Streetwear was a strong trend on the runways at London Fashion Week Men's, while, in Milan, Miuccia Prada switched back the clocks to the '70s.
Angela Missoni seemed to combine these two moods for the company's next menswear collection. Celebrating her 20th anniversary as the brand's creative director, she picked a '70s palette that called to mind iconic interior design pieces from that decade, combining rusty reds and oranges, military and olive greens, burgundy, dark shades of blues, browns and mustard yellows.
Fuzzy mohair sweaters came in a kaleidoscope of degrade colours or covered in decorative snowflakes, while the graphic motifs included striped and textured elements, and checkered or plaid patterns that referenced the combinations created by her late father Ottavio and her mother Rosita on the family looms (some garments included over 50 separate colours, integrating therefore trademark Missoni skills), but there was also another inspiration hanging in the air, one that came from the streets - construction sites.
The pattern on a coat reminded of intricate scaffolding, though maybe the construction clue was referred to some of the fabric elaborations that called to mind the patterns of kasuri textiles.
As a whole the collection looked coherent (though the colourful sailor hats reminded a bit too much of Prada's A/W 2016 collection) and combined streetwear staples such as joggers, zip-up jackets, sneakers and baseball hats, with the family solid traditions in knitwear.
A tailored twist was added via coats and shirt-jackets that, though casual and informal, looked quite elegant, but also revealed a passion for experimental techniques: the final gray coat incorporated indeed purple and blue motifs that added a dynamic edge to the garment.
You wonder if this experimental twist will be taken further: with such know-how and experience there should be space for Missoni to experiment a bit more and take the company to the next and more futuristic level. What about "programming" knitwear in an innovative way by creating the patterns with the help of a coding expert?
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