Backstage at the Palm Angels show, Francesco Ragazzi described the grand spectacle he mounted on the outskirts of Milan — filled with billboard images of the latest campaign shot by David Sims, palm trees suspended from a mirrored ceiling and Rod Stewart among the guests — as a “statement on who we are today, it’s about connecting the dots,” of our identity.
The designer has been enamored with youth subcultures all his life, and part of them rather than observing from the sidelines. One could tell it looking at the diverse and cool audience, everyone looked authentic in their skater-chic outfits.
For the fall coed show, the first in two years and the first during Milan’s women’s season, he sampled characters. “I feel like I’m doing a movie. There are characters I need to identify and I’m dressing them,” he said.
The cinematic production unfurled down a fictitious Sunset Boulevard in the after-hours, where Ragazzi’s cool strollers were clearly up for a thrift-shop hunt.
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They wore bouclé tweed blazers; leopard-patterned velour track pants with sunset-colored sequined bombers; ’70s tuxedo blazers dotted in crystals with ripped jeans; chunky knits bearing variations on the stars and stripes flag, and palm-printed pajama sets trimmed in fleece.
The eclectic mix — spring from disparate references from Kurt Cobain to Jamiroquai — was all in the name of individuality. When models crowded the industrial space for the finale, Ragazzi’s knack for conjuring an authentic vibe was on full display.