Marni: It seems as if there’s plenty to be optimistic about chez Marni, where during the past 11 years, Consuelo Castiglione has turned her vision of fashion’s pretty bohemian into a marketable and highly recognizable brand. Her tried and true Marni-isms — the retro prints, bracelet-sleeved jackets and girly party dresses — have gone global. Marni’s not a moment, it’s a mainstay. And while at one time, Castiglione tinkered with its proportions, its mood, even that unsinkable feel-good vibe, this time she sent out a quintessentially Marni collection. Why fight it?
Spring’s sunny attitude meant Fifties-style car coats, dandyish cropped pants and stiff A-line skirts that came all tied together with a jeweled ribbon belt. Castiglione mixed and matched plaids, worked the stripes, decorated her signature cropped jackets with tiny pouch pockets and threw in splashy tiki prints for good measure. When things got too cute for comfort, with stiff cotton dresses and skirts that rumpled and bulged, carefree turned to careless and lacked the polish of last season’s pitch-perfect approach. After all, a heavy burlap ballgown decorated with appliquéd birds isn’t for everyone. Fortunately, however, the rest of Castiglione’s evening looks, silk gowns in powdery iridescent colors, took things in a graceful new direction.
