A pleasingly chatty Lawrence Steele talked about being a curator for Aspesi and “adding a [different] point of view by looking at the world around me.”
This past summer his world was Greece, a secluded island where he vacationed and whose name he won’t tell — “I want it to remain unknown,” he said.
“There was a fluidity of being in a generation of people [and] we’re just catching up as an industry to what the world is already,” he said.
Cue his choice to have the spring collection photographed on a family of four, the father Cedric wearing the same jumpsuit as his son-in-law, the upper part undressed and sleeves knotted at the waist; the same blazer, a boxy ivory white pin-striped number, as his wife Vanina, and the same pajama set (a superb polka-dot style) his daughter sported with a bed-to-street flair of today’s youth.
“If I’m doing anything, it’s to have the brand transcend men and women, old and young,” he said. “I’m creating a space for people to express themselves.”
It was a tightly edited collection, basic pieces fashion insiders and those with a penchant for understated Milanese chic have bought for years. “Who can say the same garment has been in the collection for 20 years?“ Steele mused.
“I want to make ‘un buon caffè’ [a good coffee] or a signature pasta ‘al dente’,” rather than trend-chasing gear,” he offered.
His vision is clear and it shows.
