For the last few seasons Gabriele “Bebe” Moratti has dedicated his Redemption collections to genres of music, including most recently metal and hippie rock. For this show he kept with that theme but made a radical leap in his choice of creative soundtrack. Entitled “A Night at the Opera” (a passing Queen reference), the collection was shown as French soprano Nathalie Manfrino wonderfully sang two Puccini arias. One of them, “Un bel dì vedremo,” is from Madame Butterfly, the opera upon which Moratti riffed for much of this collection. Black silk dresses featured bows, obi belts, kimono details, and cherry blossom jacquards. They were, as always, cut to amplify.
This season Moratti made a significant step forward by presenting his menswear debut. Within the context of the show, he explained, the looks reflected not only a production on stage, but an audience off it. His first ever men’s outfit, a grungy faux-fur coat over an oaty Prince of Wales check waistcoat and pant, was something you could imagine him mooching around Milan in. The range widened nicely into a duffle coat, a caban, velvet evening jackets and the like shot through with decadent Redemption details; these included the transparent scales pressed over the tailored outerwear in Abraham Moon fabrics and a startling Lurex turtleneck. We also saw several tailored looks for women including a fine camel coat, a trench with the brand name written in duct tape on the back, and some convincing variants on le smoking. Moratti didn’t mention the sustainable sourcing behind his collection this season, but it is worth repeating that this is a designer who combines a post-Cavalli eye with a post-Hamnett practice; as a combination, that’s quite hot.
