4 minute read
FASHION HUB
CULTURE, RESEARCH AND INCLUSIVITY
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Stefano Guerrini
Martine Rose and Jan-Jan Van Essche: the stylist of Anglo-Jamaican origin and the Antwerp designer are respectively guest designer and Designer Project for edition 103 of Pitti. It is common knowledge that Pitti is an important international event, and also that over the years it has managed to bring to Florence, along with global press and buyers, not only brands of formal and elegant men’s fashion, of sportswear and streetwear, but also emerging phenomena and designers with a unique path. Just think at the iconic exhibition with the controversial installation by Rick Owens at Stazione Leopolda, or at Raf Simons fashion show in the Boboli Gardens. In many cases the capital of Tuscany has been the perfect setting for important anniversaries or for the consecration of avant-garde names that later became true fashion he-
Space for denim in Martin Rose SS23 collection
Sporty suggestions in Martin Rose SS23 collection presented in London roes. At each season there is a renewed anticipation for those who will be the new guest designers and for how they will present their collections during the renowned exhibition. For the 103rd edition of Pitti Immagine Uomo, the guest designer who will present a preview of the FallWinter 23/24 collection will be Martine Rose. From a capsule collection of shirts premièred in London in 2007, the stylist of Anglo-Jamaican origin created an internationally acclaimed, critically acclaimed brand, praised by top names, Vogue America in the lead, but also sold in some of the most prestigious global stockists including Antonioli, 10 Corso Como Seoul, the famous Dover Street Market and SSENSE. What immediately struck from the designer, who left from London to conquer the world, is her natural and innate ability to mix in her collections a clear sense of roots and belonging, with a strong emotional and intimate component. She also manages to
THE EXCELLENCE OF MADE IN ITALY MEETS MARTIN ROSE AT PITTI 103 Thanks to the Cuoio di Toscana Prize initiative, the consortium – seven tanneries operating around San Miniato and Santa Croce sull’Arno in the province of Pisa that adopt environmental sustainability policies – continues providing support to emerging talents. This time it picked the British stylist Martine Rose, guest designer at Pitti Immagine, who will create a capsule collection of footwear with the iconic green sole, a manifesto of the consortium’s sustainable values and synonymous of Made in Italy excellence in the world.
bring into her clothes a relevant cultural depth and reflection on social issues which make her interesting in the current creative scene. At the same time she is one of those phenomena that can capture the current zeitgeist, that spirit of the times which is necessary to an artistic scene, not only to fashion, which sometimes seems extremely static and too much tied to commercial interests. Famously her shows have been held in unusual spaces such as the covered markets of Tottenham, a neighbourhood cul-de-sac in Camden and under the arches in Vauxhall, very close to the LGBTQIA+ community, making clear the connection with her Jamaican-British roots and with the multicultural diversity of the creative scene of the British capital, always creating a lot of “buzz,” as they say in the UK. Not surprisingly, in the front row at her latest fashion show for spring 2023 there was also Michael Burke, CEO of Louis Vuitton. This explains the great curiosity around what is going to be one of the most interesting events of the four fashion days in Florence. A lot of interest is also aroused by the presence in Florence of Jan-Jan Van Essche, Designer Project of this edition with a one-of-akind unique event, scheduled on Wednesday, January 11th. Born in Antwerp, where he graduated at the famous Royal Academy of Fine Arts and where he launched his eponymous label in June 2010, Van Essche creates clothes that see no boundaries, no limitations, no exclusions. He is one of those designers who, with a natural and reserved approach, succeeds in developing, each time, new insights on contemporary yet effortless and genderless elegance where distinctions seem to be banished altogether. With every series of garments, traditional patterns from different ethno-cultural origins are reinterpreted in the designer’s personal style between poetry and simplicity. Jan-Jan Van Essche works are never focused on trends and always characterized by a comfortable style. “This will be our first show ever, so it’s going to be a special event for us in any case. To be able to hold this first show in the unique atmosphere of the city of Florence makes it extra special, something I could have only dreamed of,” said Van Essche. A statement that confirms once more how Pitti is the ideal setting for premieres and unique fashion moments. And if the one who says so is a reserved yet emblematic figure like Jan-Jan Van Essche, who has accustomed us to fluidity and inclusion in his works, we can expect something really important.
Left: a Wannes Cré portrait of Jan-Jan Van Essche Under: ethnic contaminations and fluidity also in terms of age in the minimal-chic style of the designer’s Zeal collection for SS 23
