Many are the Milan runways that have featured a logo this week. The fact that we’ve entered a new Instagram-fueled age of logomania is as clear as Gucci Ghost’s spray-painted double Gs. Arthur Arbesser, now in his second season at Iceberg, went big with logos, too. On the one hand, logos are the obvious thing to do when everyone else is showing them, but on the other, it’s a risk for Arbesser. Iceberg is a different kind of label than Gucci, with less international cache. On the whole, though, the risk paid off. Printed in a bold font across the front of turtlenecks and wrapping around the hem of a sleeping bag coat, the logos delivered a graphic punch. It isn’t a stretch to picture them on the street next season; they’ll help Arbesser raise the profile of this mid-tier Italian brand.
It’s some distance from Gucci levels of recognition, of course, but Arbesser has a few things going for him. A long tenure at Giorgio Armani taught him the ins and outs of working for the man. That’s important. He launched his own passion project eponymous brand a year or so before he landed at Iceberg, which probably frees him up to think fairly commercially here. That’s a plus too. And you can’t underestimate the value of a supportive local crowd.
Arbesser’s collection for Fall had a zippy, streetwise sensibility, starting from the models’ square-toe loafers. Beyond those logo knits, the best pieces were the sleeping bag coats, one red and sleeveless and the other black with another can’t-miss-it logo below the knees. Next in line were the patent leather peacoats. Grids and squares were the dominant motif, modeled after Superstudio, an architecture group founded in Florence in the mid-’60s. Arbesser sometimes overdid it, as in the case of a pair of checkerboard patchwork fur pants. Fur pants are rarely a good idea. But the opening series of looks with small squares bopping around like a Tetris game channeled Arbesser’s energy in a positive way.