Milan: MFW – Antonio Marras –
Fall/Winter 2013/14. In the gilded rooms of the magnificent Palazzo Clerici,
which boasts frescos by Tiepolo, the Antonio Marras Fall/Winter 2013/14 show,
entitled Another Time, took place. The collection was inspired by Lea Vergine’s
exhibition and it’s catalogue, Un Altro Tempo Tra Decadentismo e Modern Style
or Another Time between Decadence and Modern style.
“It is to-day in which we live…
Another Time has other lives to live.”
W.H. Auden
Antonio Marras – F/W 2013/14. In each of the rooms an atmospheric tableaux
vivant prepares guests for what is to come. “Imagine a home with sofas, rugs,
pillows, and walls painted as if in a harem.
There are paintings and books all over.
Admidst the voices, noises, and laughter, someone is reading or painting,
while another sews, embroiders, draws, takes photographs, writes, or rummages
thgrough left-over yarn.
Above. In the literary tableaux
vivant, super model Benedetta Barzini takes on the role of one of Antonio’s
muse inspirations and chats with Antonio Marras as he shows art critic Lea
Vergine to her seat whilst designer Francesca Giacomelli looks on. “Lea
observes, smiles and records the scene.
She presented them to me in…the Another Time exhibit…” Marras writes.
Antonio Marras – F/W 2013/14 – the storyboard. “They have returned – Vanessa, Virginia,
Edith, Violet, Vita, Hilda, Dora, Helen, Jessica and Dorothy – and it’s as if
they never left. They are always near
yet far, continuously searching for another place, another island where they
can stop awhile.”
Antonio Marras – F/W 2013/14 – Backstage. “They are friends, these insolent women, who
have caused scandal and triggered fierce disagreements. Bold and unconventional, polemical and
provocative, and blessed with irony and sarcasm, they seek to define what is
beautiful and true beyond convention, in complete freedom and with
irreverence.”
The butlers
Anchor, showgirl and blogger Filippa
Lagerback
True to
Marras’s roots, guests are offered Angialis, a
Sardinian wine that
has all the taste of Sardinia.
Antonio Marras – F/W 2013/14. “They are eccentric and cosmopolitan. They are not simply extravagant because
“eccentricity is not just extravagance: it is primarily nobility of spirit and
manner.” I think of their clothes
in…Another Time."
Antonio Marras – F/W 2013/14. In the country, they bring back to life
old abandoned buildings. They build
furniture and objects and decorate fabrics, ceramics, objects and bowls. They dig in the soil. Water plants, trim
trees, pick fruit, and take the dogs out for a walk.”
Super model Simonetta enjoys a cup of
Coffee backstage.
Antonio Marras – F/W 2013/14. “They shun fads and prefer wearing clothes
that express their spirit and faithfully reflect their complex personality. They blend materials, shapes, and prints,
luxurious jacquard wallpaper motifs in crimson and ecru devore’ velvet and
rough masculine tweed, windowpane check wool, pinstripes, and mélange Prince of
Wales check.”
The shoes
The bags
In the tableaux vivant, journalist, Cristina Morozzi plays a part.
Sky TV
presenter Federica Torti
Marras – Backstage. “Grey and brown fabrics borrowed from
Saville Row tailor shops.”
Patrizia Marras
Marras – Backstage. “… with unexpected splashes of color such as
dazzling yellow, deep fuchsia, intense white, and bright red.”
The
bedroom
Marras:
Backstage – make-up. Make-up artist Tom
Pecheux used M.A.C. Pro make-up.
Marras:
Backstage – make-up. “The skin is mat
and very pale with a prune lipstick. There is gold eyeliner on the eyelids and
a little gold dot below the eye. I was
inspired by modern art.” Pecheux explains.
Marras –
Backstage. “Fil coupe jacquard, silk
twill, cavalry with lurex treads, and thick Chanel and silk organza fabric,
heavy cotton satin with trailing decoupe' flowers in vibrant shades or black and
white stripes are featured.”
Marras –
Backstage. “Fragments are extrapolated
from their work. Small details are
reworked and recreated on prints, organza, and traditional British plaid
combined with Chantilly lace. Fabrics
that are seemingly very different are, due to an absurd alchemy, combined and
blended to tell a story about city life.
They are rearranged and used with country elements to narrate tales
about the country.”
Marras –
Backstage - hair. The hair was designed by Eugene Souleiman “I
updated old techniques from the 20’s and the 30’s. A modern way of doing the “finger wave”.
It’s kind of lived-in and slightly off or irregular.”
Art critic
Caroline Corbetta
Blogger and
store owner Eleonora Carisi
Antonio
Marras – F/W 2013/14. “Army blankets
that once covered old sofas or humble beds are turned into oversized greatcoats
with an exuberant mixture of inserts made of luxurious fabrics alternating with
velvet and nubbly tweed.”
Antonio
Marras – F/W 2013/14. “Rose-covered
fabric inserts, floral elements, macramé lace, and striking traditional
embroidery.”
Iconic
journalist Natalia Aspesi and comedienne Lella Costa
Antonio
Marras and The International Herald Tribune’s Suzy Menkes
Antonio
Marras – F/W 2013/14. “…They enjoy
playfully separating, rearranging and combining roses, beading and lace.”
Antonio
Marras – F/W 2013/14. Marras concludes
“That’s how I see them dressed surrounded by art, Literature, travel, the city,
country, trees, gardening, past and present, each in her own world.”
