MAX MARA
Located in Via Brera 28, there was a beautiful equilibrium between Max Mara’s Spring 2021 collection and the exquisite grounds. As sunlight danced off Milan’s architecture, capturing and illuminating its angles, it felt as though the setting was a reflection of Max Mara’s collection. The result: an enchanting, spellbinding presentation.
Max Mara SS21
Sixty-nine years on from its creation, the Spring 2021 ready-to-wear collection has a beauty perhaps traceable back to the house’s origin of French haute couture. Sharp and elegantly tailored pieces were accented with detail, creating a collection that spoke to both a fierce ambiguity and femininity within fashion. Stemming from this, Max Mura has crafted a juxtaposition between romantic subtlety and suave minimalism.
The collection’s colour palette composes of warm muted tones: variations of beige, camel, cream, black and blue. The neutrality of these colours works to create a material canvas which places emphasis on the detailing and expression of each piece: a detailing which is particularly spotlighted by luxuriously overstated sleeving. There is a deliberate movement to the Max Mara’s pieces with each colour, cut and detail exhibiting a transcendence between the traditional and the contemporary. The collection’s playful relationship with material, fluctuating between billowing soft excess and harsh clean cuts, presents multidimensionality which will perfectly capture all elements of Spring 2021.
Max Mara SS21
Max Mara SS21
EMPORIO ARMANI
Emporio Armani’s Spring 2021 collection – entitled ‘Building Dialogues’ – follows a plot which speaks to inclusion, exclusivity, escapism, and building pressure; it was a truly Armenian demonstration. With Frederic Sanchez providing a musical backdrop, our exploration of this collection is coupled by a journey from an aura of serene exclusivity to a rushed and intense sudden end. The haunting and building pressure we feel from his presentation is perhaps a nod to our present – ultimately maintaining the brand’s quest for relevance.
Emporio Armani Spring/Summer ss21 Collection
Staying true to its roots in the young professional segment (aged 25 – 35), Armani’s collection blends traditional men’s tailoring with a contemporary vision of formality. There is an apparent joy gained from playing with the silhouette: merging patterns and materials to place varying weights and emphasis on the male figure. The most prominent examples of this are Armani’s inclusion of collarless jackets and weighted excessive trousers: a reimagining of formality. Although Armani is best known for his ‘power suits’, there is a fresh movement to this collection which ranges from chic sophisticated tailoring to rich extravagant patterning. Armani’s seasonless collection reimagines the relationship between the male and the suit: creating pieces that exude the Italian essence of sultry, beauty, and elegance.
Emporio Armani Spring/Summer ss21 Collection
Emporio Armani Spring/Summer ss21 Collection
PRADA SS21
A collaboration between Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons: Prada’s spring 2021 ready-to-wear collection embodies multidimensionality which stems simultaneously from its roots as a luxury leather goods firm and also its thirst for experimentalism and development in fashion. Each piece in Prada’s Spring 2021 collection is unquestionably a reflection of this history. Many of the pieces include its iconic triangular logo, either as both as a subtle feature and a central design influence. The essence of the triangle is at the heart of the collection – pointed shoes, iconic shaped bags both external and internal to the pieces, sharp tailoring and angles and solid block colours and materials.
Prada SS21 Collection
Yet there is a development to this, as the collection’s mood changes, with juxtaposing pieces embodying a softer roundness. Long-sleeved turtle-neck jumpers form the foundation of this development, presenting almost as an antidote. Interestingly, this is directly clashed with a spotted two-piece to create arguably the most prominent and bold piece. Within this change follows a new approach to material and fabric which becomes luxe and rich: pieces being excessive in their silhouette, for example, the reoccurring beautifully oversized coat.
Prada SS21 Collection
Following this transition, the collection’s pieces introduce experimentation with pattern and print. The heavy prints of the two-pieces (both having whispers of the 70s) introduce a new softness and playfulness to the collection. This is spotlighted by the reconstructed and dissected triangle. Although this is an obvious nod to Prada’s essence, this rather mathematical print arguably reflects their quest to reimagining fashion and the process of doing so.
In its entirety, Prada’s 2021 spring collection is a capsule of everything they stand for. In an interview alongside Raf Simons, Miuccia Prada speaks of the brand’s relationship with technique and her realisation (during lockdown) of our reliance on it. These revelations, in combination with Prada’s ever-present focus on sustainability and inclusivity, perhaps provide an explanation for the collection’s multidimensionality – through the icon triangle we are witnessing the origin, development and transgression of the brand.
Prada SS21 Womenswear Show video via Prada
GCDS SS21
The future of fashion has taken a turn with the changes that the pandemic has brought. With endless hours spent in lockdown, it allows for creativity juices to flow. In a CGI video, the digital fashion show takes the viewer on a journey. In true GCDS fashion, the sexy, stylish and completely ‘out of this world’ collection encompasses an array of vibrant block colours, prints, coloured checks, and bold accents, all styled on GCI models. A true reflection of the happenings of the outside world, the GCDS collection has left us without words.
GCDS Out of the World SS 2021
Words by Hannah Emery
Graphics by Frances Scott
