patent—had a pop art zing. Mind you, against that relative rigor, there were also Orientalist red accents, gold brocades, a lean black tunic with slit sides over three-quarter-length pants, and red kabuki-soled shoes with gold metal toe caps, all of which looked like they'd been borrowed from Suzie Wong's closet. But that too was a sixties reference.
Those associations may have reared their heads because Consuelo Castiglioni was brooding on a linear, architectural statement about volume with her new collection. That line of thought was a really big deal in the sixties, and the bold blocks of color here fitted with it. The extravagant print stories that are a usual Marni signature were noticeably absent. There were prints, but the graphic presence was confined to a tulip pattern and a naïve floral tracery.
This time, the strength was in the shapes: the oversize shoulders of a snakeskin coat, the drape of another in a gold-flecked rockabilly tweed, the swing of a cape. It meant the collection was much more straightforward, maybe more restrained than usual. One interpretation: Castiglioni's collaboration with H&M had allowed her to get a lot of classic Marni out of her system, offered her pause for reflection, and pointed her toward a possible future. Expect more changes.
