Collections —Man / Prêt-à-Porter

“Comfort as an education of the mind. Elementary comfort for proportions and materials: poor jersey – plush cotton – used in the various types of outerwear, overcoats, jackets, trousers. Mixtures of the very finest yarns, silk and cashmere, silk and camelhair, at once vital and soft. Alpaca interlock for the knitwear, flat and elastic. And, tinging every creation, a constant sense of cleanliness and simplicity which does not conceal the design’s beauty and dash: because I have outlined a modernist key of traditional dressing, free of constrictions and, I should say, free of pre-meditations too. All the colours are mixed together, all the forms are already foreseen and compatible, but the image emerges strong. Compact.”

(from a conversation with Gianfranco Ferré on 7.1.1986)

Design. Rounded shoulders are coming back, waists are marked by full, elastic fabrics, sports jackets – for those who want something short and warm, with comfortable fit – and coats which have the slim lines of yesterday’s classic overcoat – for those who prefer something long. There is a great variety of genres in the knitwear: nikis, polos, waistcoats, cardigans, high-necked sweaters.

Details. Buttons are hidden. Patches, characteristic of Ferré’s tricot, are so large as to cover the entire shoulder. Ties have patterns which are complex and blurred, tone on tone: big flags waving against a dotted background. Paisley designs which overlap, in a interplay of macro-structures and giant effects. Rich backgrounds thanks to dye overprints.

Evolution. Jersey is treated as if a fabric for overcoats with a new consistency. Melton is rubberized and craquelé on the outside, strong and resistent as sheepskin. Wool is restructured, mixing a slim yarn with hair to obtain a supple weave. Shirts and trousers are of the same weight and fabric, underlining the taste for uniforms. Vegetable-tanned suede or leather with a shiny appearance, almost as if it had been worn, turns light along the seams.

Perfectionism. The velvet jacket, the double-breasted waistcoat with the lapels raised rendering the shirt invisible; the wine velvet jacket with black velvet trousers; the vicuna blazer with tuxedo trousers and a high-necked pullover. There is the same elegance for the night: a houserobe in double vyella, a bathrobe lined with terry, matching pyjamas and houserobe. But there are also pyjama trousers and nikis in plush cotton, or in alpaca, practical to wear around the house.

Relaxation. The colours are mixed with that casualness which is a sign of extreme refinement: from ochres to camel, from blues to blacks, the entire range of the neutrals and very cold hues. Plain, overlapping, one flowing onto the other, including the entire palette of the reds, all the way to an intense wine shade.