It must be awfully cold in hell right now. And you might want to be on the lookout for pigs in the sky. Because if Milan can hatch a buzzy young designer, then anything is possible. Arthur Arbesser hails from Vienna originally, and he studied at Central Saint Martins, but he spent seven years working at Armani, and the label he launched not quite two years ago is based in Milan. Part of the reason for that, he has explained, is that the city provides him terrific access to all manner of textile factories, which is key, as Arbesser's fabrications are the defining aspect of his brand. As this collection appealingly reiterated, his strategy is to retrofit familiar, mainly tomboyish silhouettes in unusual materials—to wit, a little polo or knife-pleated skirt knit out of nylon fishing line, or a jean jacket made out of toweling fabric. The collection also featured a cool beige dress made from that naff polyester used in suctioning granny panties, and workwear-inspired button-downs and trousers in stiff waxed cotton. In all these pieces, there was a sense—subtle but undeniable—of the uncanny. The punchiest items, though, were Arbesser's color-blocked looks and the ones in circle-patterned knit jacquard, inspired by the work of Blinky Palermo and Isa Genzken, respectively. In Arbesser's hands, the references came off upbeat and playful, a tone common to all these clothes. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Arbesser, as a Milan-based designer, isn't the fact that he's young—it's the fact that his clothes feel so youthful. The buzz is well deserved.
