Staged only weeks after he was named joint winner of the Karl Lagerfeld Special Jury Prize at the 2023 LVMH Prize, Luca Magliano’s latest show felt more big-league than his past outings: It was held in the cavernous Palazzo del Ghiaccio venue that has hosted runway events for the likes of Etro, Missoni, Moschino and others.
He drew all the top editors, plus fellow designers Andrea Adamo and Alessandro Dell’Aqua, for whom he worked earlier in his career. They all sat on a hodgepodge of benches and cafeteria chairs, surrounded by construction-site fences draped with white tarps, bringing to mind Martin Margiela-isms of yore.
On his raised runway, carpeted with industrial felt, Magliano continued to exalt humble fashion archetypes and small-town characters, which had an emotional tug for many in the audience, who roared with approval when the all-ages cast rambled out for the finale.
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Like Matthew M. Williams at 1017 Alyx 9SM, Magliano favors soulful clothes with a lived-in familiarity achieved through intense fabric treatments.
But Magliano mines a more humble, downbeat aesthetic, adding deliberate coffee stains and burn marks to jeans and jean jackets, purposeful droop to wooly cardigans, and rough-hewn waistbands and hems that can look very do-it-yourself.
Other quirky details abound: little fabric braids spilling off T-shirt collars; gold chains jumbled together as a chest harness; a jeweled brooch pinned inexplicably over one kidney; or a panel of fabric with hook-and-eye closures that falls away from one corner of an oversize black blazer, revealing some point d’esprit lace.
Small feather boas were among the other boudoir details mixed in with Magliano’s slouchy, downbeat ’80s tailoring, worn by men and women.
Some T-shirts and tank tops bore slogans of thanks and prayers, while many sweaters and fabric carrier bags broadcast prominent Magliano SRL logos. While perceived as yet-more obvious branding, they stood for something else, according to the show notes: The designer’s beloved hometown of Bologna and his fashion company — “the place where things get done.”