About 15 years ago, Angela Missoni staged a Missoni show in Milan that kind of blew your mind: Seemingly out of nowhere, she went full throttle with Ibiza rave energy, and you remember the silver whistles dangling from heavy chokers and the radical square-top hairstyles more than the space-dyed knits.
Marco de Vincenzo’s Etro show on Wednesday night in Milan felt like a similar breakout moment: He made you forget about the brand’s bohemian-meets-bourgeois esthetic and marvel at his up-for-it party girls, dressed partly for the beach, partly for a flamenco party.
Whether or not it will click with consumers remains the $64,000 question.
The designer hired up-and-coming Italian EDM star Daniela Pes to wail up a storm, and pummel the crowd with reverb as the models stormed out past metal and concrete sculptures of blooming agave plants.
Here was a skimpier, more freewheeling Etro silhouette built on cropped hoodies, slithering skirts, leather and denim biker shorts, flared jeans and shipwreck mesh dresses and tops. Not all of it was flattering – not even Irina Shayk could sell those biker shorts – but it made a statement.
The house prints were done up in psychedelic colors and scales, then dusted with crystals or sequins.
To be sure, the workmanship was impressive, from the gossamer flocked velvet skirts to the flaring denim jacket with mesmerizing patches of wooden beading.
De Vincenzo was feeling his oats backstage just before the show, declaring that two years into his tenure, he had found his point of view on Etro: It involves boldness, sexiness and “maximalism done in a simple way.
“This collection represents me. I think that it’s impossible today, under pressure, to do something that doesn’t represent yourself,” he said. “I’m always respecting the heritage, that ’70s mood, that hippie vibe, but with a new twist, doing something more personal… I’m adding some touch of glamor.”
This extended to his underrated Vela bag with the articulated metal-frame top, which for spring comes in versions trimmed with groovy stones the size of plump berries.