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133

Collections —Man / Prêt-à-Porter

Fall / Winter — 1998

Press Release

“Envisioning a collection, a men’s collection… today for me this means expressing a severe and radical urge for cleanliness, giving shape to the material, consolidating some forms and varying others, eliminating references of an overly powerful impact. A certain neodandism, for instance, certain self-congratulatory aesthetics that ultimately generate only uniform look (the young person’s, the sharp dresser’s, the body builder’s). I believe instead that clothes must be elementary and easy, must capture the reasonable spontaneity that leads us to make apposite choices: lots/little, lean/full… Thus living in a black stretch turtle – or crewneck pullover – skinny or baggy depending on personal impulses and needs – becomes perfectly natural. Opting for a jacket that shifts in length, that turns into a practical overcoat, that relinquishes a short snug fit for one long enough to offer all the warmth and protection of the coat which it in fact substitutes… this too is natural. And in a future where the places, conditions, climates in which we live have ever less an influence on our style of dress, going from the hypertechno (almost spacesuit elements) to the neutral, to the primary, primitive even, to the timeless (along the lines of the old windbreakers of North Sea fishermen) is, again, natural. Considering colour wholly an individual question, camouflaging ourselves in indefinite and nondescript hues bordering on those of some workman’s overalls – from faded black to gray-green – is also natural now. As is seeking protection in strange plastified effects that change the consistency and colouring of alpaca and cashmere”

Gianfranco Ferré

A dictionary for the future

Rubber. In the form of coatings for waterproofing alpaca and shearling, on flannel too (almost a second skin). And then on leather shoes for thermal isolation, vulcanized in the case of tiretread soles.

Fur. For big-time adventures, in a sweet faux version. Otherwise shaggy and siliconated for an imperrneable effect (as in the days when tarring served the purpose).

Blends. Wool/cottons and viscose/silks similar to flannel, velvet, yet superlight. For dry shirts, nothing more than a layer between body and jacket.

Lead. Seals, studs heightening the boldness of leather, screw bolts reminescent of old deep-sea diver suits. A new metallic look, supple nevertheless.

Alpaca. Soft and easy, only slightly twisted and woven with silk and viscose for light warm fabrics. With the close texture and thickness typical of meltons and felts.

Velvet. Ultraluxurious but flocked too in a flannel vein. Fine for worker’s overalls and trousers. Watered, thus with areas of shadow and light, according to the custom of colouring only the woof to accent the fabric’s natural gatherings.

Jeans. A year-round way to dress at this point, working wonders in beating the cold. Coated, padded, doubled, reinforced with an aluminium fiber – thermal insulation – between lining and fabric.