Consuelo Castiglioni s Fall collection for men was hard-working, hard-wearing, and all the better for it. She injected the same utilitarian edge into her pre-fall range for women, with the same happy result. Even when the patterns, colors, and layers began to pile up in time-honored Marni fashion—hand-painted yellow tweed over ruffled black and white polka dots, say—it felt like Castiglioni was keeping a lid on the signature quirk by emphasizing compatibility rather than clash. Multi-striped jacquards paired with windowpane-checked stockings might once have been a Technicolor challenge, but here they were sleek and accessible.
Castiglioni s self-control was at its most impressive with the strong, straightforward outerwear, much of it puffa-based in muted military tones and accessorized with very functional mitts. When there wasn t quilting, there was shearling, artfully arranged on one coat in two different textures (sheared and curly) to create a trompe l oeil effect.
After all that function, Castiglioni indulged her love of form with a fabric-coating technique called vernice, which loaned a lacquered shine to skirts and jackets. And she had a riot with her jewelry: old vinyl 45s melted and ingeniously reconfigured as necklaces of fortune cookies and flowers.
