Who hasn’t lost his or her mind over someone? Adele H., the daughter of Victor Hugo, certainly did, as chronicled in a 1975 film by François Truffaut – and now on the fall runway of Antonio Marras.
To watch this rich character — racked by an obsessive, unrequited love — come undone was a captivating spectacle, undone being a relative term, for Marras unleashed a torrent of clothes that became more ravishing as the show progressed.
“Out of craziness can come good things,” the designer mused backstage.
Here was one of the most atmospheric and truly moving moments in Milan, the narrative of a woman slowly going crazy heightened by the eerie sounds a performer, Dorit Chrysler, coaxed from a theremin by frenetically plucking the air.
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There may be no collage artist in fashion more gifted than Marras, whose stunning military parkas and short swing coats were zany, but rarely jarring – patchworked with shiny brocades, floral appliqués, animal prints, patches of fur and sequined embroideries. And good luck finding a more compelling array of romantic skirts, in fluttering layers of flounced jersey or swinging panels of pleated floral embroideries.
With this collection, Marras succeeded in melding his melancholic, retro-tinged clothes with punk, streetwise urgency. Ostrich feathers spilled out from under taut biker leathers, and all models were shod in fishnet stockings and studded boots as they tread a platform cluttered with dozens of claw-foot tubs sprouting bulrushes and tall grasses.
Then came a final frenzy of theremin warbling, as the unraveling Adele H. character strode by in silk pajamas in curtain florals, a big red blanket wrapped around her shoulders and trailing like a regal cape. This show had everything. It was bed; it was bath; it was beyond.