Vivetta Ponti was Giorgio Armani’s guest designer of the season, a position that comes with free use of his Teatro Armani space for her runway show and a spike in exposure — the venue’s stadium seating was packed. It’s a huge opportunity for an emerging designer, but the runway puts pressure on the clothes. Ponti’s hypergirly designs, inspired by Marianne Faithfull and groovy Sixties band culture, were giddy with colorful charisma but didn’t command the room.
The collection’s best looks were trompe l’oeil motifs — hands around the collars and waistlines of vividly printed dresses with full skirts, and faces fused with groovy wave patterns on a dress and skirt — but their quirky charm was overshadowed by styling and fits that needed more polish.