So yes, Vogue Runway was not at this show. See the Issey Miyake review for context.
Instead, I rolled up two hours before Miyake was due to begin to see Gabriele “Bebe” Moratti and get the low-down in case that niggling feeling—which proved prescient—came true, and the main event would have to be missed due to another house’s tardiness. Backstage, the mood board was being inspected by Sara Sampaio (beating heart, be still!) as the always-beanie’d designer talked through a collection that was excellently made and easily understood. It mixed rock and rococo, and referenced the tunes of ’90s alienation in its grunge knitwear and bootleg Nirvana x Trump T-shirt (want one). These were sexy clothes, but perhaps without a spark of proper anarchy that makes the similarly pitched wares of Faith Connexion more weird and compelling.
Moratti, who talks a good talk yet never quite opens up, is more intriguing and less revealing than the clothes produced under his label. The scion of a petrochemicals dynasty, his mother is a former mayor of Milan and he says he grew up in a drug rehab center near Rimini named San Patrignano. He says he gives 50 percent of the proceeds to charities—including that rehab center, an orphanage in Africa, and a fantastic NGO in South America—yet concedes that Redemption is not actually turning a profit. The 2.5 million euros raised for these causes in recent years has come from elsewhere. It is mysterious. Asked why the label is called Redemption, he vacillates. Redemption is more than just a cool word, however. It’s a deep and meaningful signifier. This hot-girl collection—something this reviewer totally appreciates—is motivated by something much more nuanced.
