Marine Serre and all the things you missed at the Pitti

Pitti Immagine uomo, which immediately precedes Milan Fashion Week, took place this year with a more aristocratic buzz, bolstered by the Paul Smith and Marine Serre shows yesterday and the day before, and the Pierre-Louis Mascia show that will take place today instead. Smith's and Serre's two shows, which attracted a large number of visitors, were perhaps influenced by the sartorial influence of the Pitti, having both been dominated by formal but never severe sartorial lines, crisp and defined silhouettes, and a certain kind of polite sprezzatura that is now the gold standard of today's menswear. In fact, almost surprisingly, Serre's show soon went from the men's show everyone expected to a display of virtuosity in which the designer also presented womanswear and a series of looks created from salvaged materials (for the white suits on the finale the basis was vintage bedding) greatly expanding the scope of her collection. 

Without a doubt, the show held at Villa di Maiano, on the hills of Fiesole, had a unique poetry thanks to the stunning landscape and the perfect golden light of the sunset – very different from the frankly dazzling sun that shone instead in the morning at the Fortezza da Basso. Presenting a series of her classic silhouettes, this time with a lighter dose of eco-futurism, Serre opted for greater rigor, which however exploded into the stylistic exuberance known to us in some looks such as, for example, the jacket covered with flowers. Among the most interesting looks were the dresses reconstructed from backpacks and a series of shiny leather pieces covered with crescent moons presented in monochromatic ensembles (the best was the cognac-colored one) but also in “broken” versions pairing shiny leather pants and a blue shirt. Another highlight was the outerwear, especially a tartan wool jacket without lapels, with leather piping and a patchwork pattern at the bottom, while a double-layer net dress with wrinkled handkerchiefs pressed inside that hid the body was very “Margielesque”. Elsewhere, the patchwork pattern continued on a series of shirts with hyper-70s collars while several prints came directly from those seen in Serre's FW23 menswear collection.

Away from the runways, at the Fortezza da Basso, the usual Pitti guests followed a similar path of sartorial anarchy. Excluding the basic and conforming suits, always present in great abundance, a certain taste could be seen in pairing tailored pieces and more refined accessories with military clothing, vintage work overalls, sturdy canvas bags with at least fifty years of honorable career behind them. The effect is not new but is certainly pleasing. Numerous scarves, denim jackets, knit polos, and a certain citation of the cheerful America of the '50s seen through sailor caps, naval uniforms, striped tops. The famous “peacocks” of Pitti (who often seem like time travelers from the '20s) were relatively restrained this year, with a lot of escape from affectation. Probably it's a good thing.