Luisa Beccaria has a lock on the retro romantic aesthetic, but her spring collection showed how vintage looks could be made relevant for the here and now. Models swept through the loggia of a 16th-century monastery in outfits in delicate pastel shades inspired by Monet’s Water Lilies.
Beccaria and her daughter Lucilla Bonaccorsi used shirting fabrics to give dresses a crisp, tailored feel. A Fifties-style sundress and tailored dungarees with a ruffle trim were both charming and eminently wearable. Ditto the outfits in chambray linen with eyelet details, including a terrific belted shirtdress.
In fact, it could be argued that daywear was the real star of the show. Raw linen was used as a backdrop for dense pink floral embroidery, which crawled over everything from a three-quarter sleeve coat to a prim dress or a Seventies-style pant suit. It also covered the sheer shirts and skirts worn underneath, for an effect that was both opulent and light.
Eveningwear, by contrast, held fewer surprises, though the lineup included some lovely propositions, such as a plunge-neck dressing gown-style dress embroidered with large periwinkles. On the whole, though, these creations, while tasteful, felt a little generic.