Experimenting with print was a priority for Veronica Etro, the designer who gave her family’s old-school Italian label an update via fabric innovations this season. How did she do that, exactly? By taking heritage paisleys from the house archives, recoloring them in a Rastafarian range of primaries, and then printing over them with modern, micro geometrics. How else? By dragging splashes of color along the bottom of a pant leg or across the shoulder of a jacket, the effect of which resembled an exaggerated ikat. Lastly, there was a faux plissé applied as vertical stripes over another classic Etro motif. Bits of urban street culture—graffiti, stenciling—came to mind in all of these print executions, and its spirit—of rebellion, of self-expression, of cool—was echoed in the relaxed shapes and silhouettes of the clothes, too. Menswear touches and slouchier fits reigned; necklines were athletic instead of being deeply V-ed. This concise collection, made of seven looks representing the line’s much larger selection of commercial pieces, was, in other words, the leader of its pack.
