Boxing is definitely having a moment. Apparently, women are flocking to gyms where the sport is practiced, eager to relentlessly start punching the sack. Recently, Michèle Lamy, Rick Owens’s pugnacious wife and a boxing fanatic, had people queuing at London’s Selfridges, where she staged a performance with a professional ring smack in the middle of a fashion floor. The event was wildly successful. Picking up the trend, Dondup staged its Fall presentation at Palestra Doria, one of Milan’s oldest boxing gyms; the collection was designed and styled accordingly. It was called Femme Fighters.
As always with Dondup, outerwear had the lion’s share, sporty-inspired and oversize. Shearling coats and sturdy jackets were paired with fragile flimsy dresses in dévoré velvet or printed chiffon; masculine pantsuits in checkered wool were cut lean and mean. A leopard-print city coat was worn with a matching minidress; a bright-colored nylon tracksuit had the required sporty vibe.
Throughout the collection, the boxing theme was referenced lightly, more in attitude than a literal translation. The exception was a fur coat logo-ed on the back, which was a chic replica of a boxer’s robe.
