There was plenty of hustle and energy in a room whose walls were framed and screened in a serene Japanese style meant to reflect that of this Loro Piana collection. A dense crowd of buyers, editors and Loro Piana representatives schmoozily parlayed around a series of wooden-armed, tweedy-headed mannequins upon which this season’s proposals were placed.
Without movement to animate it, the collection remained a handsome still life to contemplate. A belted, high necked shirt suit for women in gray-flecked tweed was topped with a wide-brimmed woven hat. A striped-neutrals silk-linen shirt dress with a high unturned collar featured an attractive leather fastening to fix and drape the skirt up and across the body. A four-buttoned collarless jacket in an off-white nubbly silky fabric above a pleated pale skirt and light green polo neck looked snug and chic. The sleeves of a wide-armed, navy, petal-paneled silk overcoat were turned up to reveal the multicolored stitch work inside. A skirt and blouse in orange and blue florals was adjacent to last season s “flower ceremony” dress.
The menswear featured fewer stylistically Japanese (to foreign eyes) details. There were more collarless jackets, in fabrics including the house’s beautiful cashmere denim blend. A suede field jacket was placed over a cotton safari shirt over a ribbed half-zip in a director’s cut of neutral tonal dressing. There were long collarless cashmere overcoats and boss level double breasted suits. The presentation also sought to emphasize a new bag named the Loom and a newly formulated silk and denim mix. Featured on the company’s Instagram feed a few days earlier but hidden somewhere in the crowd was a cool new German army sneaker variation with a white welt and gum sole.
Spotting Giulia Rossetti dashing outside across Via Sacchi, a dynamo dressed top-to-toe in last season’s Loro Piana, confirmed the impression: all this collection’s exquisite clothes lacked was people to inhabit them and bring them to life.
