Since opting out of the traditional catwalk some seasons ago, Antonio Berardi has experimented with new ways of presenting his collections, focusing on the lookbook format as a sort of curated editorial manifesto. He’s dispatched photographer Daniel Arnold to the streets of Milan solo with a model; he’s had his editor friends lensed in their favorites outfits, and he’s asked the Swedish performer and women’s rights activist Arvida Byström to take artistic selfies. Last season, it was the flamboyant Paris-based stylist Catherine Baba’s turn to pose in Berardi’s not-for-wallflowers looks.
For Resort, he appointed British photographer Derek Ridgers, famous for his stark portraits of punks, skinheads, musicians, and club kids, to shoot the 17-year-old British trans model Finn Buchanan, who recently walked the binary-blurring Spring 2019 Maison Margiela show and was cast by Hedi Slimane in his first men’s show for Celine.
“He was wonderful, poetic and lithe, almost angelic,” said Berardi of Buchanan, who personally chose the clothes he wanted to be photographed in. “What’s most interesting in this lookbook is that it has taken certain aspects of what I do into new territory,” continued the designer. “Finn owned all the looks, whether feminine in their approach or masculine in their execution.”
Gender blurring is the fashion topic du jour, as the Spring 2020 men’s collections that just closed in Paris proved fairly enough. The open exploration of male sexuality and masculine self-expression, easing somehow into feminine territory, has become one of the most fertile, emotionally profound narratives of the decade. “The young are really writing history,” speculated Berardi. “They can be non-binary, transgender, male-to-female, and vice-versa, and they can live in their bodies and be who they want to be. Finn is a boy, but there will always be that feminine aspect to him. It’s part of who he is. Stereotypes are completely going out the window.” With awareness and support for LGBTQIA+ communities spreading across the industry and society, Berardi’s stance felt not only sensitive but utterly on point.
The collection exuded a gentle, fluid feel; the designer took a decidedly softer route than usual, swapping the architectural edge he favors for a smoother, almost breezy approach. Lines and shapes had clarity and, as always chez Berardi, sophisticated execution; yet a sense of unrestricted movement was conspicuous in the use of sheer, airy fabrications and in looser, more relaxed proportions. Even corsetry was given a breath of lightness, with flimsy organza ribbons laced across the back of a simple yet well-tailored short jacket. Elsewhere, the “shadow of a corset,” as the designer described it, was patched at the front of a floral-printed chiffon dress, with a billowy asymmetrical train. The same unconstrained spirit was conveyed by a marigold yellow floral-printed minidress, cut from a square of dévoré chiffon and gathered loosely at the hips. “People today don’t want to be restricted,” said Berardi. “Neither in their clothes nor in their sexuality.” It couldn’t be truer.
