When full teams from two major retailers take up several seats at your tiny first runway show, it s a good sign. That was the case at Giulietta, the label launched last season by Gucci and Donna Karan alum Sofia Sizzi.
But considering her classicist bent, the new designer s early success in sales—she s already at Net-a-Porter and Barneys, Resort ships shortly to the Webster, and Ikram s not far behind—isn t surprising. Sizzi s work has a Philo-by-way-of-Florence simplicity with immediate appeal. The designer s inspiration usually hews close to sixties-era Italy, her native land. For Spring, she imagined a mondaine woman like Veruschka (see the models piled-high, blunt-cut ponytails) or Marisa Berenson heading to a Mediterranean island, where she d eventually take to traditional local fare, like daisy-patterned lace and scarf prints.
The show was bookended, Sizzi explained, with her muse s sleeker city clothes. But what stood out more were the peasant-y, worked pieces that came in between, like a billowy scarf-printed skirt or a honey-hued sheer lace dress with faintly belled sleeves. There were several looks made with the labor-intensive but beautiful technique of sewing stripes of ribbon onto tulle. It s the kind of old-school dressmaker s detail that Sizzi loves, and that sets her apart.
A Giulietta piece could look like your greatest vintage score, and some may take issue with that emphasis on the past. But Sizzi s quiet willingness to do what she loves and not feel pressured into grand statements speaks volumes, and clearly people are paying attention.
