Gabriele “Bebe” Moratti, Redemption’s creative director, doesn’t like the word sexy. When confronted with the observation that his collections require a very specific body type (sexy) and convey a very specific je ne sais quoi (sexy), he disagrees: “I don’t do sexy,” he said. “Sexy is an attitude and not a way of dressing. Patti Smith wearing just a plain white tee and a pair of simple black pants has a much stronger emotional, sensual intensity.” Right. It’s just semantics. You don’t need to wear a minidress to look sexy. But if you do want to wear a minidress and look sexy (and honestly there’s nothing wrong with that), Redemption is certainly your go-to label.
A diehard rock music lover, Moratti started working on the collection as he always does, looking at images of his beloved rock stars and listening to music non-stop. “I like everything,” he said, “from classical string quartets to the most extreme Norwegian heavy metal.” A picture of Keith Richards performing in Hyde Park in a dapper three-piece suit triggered the idea for this season’s elegant tailoring. “But then we like to create impossible conversations,” he mused. So the mannish look was twisted with an edge of ’80s electric seduction à la Guy Bourdin, another of Moratti’s heroes.
The collection read as a sort of fortifying cocktail, part assertive masculine suits cut in classic Prince of Wales fabrics, and part strong-shouldered, draped, body-con black minidresses lit by flashes of hot fuchsia. Just please don’t call them sexy.
Pre-fall also offered plenty of options if you want to look glamorous but with a conscience; the label has been committed to sustainability and ethical production from day one. Fifty percent of the profits go to charity; vegan leather (100% biodegradable with no plastic components) has been used from the first collection; and cottons and wools are mostly certified. The company is also encouraging sustainable start-ups via an open source approach and working with a women’s collective in Kenya to produce a small jewelry line called Soko, as well as with an Indian embroidery company which has involved women in the workforce (embroidery was usually made only by men). “Fostering change and prosperity,” as he said, seems to be a genuine priority for Moratti. If glamour can be sustainable and ethically produced, so much the better.
