So what you see here, in sections of 15 looks, are the three sub-collections—in order: Black, then Exclusive, then Core (also called 1934)—which, together, make up the output of the house of Canali. It was presented on the floor of Florence’s 1920’s-era Odeon movie house (which, of course, is in a 14th-century palazzo) as a fine crooner gave us Amy Winehouse covers from a gallery above.
Canali has subdivided itself to allow exploration of three distinct but not necessarily mutually exclusive subsets of the suit-loving demographic. Each collection was accompanied by a mood video: Black’s featured punchy vistas from Shanghai and guys in Black riding fixies. The collection featured topcoats in scuba-scrunchy material, technically deconstructed jackets with semi-detached hoods, executive harnesses, and cleanly cut puffers. Exclusive was pitched differently: There was a vintage Porsche and close-ups of hands wearing an expensive watch, drafting architectural plans. The collection included a pared-back pale cashmere cape, a steel silk bomber edged in cashmere, high-waist double-secured pants under wide-lapeled double-breasted jackets, and a gorgeous cream shearling overcoat.
By the time the core 1934 collection’s movie came, I wasn’t paying attention due to the display of three leather and velvet-accented raincoats, very lovely, that sat in between the three sub-collections. These were a nod to Canali’s very first iteration, as a maker of outerwear. The core collection itself leaned heavily and reliably to the house’s long-honed specialism: beautiful industrially made tailoring in wool and/or cashmere tweeds marked with the traditional checks and stripes that are the visual hieroglyphs of masculine formalwear.
Canali has a plan, and it’s coming together.
