Ilenia Durazzi presented her collection by appointment this season, shelving the art performances she usually favors. Theatrics were relocated to the lookbook, staged in a stark white void punctuated by mounds of black earth, just enough grit to tether the images to reality. The scene was populated by a crowd of artists, musicians, and gallerists, plus a scene-stealing horse, a hint to Durazzi’s equestrian leanings. She dubbed the setting “a contemporary Arcadia,” though it felt more austere than idyllic.
Durazzi operates with the confidence of a brand that knows what it is doing and what it refuses to do. The designer’s refined, mature aesthetic came through in a tightly edited collection built around what are fast becoming the house’s signatures: classic, everyday silhouettes recalibrated with a dash of cool. Pieces were rendered in quality fabrics and fine leathers, finished with “obsessive precision” and cut in gently oversized proportions that suggested ease rather than excess. Bombers, peacoats and carcoats were made for a fast-paced urban life, rendered in a deliberately disciplined palette of blacks, grays, moss greens—a study in restraint that read more as conviction than caution.
This season Durazzi introduced eveningwear, but don’t expect glamour and red carpet looks. Rather there was a tuxedo with ponyskin lapels worn over a black chiffon kilt with ponyskin details, or a black halter neck number draped easily around the hips. This is the no-logo school of thought. Durazzi’s language resonates with the artistic milieu: unfussy yet distinctive, essential yet carrying presence. It’s clothing that doesn’t beg to be noticed, but tends to be remembered anyway.
There was also a budding menswear edit in the making. Artist Maurizio Cattelan was photographed in a roomy black car coat in richly textured wool, offering a subtle but pointed teaser of the line Durazzi is now introducing. If this is the opening note, the brand’s expansion into menswear looks less like a side project and more like a rather confident next act.
As it happens, this is the Chinese Year of the Fire Horse, traditionally associated with independence and bold moves. Durazzi is an equestrian, and a certain discipline together with instinctive, impulsive streaks is what makes her line appealing. With timing like that, one imagines she is perfectly happy to ride the omen.