Gabriele Colangelo is deeply interested in the creative aspects of technology and the intricacies of execution techniques, as well as experimental textural work. Shapes for him are defined by an elaborate, almost cerebral take on fabrications, whose manufacturing process, often handcrafted, he personally oversees.
The Spring collection read as another chapter in his very personal narrative; the starting point was a photographic printing process called lumen, where an image is created on sensitive paper exposed to sunlight. The outcome is hard to control, abstract, and often has a pictorial, poetic quality. Colangelo tried to capture these mutating, unpredictable visuals, working on a “distorted color palette,” as he called it—ombré dyes, faint floral shadows, diluted shades of watercolor transparency. Textures were also approached with the same mind-set—think: warped laser-cut leather strips woven into nets, then knotted on elongated cady tunics. Or else jacquard fabrics with inserts of elastic fibers “creating an imbalance,” as the designer put it.
While the work on textures was extremely complex and technically challenging, shapes were wisely kept simple, following Colangelo’s penchant for a modernist, pared-down aesthetic. Tunic dresses, overcoats, and soft-tailored pantsuits were loose and roomy, with plays of geometric cuts and contrasting inserts giving lightness.
Colangelo is a skilled, experienced designer; his work is complex and subtle, so much so that it could go undetected. To fully appreciate his craft, you have to look at it closely. That takes time, and time often being in short supply, his work doesn’t always get the credit it deserves.
