Marni's men's collection is like an indie music label in the days when such a notion actually meant something. When Consuelo Castiglioni settled on sportswear in the 1970's, "before it got too technical," as the soul of her new collection, she opened the door to another of her quixotic trawls through a lo-fi past, the kind of time zone where boys bared pale legs and paired sandals with thick woolen socks. But where such looks have occasionally been a little bit bloodless, this time Castiglioni anchored the line with sturdy outerwear (particularly a spectacular pair of parkas) and solid footwear, very much in the spirit of her working man's wardrobe for Fall. Her alt-sportswear theme came through in what could pass for color-blocked workout wear. But alongside all that, she also indulged the connoisseur of the Marni shirt with worn-in fabric mixes (a knit collar on striped cotton, checked linen with jersey sleeves) and some very graphic prints that perfectly captured the idea of "future vintage" that was floating round Milan.
