It's a wonder Antonio Marras has never chosen Peggy Guggenheim as his muse-of-the-moment before this season. But it was breakfast on the terrace of Palazzo Venier dei Leoni, Guggenheim's home in Venice, that caused him to make her his own. In turn, Marras chose to "play with Venice," designing a sweater sequined with a scene on the canal, a Calder-inspired floral mobile print cut into bell-sleeve dresses and rounded-shoulder toppers, and plenty of other confidently complementary separates. Most notable were a trapeze swing coat made out of a non-sticky neoprene, and a trompe l'oeil tassel print done up as a blazer and wrap skirt.
Many of the pieces—including a brooch-encrusted collarless jacket in geometric brocade—were designed and manufactured at Marras' laboratorio in Sardinia, where he and his wife live and work when they're not in Milan. There's something utterly romantic about Marras' vision, yet it's not wistful. He is the chemist of fashion: He's able to balance colors and ideas as deftly as one balances equations.
