Consuelo Castiglioni’s collections always contain dots, stripes and checks – we look closer at two of the SS14 prints
“There is always prints in a Marni collection, whether it’s dots, stripes or a check pattern – it’s part of our DNA,” says Consuelo Castiglioni. Talking to Port at her Milan presentation, the quietly assured designer is explaining the fundamental aesthetic of her brand. But Marni isn’t solely defined by prints: the Italian brand is very different from many of its domestic fashion colleagues. Never vulgar though sometimes loud, Marni is the shy and subtle cousin to the handful of brands that grab most of the attention in Milan.
Marni, though, is respected and much-loved, and the characteristic prints – two of which we exclusively present on Port today – are a big part of that: “All prints are thoroughly researched and designed in-house. We always feature a few but try and create something new and different each season – but they are taken from the world of Marni,” says Castiglioni. For SS14 there are representatives from the three print staples present as per usual. Two versions of a dot print impressed on t-shirts while the stripy one, called Infinite Lines, came as a short sleeved shirt. “When we did the stripe we were all like ‘Wow, that’s amazing’ – we loved it straight away,” Castiglioni explains.
The rest of the collection contain wearable yet directional pieces, a bit of a Marni signature look. Cape coats, oversized knits and one-button suit jackets – plus lots of casual shirts – completed the Castiglioni look. Chunky shoes and detachable pockets sat comfortably in the twilight zone between garments and accessories. Except for the stand out prints, the SS14 collection boasted an array of well-cut jackets with an industrial workwear approach – layered pockets took them to a whole new utilitarian level.
Photography Clare Shilland
