Changes in the Milan schedule meant that, for the first time, Missoni showed at night. It was surely sheer coincidence, but the collection that marched down the catwalk was all about after-dark. Almost everything felt like a flashback to a moment when nighteries such as Area in New York or the m-club in Berlin were crucibles of a new culture. There were oversize jackets, body consciousness, Lurex glitter, razor-sharp lines, and angular eyewear worn by some of the models. Even the updos harked back to that time. Frédéric Sanchez's New Wave soundtrack rammed the point home, climaxing in the ultimate anthem of '80s anomie, "Warm Leatherette."
But this was no wayward nostalgia fest on Angela Missoni's part. The collection actually represented a major recommitment to the raison d'être of the Missoni business: knits. "Everything is jacquard," Angela pointed out postshow. "There are no prints. It took a lot of research." And the Lurex, which is certain to be the most polarizing aspect of the collection? "I wanted shine," she said. "I wanted urban and playful."
After several seasons where Missoni had been spinning a dreamy yarn about modern hippie nomads, the exaggerated New Wave edge of these clothes was discombobulating (just as that edge was when it happened the first time around in the late '70s and early '80s, in fact). Angela has taken some unpredictable left turns in the past, but this one was the starkest. Unsurprisingly, she had her response ready. Change is a challenge for a business like Missoni, whose strengths have been so sanctified by the passage of time and the pressures of family that "safety first" becomes a point of principle. What we saw today was the statement of someone who'd grown tired of safety. "Sometimes I'm scared not to mix and match," she said. Hence, this feast of patterns and textures that could be thrown together every which way—and then layered with a Lurex sheath. Angela name-checked the artist Vanessa Beecroft as an influence on the body consciousness and the design group Memphis for inspiring some of the jacquards, but ultimately it was all about her and her desire to make a break. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
