The Thousand and One Lives of a Rectangle—this could be the title of Gabriele Colangelo’s Fall collection. Geometry was big on his agenda. He explored a zillion iterations of the rectangular shape with unrestrained gusto. Checks were laser cut and redesigned on wool gabardine. Grids were crossed by strips of two-tone wool and perforated with needle-punching techniques to create a larger check pattern. Macro squares of felted wool were embroidered with a motif emulating the stitching of men’s tailoring. A diamond motif graced a pleated skirt, breaking the vertical flow of the pleats. The level of complexity of treatments, textures, and construction had such an inventive emphasis, it was almost impossible to take everything in.
Volumes and shapes were elaborate and based on geometric cuts and trigonometric solutions. The construction revolved around asymmetry, draping, and folding, and translated to imaginative shapes. A feminine flair could be perceived in dresses made of strips of fabrics let loose to enhance a sense of fluid movement.
Colangelo has a cerebral, analytical design approach. His relentless play on experimentation is certainly compelling and shows a rational, intelligent sensibility. However, the complexity of his work, which seems to reference the conceptual lineage of ’90s Japanese designers, at times feels simply too complicated—and slightly enigmatic. It’d be great if his expressive talent for invention and research would be infused with a more palpable sense of lightness and ease.
