A woman who plays with her obsessions: that’s who Vivetta is for. She might read Polly Barton and recognize herself in one of the conversations from Porn or be a devotee of the poetry of Patrizia Cavalli, the Italian author who sculpts herself around the awareness of not being able to change the world. She looks like someone who can discuss sexuality by quoting literature.
To step into the imaginary world of the Vivetta fall 2024 collection, you had to ring a bell: Cavoli a Merenda, a restaurant in an 18th-century building in the heart of Milan, was the location for the show. The atmosphere was intimate, like in an apartment, with a warm morning light and greenery glimpsed from the windows overlooking the courtyard. “This collection needed to live in a special place, different from the usual, reminiscent of the cozy atmosphere of my home. The poetry in the air is the beginning of what the clothes will tell,” said Vivetta Ponti. The protagonist of the story was a Lolita turned woman, with the allure of a naughty bourgeois wore lace stockings, cami-knickers or a chiffon camisole and patent leather Mary Janes. She could wear masculine fabrics but carry off hyper-feminine garments with ease, structured like the corsets and crinolines in Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette. “It all started with a rose: it’s the flower of vanity and absolute femininity, but it also represents the fragility of beauty. And beauty is something we should always take care of,” Ponti said.
The rose was a recurring detail in the collection: it became a three-dimensional application, print, or embroidery, transformed into a Swarovski heat-sealed decoration or a bud-like skirt. Duchesse was the fabric where it most often found space. This woman loves velvet bows but also wears phallic-shaped jewelry; she can be both seductive and monastic at the same time. For the first time, there were also two men on Vivetta s runway.
To the rhythm of “Blessed Obsessed” by Yullola, “Who Put the Bomb” by Jaakko Eino Kalevi, and “Your Silent Face” by New Order, the narrative became intriguing. The soundtrack, curated by Santamaria Sound Studio, unleashed the most entertaining side of a woman who doesn’t like to take herself too seriously.
