Timothée Chalamet gazing out the window in Call Me by Your Name, Édouard Manet’s Le Déjeuner sur l’Herbe, and John Singer Sargent’s Claude Monet Painting by the Edge of a Wood were all on Lorenzo Serafini’s Philosophy mood board for spring—and it was clear that the one place he wanted to be this season was outside. He chose to show en plein air at La Vigna di Leonardo, that rare vineyard that exists within a city, made even more notable for the fact that it was once owned by Leonardo da Vinci, who used to grow Malvasia di Candia grapes in the garden. “I had so much time to reflect on things this year, and I rediscovered simple pleasures,” Serafini said, speaking over the phone the day before his show. “I was moving toward something very easy and simple: painting, gardening, enjoying the open air.”
Serafini spent lockdown at his parents’ home in the seaside town of Riccione, on the east coast of Italy, where he grew up. He filled his days with painting and, rather charmingly, transplanting saplings to better ground to encourage them to grow. Entirely coincidentally, he is from the same village as Alberta Ferretti, who in 2014 hired him as her replacement at Philosophy, the diffusion line to the main label in the Aeffe Group. She was isolating nearby, so they spent time talking on the phone and, once lockdown had eased, taking long walks together, discussing the business. “I think it’s really the moment to be more creative than ever,” said Serafini. “I am very lucky to be part of this group, which is a very solid, serious company that was still able to produce Made in Italy garments during the lockdown. The schedule was organized; they didn’t miss a day when it came to delivery.” Asked what nuggets Ferretti imparted, he noted, “She is a very wise woman, not only in terms of fashion, but in terms of life.”
Clearly the effect on Serafini was liberating. The spring collection feels lighter and looser than it has in a while, with necklines and hemlines left to explode from his familiar nipped-in silhouette with gentle abandon, and stilettos swapped out for rubber gardening boots flecked with paint. A series of pretty cotton-poplin picnic dresses with off-the-shoulder necklines will be just the thing for outdoor socializing next summer, while billowing white shirts with corset-waist details felt like a fresh take on a classic. He was liberated too from a decade-specific muse: Sofia Coppola in a white tank top was one of the only women on the mood board, and her influence was only faintly detectable in the white ribbed tanks that were layered under blousier looks. In a savvy move, and a nod to the off-the-peg bridal business he has been slowly building, Serafini rounded things out with a tulle wedding dress—and the bride wore Wellingtons. The effect is of a girl who is laid-back and relaxed, and who might just make a snap decision to get married in a garden next summer.
