When Christina Ortiz presents her first collection for sartorial powerhouse Brioni next week, the striking redhead hopes to convey a new message for the Italian brand that’s as precise as one of its legendary handmade suits.
“In men’s wear, the Brioni man is known to be very masculine,” Ortiz said in a phone interview Tuesday, between fittings, from the company’s factory in the southern Abruzzo region. “I believe that the Brioni woman should be very feminine and sophisticated.”
To wit, Ortiz delved into Brioni’s tailoring heritage, but rather than just recut a suit for women, the Spanish designer selectively picked sartorial elements — the yoke of a tuxedo shirt, the basting of a collar or an understated red top-stitching — and subtly laced them into feminine silhouettes.
“I wanted to work with really organic and natural shapes,” Ortiz said. “This collection isn’t about a woman dressing in men’s clothes. The pieces hug the body and accentuate what is beautiful about being a woman.”
For Ortiz, who designed Lanvin from 1997 to 2002, that meant the waist, and she worked it to tiny new proportions via a delicate tulip skirt or panels of organza corsetry hidden inside cropped ruched jackets.
“There’s a play between masculine and feminine ideas but the collection is sophisticated and sensual,” Ortiz said.
While at Lanvin, Ortiz was praised for bringing a sexy, modern image to the French house. Known for her sharp tailoring and minimalist bent, Ortiz went on to consult at Prada and Max Mara before taking a pause from fashion to have her second child, now 18 months old.
Brioni tapped her last fall after several inconsistent seasons with its previous women’s wear designer, Fabio Piras.
Launched in 2001, Brioni’s women’s collection has struggled to carve out a niche as distinguished and luxurious as its men’s counterpart. Brioni chief executive officer Umberto Angeloni hopes that will change with Ortiz.
“It makes sense that a woman should be designing for women,” Angeloni said when Ortiz arrived. “Cristina marks the next phase of Brioni’s women’s collection, a more mature phase.”
To further trumpet Brioni’s newfound maturation, the company will break from past presentation formats and stage its first runway show on Monday at 6 p.m. on Via Santo Spirito.
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“I’m very excited to be doing runway again,” Ortiz said. “And happy to be working in an environment where [tailors and seamstresses] really know how to make beautiful clothes.”