Imagine a young Loulou de la Falaise, minus her many long necklaces, out for a stroll through the Marrakech markets in full summer, insouciant in a long, flowing olive shirt and matching trousers, or a draped dress in cream-colored parachute silk, the wind rippling her puffed sleeves.
“Celebrating freedom of movement — and putting women in a peaceful state of mind,” Lorenzo Serafini said backstage before his spring Philosophy show. De la Falaise — a close collaborator of the late Yves Saint Laurent and a fashion figure prized for her offhand chic — was on his mood board along with sepia-toned images of models in gauzy, wind-whipped garments.
Serafini employed featherweight jersey, bouncy parachute silks, frothy lace and other airy fabrics to create clothes that drift loosely around the body. Even the full, gathered sleeves — a key feature of this romantic collection — came only partially attached, at the top of the shoulder.
“We picked fabrics that actually seem to move in slow motion,” Serafini said. “Fringes as well give a sense of movement.”
Serafini chose a raw concrete space for his runway show, installing a low, mirrored wall around a void in the floor. The stark setting, and the Mars Rover-like camera, were in sharp contrast to the pale colors, bubbling volumes, gentle Grecian draping, and flowing trousers.
Delicate clothes for a warming planet are cropping up a lot this Milan season, and Serafini’s can slide into many hot-weather scenes, Marrakech markets included.