Marni Spring/Summer 2017

Nautical ropes, drawstrings, and other outdoorsy elements have been a thing on the Milan runways. Consuelo Castiglioni took it one step further by adding giant fanny pack hip extenders—although these weren’t so much “packs” as they were full-on bags. Not a bad idea if you’re on some rustic days-long trek through the wilderness, but in a Marni customer’s real life? Few women, no matter how forward-thinking, will want to wear these. If it’s an allusion to the modern woman’s busy lifestyle, well then, OK. Even still, there were plenty of stunning pieces in this collection that have a much more sensible appeal. The show opened with a series of ivory, khaki, and buttermilk colored sleek trenches, sophisticated looking tops with oversized arms, and a few romantic day-to-evening dresses. This is a season where you can’t get away with an entirely neutral palette, so a raspberry trench coat with a cut-out paneled hem and a raspberry pleated plissé dress of the Issey Miyake-inspired variety were thrown in the mix. A spearmint green military-style suit and a cobalt blue bell-sleeved trench also stood out. But there were also plenty of printed pieces, a Marni strong suit. And those all-black paneled dresses and tops that closed the show? They had a Rei Kawakubo air about them, but were done in a way that Marni’s intelligent but perhaps less devotedly avant-garde clientele can get behind.