• 1960
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133

Collections —Man / Prêt-à-Porter

Spring / Summer — 1999

Press Release

“The cool ease of all black also for summer, a comfort of line and new structures, the intelligence of formulas that make quality the proper measure of investment…

I translated this path, at once logical and aesthetic, into the concept of reversibility. Thus voile jackets come on the same both inside and out. Double linens and wools with voile linings for an ultraslim and fluid effect. Insides worn on the out for a change. Tailoring reinforcement fabrics now in hempen-cloth and silk form…

In designing this collection I realized that a vague sense of narcissism circulated through it. The pleasure of feeling free from whatever complex or rigidity, an awareness of revealing the real self or the self one wants others to see. Silk therefore. Denim-like silk gabardine, flawless suits in taffeta, in faille…

While every fabric is transformed through inventions and alchemies, leather appears crushed as if previously stuffed in a pocket. Shirts seem as firm as jackets, unlined sportsjackets as light as shirts. Triple-twisted cotton is supple and light: for cutting, shaping and lining perfectly gauged, almost sartorial jackets, for ribbing creases on the most traditional jeans and so awarding a look of luxury…

In the spirit of utter innocence and with a flair far scholastic transgression, I did little snug pants in taffeta, an elegantly casual sportswear in faille or cotton satin to add glints of light without giving in to colour. Thus sand sullies black and turns it into beige, yet collars have never been so white…

Accent on comfort for stepping out too: airy polyurethane soles for sabots in alligator, springy wood or glossy rubber. Tradition and transgression again: alligator with wood, gros with rubber, rubber with leather… “

Gianfranco Ferré