Simplify, reduce, streamline: Creative director Alberto Caliri is putting Missoni on a diet, believing that the label needs to be “lighter, cleaner, less layered, less loud.” He already made his point in the September show and kept the same spirit for pre-fall. Caliri is no newcomer. His long experience as Angela Missoni’s head of design makes him a custodian of continuity; his in-depth understanding of the label’s dynamics is obvious. However, while his version of the house codes is respectful, it’s no reverential homage.
The reduction approach was apparent in the slimming of silhouettes and in the smaller proportions of classic Missoni sweaters; less emphasis was put on volume, and layering was kept to a minimum. Any sign of chromatic flamboyance was dimmed; graphic motifs were less vivid and gentler. Pants in many iterations— from cargos to tailored straight-leg options to roomy laminated denim patched with zigzag Lurex intarsia— complemented snug jacquard jumpers, knitted in the signature fiammato pattern. To appeal to a wider age group of customers, sporty street-inspired pieces (hoodies, tracksuits, zippered bombers) were proposed in soft knit textures and worn under elongated maxi coats or over minidresses. Evening was given a luminous sheen, albeit of the discreet variety. A long fitted dress with a hooded collar was net knitted in a sequined yarn; it exuded a certain sensuality, injecting a frisson into the otherwise functional, versatile offer.
