“The softness puts the wearer in a good mood, and I want the clothes to bring out the personality, without overpowering the individual or shouting designer label,'” Brioni’s design director Norbert Stumpfl said about the spring collection, which was made with the most sophisticated materials.
A trained tailor himself, Stumpfl highlighted the craftsmanship of Brioni’s artisans, who succeeded in creating a lineup that had a nonchalant and relaxed attitude, for men “who don’t spend too much time in front of the mirror.”
The designer underscored the importance of lightness, emphasized by the fabrics, which ranged from blends of linen, cashmere and silk to Sea Island cotton and double-layered knitwear crafted from Escorial wool, cashmere and silk blend.
A trench in nubuck was treated to be water-resistant. Shapes were looser as the designer wants the Brioni man to be comfortable — and cool, too, hence the linen sleeves on a suede jacket, all finished by hand.
A jacket was made from the same nylon used for women’s hosiery, which makes it extremely light, a quarter of the weight of a regular jacket, said the designer.
Stumpfl also created pajama-style shirts and pants crafted from unused samples of silk necktie fabrics which are re-dyed, so that each piece is unique.
Brioni’s eveningwear was stunning as the designer presented the Veronese jacket crafted from a brocade hand-woven on a late 19th-century jacquard loom, in a process that takes five months from start to finish. It’s clearly a garment for those in the know — and with deep pockets — as the floral embroideries are made with gold and silver threads, bumping up the retail price to 50,000 euros.
Another showstopper was a dinner jacket in faille ombré silk carefully dyed by hand using 50 shades of black and grays with an iridescent effect in a “work-intense” technique that Stumpfl said had “not been used since the times of Christian Lacroix and Roberto Capucci.”
Further pointing to Brioni’s craftsmanship, the brand also introduced silver jewelry hammered by hand.
