You can credit Ermanno Scervino with a clear, straightforward point of view: He likes his woman beautiful, classy, and feminine. Period. No head-scratching conceptual blabber here, no excruciating soul-searching on the meaning of fashion. While quite a few young (and not-so-young) designers keep sending out collections where women are present only as abstruse concepts or cerebral simulacra of femininity, Scervino obstinately sticks to his recipe: He designs for real women with real bodies and real lives, and wants to make them desirable and glamorous. Sounds a little first-degree, perhaps? Well, possibly. Judging from the state of his company’s business, though, plenty of women’s credit cards relate to this special-not-special blend of glamour.
For Spring, Scervino perfected his formula of playing with contrasts, achieving a well rounded, balanced look. His idea of modernity is rooted in the appreciation of tradition but free of nostalgia; the shapes he favored here were classic but neither retro nor vintage-y, with just the right amount of elegant practicality. The designer reworked classic men’s outerwear staples with an imaginative flair: A masculine striped shirt was worn with a midi ballerina skirt in fluffy tulle; a voluminous piumino was scribbled with delicate floral graffiti. A gently oversize pantsuit in checkered Prince of Wales light wool was paired with a glossy, silver-lacquered sporty sweater, while thigh-high leather cuissardes gave a ruffly concoction in ethereal white Chantilly mille-feuille lace a cool vibe.
Scervino also introduced a few men’s looks into the lineup, replicating some of the women’s items in a masculine version, such as an eccentric pale blue brocade pantsuit and a series of high-gloss metallic knitted sweaters. As a first outing, it looked promising.
