The sky was murky on Saturday morning and it was pouring with rain but then, as soon as Ermanno Scervino sent out his first look, there was light. It came as skinny, sparkly pinstripes on a dove gray suit; the twinkling sequins on a fisherman knit, and reflected off the surfaces of cool satin cargo pants, and short A-line trenchcoats.
When there wasn’t light, there was lightness, in the form of a diaphanous off-the-shoulder dress that could have been on loan from the three graces in Sandro Botticelli’s “Primavera.” Ditto for the ruffle blouses in white or powder blue, the fluttery ribbons and rosettes adorning slipdresses, or the swirly embroideries on a sheer minidress that was worn with a pink woolly cap.
Grounding all of those floaty pieces were cotton or satin trenches, and leather or suede coats decorated with 3D fabric embellishment resembling passementerie. The tailoring was terrific, too. In addition to the sparkly pinstripes, there were suits with a faded camouflage pattern, some of them slicked with sequins.
Scervino is known for his quality and craftsmanship, and while some seasons he can overdo it with too much embellishment, flash or flesh on show, this time he got it just right.
Following the show, which unfurled in the stately, but chilly, cloisters of a palazzo near Brera, Scervino said his aim was to deliver “elegance, modernity and simplicity.” That may sound generic, but it’s no easy task in these days of Insta-competition, and the battle for share of voice, and he delivered.
