Carolina Castiglioni has a passion for contemporary art nurtured by her cultivated upbringing; her mother being Marni’s founder Consuelo Castiglioni, Carolina certainly has a trained eye. Her Milanese flat is filled with a carefully edited selection of best-in-class vintage furniture from the 1950 and ’60s, together with pieces from upcoming artists. No wonder her Plan C collections often reference the arts, one way or another.
She recently paid a visit to Fondazione Burri in Città di Castello, which displays an exhaustive collection of Italian artist Alberto Burri, a painter and sculptor associated with the matterism and informal artistic movement of the ’50s. Castglioni was inspired by Burri’s powerful use of color and the forceful impact of his texture. She translated his color scheme into the collection’s reduced yet intense palette of saturated red and tobacco, with accents of yellow set against white and black; the spare, reduced aesthetic of Burri’s oeuvre also resonated with the designer’s flair for graphic lines and precise silhouettes.
The rectangle was the geometric pattern Castiglioni worked around for the construction of a strong outerwear offering; rectangular panels were assembled to give shape to a masculine coat in thick herringbone wool, or wrapped around the waist, becoming circular asymmetrical skirts with loose panels that evoked undulating trains, somehow softening the workwear-inflected functionality and edgy plays on volumes the designer goes for.
Also in the mix were voluminous cotton piuminos, roomy outdoorsy parkas with shearling details, and neat zippered leather jackets. Elsewhere, masculine-inspired tailoring was treated to softer undertones, with fluid silk blouses and wide-leg trousers. It highlighted the attitude of femininity Castiglioni has introduced to smooth the rigor of her design, without detracting from the artsy edge ingrained in her approach.
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