What was new at WHITE SHOW fall/winter 2018-19 (part 2)

Who were the newest fashion brands and most interesting and innovative designers seen at WHITE SHOW? Here the second part of the report from Milan Fashion Week fall/winter 2018-19.

As we’ve seen in the previous post, during the last Milan Fashion Week one of the most important appointments for fashion professionals and mass media was the WHITE SHOW, since 2001 a market-oriented tradefair in which all the best fashion brands presented their collection.

Located in the Tortona Fashion District with over 500 international and Italian brands, new designers arrived in Milan for the first time and others that strenghtened their presence with important collaborations and special projects, the 4–days WHITE SHOW is the unmissable event for buyers and brands.

Here the second part of our journey between exhibition booths, trunk shows, installations and presentations.

In
an intimate location similar to a hotel with separated rooms, White
Studio is the part dedicated to new and glamour brands of Italian
ready-to-wear, presented in collaboration with the Best Shop of Camera Italiana Buyer Moda.

I’ve already speak about SILVIO BETTERELLI
in a previous post about AltaRoma, where the Sardinian designer
presented all his collection. At WHITE instead Silvio showcased a
capsule of marvelous coats realized with artisanal techniques by SPS Manifatture with prestigious wool and alpaca fabrics by Loro Piana.
Soft, comfortable and decidedly breath-taking, all his coats decorated
with “fil-coupé” and small flower motifs are an hymn to modern
femininity and haute-tailoring.

SILVIO BETTERELLI

SYLVIO GIARDINA,
a visionary and hyper-talented designer close to artistic world,
presented his jewelry collection conceptually placed on the bed of a
hotel room, almost to anticipate the coming of a beautiful woman.
Plexiglass and jemstones play together in a contrasting game of colors
and shining effects. The shapes are simple, but the effect is incredibly
captivating.

SYLVIO GIARDINA

Geometric, sculptural and with an ancestral tribal spirit, the beautiful creations of the architect and designer Anna Maria Cardillo are really surprising. CARDILLO DESIGN‘s
jewels are handmade with leather and different materials like wood,
cotton fibers, metal and blow lump glass. Iconic and symbolic jewels
that become real pieces of wearable art.

CARDILLO DESIGN

SAMBOUE is a label with a soul. Born in 2014 by the two friends Alice Poli and Stephanie Manoka, with a propitiatory brand name that means “successful woman”,
Samboue represent a connection between two different cultures and
styles, Italian and African. Using typical and traditional Teké
fabrics of Kuba people mixed to more occidental shapes and Italian
leathers, the brand embodies the perfect union of two worlds.
Significant is also the contribute that the two designers give to the
Onlus Dynafet to support the alphabetization of women in Africa.

SAMBOUE

Special areas are one of the most important characteristics of WHITE SHOW, special locations with particular exhibition displays and visual effects which enhanced the brand and underlined the value of each product. Among all the areas I selected some interesting fashion designers for their innovative approach and cutting-edge style, coming from Italy or other countries.

MARCO RAMBALDI, finalist at “Who Is On Next?” in 2017, after the successful show at AltaRoma, he presented his fall/winter collection “We want the roses too” with an installation of the most iconic pieces and a video dedicated to Valérie Taccarelli, one of the first Italian transexuals. The collection, inspired by the turbulent sexual revolution of the 70s, is an important and brave social and politic message in favor of diversity, equality and respect.

MARCO RAMBALDI

A special area was dedicated to Portugal Fashion, which hosted 4 brands. I was particularly impressed by LUIS BUCHINHO, a designer with almost 20 years of experience and many prices won in his career, who presented a contemporary mood with destructured outfits and a simple dark color palette with some flash of bright colors.

LUIS BUCHINHO

Another talent came from the far Kazakhstan, hosted in the special area of Tortona 35 Hotel Nhow. The brand is ZIBROO DESIGN, an ambitious project by a company leader of official sportswear for olimpionics. With this new label, the company wanted to approach female clothing without forgetting its sporty nature. The collection presented at WHITE was metropolitan and modernly glamour thanks to the contrasts between protective padded technical fabrics, sporty accessories, warm and feminine knitwear and metallic touches.

The most avant-garde brands were at Basement, part of the exhibition zone of Tortona 27, focalised on underground and experimental collections.

SIMONA TAGLIAFERRI launched her namesake brand in 2012 after years as consultant designer for important brands. Focused on accessories and leather pieces, her ground-breaking collection is a miscellaneous of tactile suggestions and poetic aesthetics, with damaged textures which have the same consistency of natural stones and industrial artifacts.

Innovation and unconventional spirit are the main characteristics of BARBARA ALAN, the brand founded in 2012 by the couple formed by the Italian Barbara Amelii and the English Alan Maughan. The brand has a strong identity and a powerful aesthetic, which mixes minimal and geometrical shapes, unusual pattern cutting techniques and textile experimentations.

BARBARA ALAN

Only new brands in the Red Area of Tortona 27, a location dedicated to the discovery of new Italian and internation talents and labels that for the first time presented their collection at WHITE SHOW.

The simplicity and modernity of the bags designed by the Chinese Haofang Zheng, graduated at Istituto Marangoni and creator in 2017 of the brand ZAI-MU, are inspired by traditional Chinese handcrafts like the hand paper–cutting and the geometric shapes of ancient and modern architectures or the peaceful atmospheres of Suzhou’s gardens. Suggestions translated into geometrical shapes, delicate touches of colors and a great attention to each small detail.

ZAI-MU

Among all the ehxibitors a particular space attracted me. A cloud of tulle on the ground, soft tulle skirts on the hangers. Only skirts in tulle, but in thousands variations. This is the creative world of GALLINE REGINE, a brand born in the late 90s by the imaginative mind of Cilla Sansalvadore. Halfway between a dreamy romanticism and an unconventional rock soul the skirts are damaged, multi-layers, torn or ironically play with other fabrics like pinstripes or with Italian-colors ribbons.

Tortona 54 is the place of the more smart and dynamic brands of clothing and accessories. I was particularly attracted by bags and shoes labels, that I selected for their avant-garde style and the functionality of design.

It was a real love at first sight that for BOOMY, a brand of avant-garde shoes and bags which presented its fall collection in almost black, white and grey with a few touches of neon colors. Neoprene, plastic, rubber and technical materials for incredibly beautiful and futurible accessories based on the practicality of sportswear and cutting-edge shapes.

BOOMY

Transformable and based on modular shapes that can be interchanged to become completely customizable, the funny bags of HYMY BAG, label founded by the eclectic designer Stefano Galandrini, were showcased in the Yellow Area of Tortona 54. Decorated with printed or embroidered flowers, in solid or psychedelic colors, the bags are characterized by the practical and iconic bolt-closures.

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Soon I’ll publish two interviews after-show with the talented Valentina Poltronieri and Bartolotta & Martorana. Stay tuned!