Priscavera (Q8949)
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Priscavera is a fashion house from FMD.
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Priscavera |
Priscavera is a fashion house from FMD. |
Statements
Rather than tap into some exotic location or obscure film to inspire her new spring collection, designer Prisca Vera Franchetti went inwards. She leaned into her feels, pinpointing her emotions and memories around the dog days of summer, and then allowing them to inform the direction of her youthful, upbeat pieces. “I wanted to tap into all the different kinds of experiences of summer,” she said, choosing to make clothes appropriate for everything from chill beach days to dressy evening weddings, and all the plane rides in between (see: her cozy velour tracksuits, perfect for jet-setting).The assortment may have lacked cohesion, but perhaps that was the point—to offer a little something for everyone, depending on how they summer. It’s easy to fall into the tropes of the season (Dresses! Shorts! Swim!), but Franchetti zeroed in on her own summer nostalgia to give the pieces a more unique feel. The sleeveless, cotton-poplin tennis dress, for example, took cues from her childhood. “I don’t play tennis,” she said, laughing, “but I have memories of going to tennis class because all my cousins were doing it.” The slinky, olive oil-green two-piece shirt and trouser, or the countryscape-print jacquard dress or top with a corseted bodice, nodded to the relaxed fashions she used to see growing up in Italy. “My grandmother had a place in Sardinia,” she said, recalling the chic, easy fashions she used to see people don there. (Her daisy-print swimwear also begged for an Italian getaway.)Although Priscavera is built on young, fun party staples, it wasn’t all sweet and sentimental offerings—there were also saucy garments suitable for a perfect summer night out. The branded white tank tops were inspired by the touristy shot glasses or logo tees the designer came across in tacky Miami gift shops. Sparkly ribbed knits and metallic denim shorts were the kind of clothes you’d wear on a roaring night out complete with a hangover the next day. The long, floral-sequined slip dress also evoked the feeling of cascading water—Fun! Playful fashion is what Franchetti excels at, after all, and the designer said it best: “Dress for the types of summer you crave.”
6 September 2024
In the infinite loop of fashion weeks, pressing pause to recalibrate can be a tough decision, but it’s exactly what Prisca Vera Franchetti, the founder of Priscavera, decided to do for the fall 2024 season. Instead of taking on a Manhattan venue, she escaped to Atlantic City to shoot her latest collection, which seemed fitting given the many closed-until-further-notice signs on several buildings in the waning city. Unlike the declining destination, Priscavera’s strategic hiatus from the chaotic frenzy paid off, giving the designer an opportunity to be a bit more intentional with her designs.“We’re mostly known as a destination for sexy, flirty dresses for a younger customer,” Franchetti said. “But right now I’m really starting to think of the collection as a full wardrobe instead of just a go-to for a night out.” The difference was immediately evident as the first look was eerily similar to last season's opener. Instead of using a printed fabric, Franchetti reworked the look in solid beige tones, luxurious soft textures, and updated, restrained styling. Her usual graphic tank tops and sandals were the axed to allow a coordinating shirt and elegant boots to take the spotlight. “This season I really wanted to build a full wardrobe that’s not just about dressy versus casual, but is about having something to wear for every emotion, whether I want to go out into the world looking polished or I want to feel cool and laid back,” Franchetti said.Still, Franchetti didn’t completely forget about her core customer. She’s still there for the saucy girls who turn to her for a fiery look. There were plenty of micro minis, but now in a range of mood-capturing colorways and fabrics. And she didn’t completely abandon her peek-a-boo pieces. They simply matured with help from luxe fabrics worthy of the investment. Franchetti also had fun with longer lengths, like a ruffle-trimmed midi skirt in a slightly sheer fabric and a polished pencil skirt with a high slit and lace-up finish. The entire collection was a gradual evolution that still retained the brand’s DNA. Teetering on the line of reinvention and staying true to your core can be tough, but Franchetti did it with ease.
13 February 2024
Typically only students with valid elevator passes are allowed to use the lift at New Design High School. But Priscavera broke all the rules, welcoming the fashion set to the rooftop of the Manhattan campus for a second time. That carefree, rebellious spirit is core to Prisca Vera Franchetti’s brand. In the same defiant tone, this collection continued to push the boundaries with sheer dresses and plunging necklines that came within an inch of showing it all.The messaging went beyond simply breaking the rules. Although “the whole collection was inspired by childhood memories,” said Franchetti, it was also about being an adult and having the freedom to dress however you want. Polished pieces that elevated the lineup included a tailored suit with a belt and a crisp longline shirtdress. “It’s not about being conservative or not,” Franchetti said. “It’s more about finding the codes we want to reimagine and bringing them into adulthood.”For example, if someone says you can’t wear prismatic baggy pants with a billowing top or a neon green jacket with a matching miniskirt, Priscavera’s master class taught us that you certainly can. Take notes.
9 September 2023
Tailored blazers, crisp button downs, and below the knee dresses aren’t typical hallmarks of the Priscavera girl, but those sophisticated touches were signs of a continued maturation for the eight-year-old label. “This season we were thinking a lot about how to transform Priscavera into a daytime look,” said Prisca Franchetti. “It’s not only about partying, but building a wardrobe for everyday wear.”Franchetti didn’t abandon her saucy audience completely. There were still plenty of corsets and peek-a-boo sheer fabrics worn by models with tightly slicked-back ponytails and thin ’90s-inspired eyebrows.This time, the body-hugging pieces came sans boning, and instead figure-tracing details were amplified with comfortable contrasting whipstitching.The majority of the color palette leaned more on the solid side with black, burgundy, lilac, and a hint of silver leading the way. Franchetti pared back the prints with a subtle logo motif that from a distance could be mistaken for a classic leopard design, but was actually a dog paw pattern with the brand’s name intertwined into the mix. Rounding out the collection, Franchetti spotlighted a few work-ready stripes and checkered pieces for increased versatility. “For a couple of seasons, I felt really static,” she said. “I think now it’s quite exciting to get back into building something that feels a bit more honest.”
13 February 2023
Before the Priscavera show started,The Real Housewives of New Yorkcast member Leah McSweeney sauntered into the space wearing one of those full saucy Prisca get-ups: a sheer shirt and skin-tight denim print flares. She mentioned seeing the husband of actor Lisa Rinna, fromThe Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. “I hope she walks!” said McSweeney. She and the other showgoers were pleasantly surprised, well ecstatic, when Rinna indeed took the runway in a body-hugging white tank dress that left nothing to the imagination.Hot clothes like Rinna’s were the theme of the collection. “I go outside and everyone is just hot and you just want to be hot,” said Rome-born designer Prisca Vera Franchetti after the show. Franchetti’s designs—often curve-skimming, sheer, and cinch-y—have had a sartorial chokehold on the New York downtown crew for several years. You’ll see her signature peel-them-off print pants or playful corsets on any given day in Dimes Square.That signature corset came back even hotter this season, now in a flame print with matching bikini bottoms. Corset detailing was a great addition to a pair of low-slung red flares that featured lacing up the thighs. And let’s not forget the thong straps, which coiled around the waist, and, in one instance, came in pearl form. These clothes are meant to turn headsWhile there were plenty of those signature red hot Priscavera pieces, there was also a bit of romance. A blue net dress embroidered with coins skimmed the body quite beautifully, while a mesh green slip skirt artfully hung off the hips. Sure, the clothes still exuded sex, but this time they felt more subtle, and ultimately more mature.
13 September 2022
Last season, Prisca Vera Franchetti shot her lookbook on the streets of New York in voyeuristic, paparazzi-gaze style. Models were shot in action in the label’s saucy looks: flirty dresses, mini skirts, and strappy tanks. Franchetti continued to explore this beauty-in-the-banal theme for fall 2022, capturing her frisky clothes on models doing the mundane. “We shot in New York last time because of COVID,” said Franchetti over Zoom from her parent’s home in Sardinia. “This time, the collection was a bit about the feeling of going out and rediscovering through these eyes.”No doubt Priscavera clothes make people want to go out. Franchetti whipped up some delicious looks: a trippy long-sleeved corset top and low-slung pants (on a model pushing a stroller with a puppy in Central Park), a cropped sweatshirt and pleated skirt set in a dalmatian print (on a model jogging), and more of those dalmatian spots on curve-skimming pants and an ostrich trimmed long mesh cardigan (on a model toting some lime green balloons).While the clothes are made for hot young things, Franchetti is getting more mature in her execution. This season, she’s introduced leather as well as jacquard and silks. The best example of the label’s playfulness coupled with its growth was a button-up crafted from black leather with exaggerated sleeves underneath a matching leather corset and a pair of ever-so-slightly-flared leather pants.
11 May 2022
“I think I am yearning for escapism,” says Prisca Franchetti over Zoom. “It’s something I need and I think my customer needs too.” After taking over a year off, Franchetti is back with a vibrant new collection photographed on friends and models, paparazzi-style, on the streets of New York.The sauciness of the Priscavera woman remains in effect, with frilled minidresses, double-waistband bikini bottoms, and tight, strappy slips in peppy dots and lively colors. Her materials have been elevated, including her popular mesh, and her styles have been trimmed down—literally and metaphorically—to a core selection of pieces. “I slowed down over the past year and wanted to keep it that way,” she says of her concise collection.Even with a more serious approach—and Franchetti has always been dead serious about her business—her cheeky glamour persists. Customers will love her thicker bonded jersey pieces with pierced straps and a new demographic will respond to her mossy taupe suiting. The Hot Girl Summer look has proven most lasting with young British designers, but Franchetti shows New York girls know how to flaunt it best.
13 December 2021
Prisca Franchetti’s starting point for spring 2021 was the tacky souvenir shops you see on New York street corners, hoping to catch a tourist’s eye with T-shirts and trinkets. Franchetti’s fascination with those stores inspired an array of “vacation tees” with island prints and block letters spelling outPriscavera NYC. With global travel bans still in place, the idea of being a tourist in another city feels far off but Franchetti hopes her Prisca girls fall in love with their hometowns again. She followed suit by flying back to her home country to shoot the look book in an eerily quiet Rome.On set, models roamed past the Fontana dell’Acqua Paola and the Colosseum in a collection made for both 9-to-5—laptops and keyboards were used as playful props—and leisure. An elongated mustard blazer would fit the bill for a boardroom, real or virtual, while a hand-dyed purple set looked weekend-ready. Splashed over denim pants, bikinis, and mesh minis, a sunset motif became another key theme. The warm colors felt equally chill and vibrant, a balance that sums up the Priscavera mood.Mindful of a quieter consumer market, Franchetti revived several past-season silhouettes with proven track records, including her best-selling mini dresses and wrap tops. “I'm trying to keep things tight,” she explained. “Of course, we had all these new ideas that we wanted to use, but we took a very informed approach to keep things [feeling] necessary.”
27 October 2020
Last season, Prisca Franchetti staged her runway on a high school rooftop. For fall 2020, the Priscavera girls are taking school a bit more seriously; last night they strutted through the multilevel library at the Institute of Classical Architecture & Art. But just because they’re hanging out in an academic building in midtown doesn’t mean they’ve lost their Lower East Side edge. With backpacks slung over their shoulders and puffer jackets purposefully misbuttoned, the models wove through the stacks in a fresh twist on geek-chic style.“The Priscavera woman is youthful but not always young,” Franchetti clarified. The creative range of her boxy suits and metallic maxis spoke to that; the designer says she likes to listen and learn from her friends of all ages. They’d likely find common ground with her easy yet unique essentials, like knit scarves and wrap dresses.Priscavera’s signature corset top returned here in millennial pink, and a sheer romper and long-sleeve minidress felt familiar too. But in terms of wearability, Franchetti still aced the test. A high-waist skirt–and–button-down set was feminine and sophisticated, and the pieces would be just as good worn separately.From rosy spaghetti-strap slips to oversize neon hoodies, this collection appeared more like a wardrobe than a themed runway collection. “I wanted to design for all different types of women and fill their closets with pieces theyneedjust as much as they want,” said Franchetti. A dainty camisole with statement organza sleeves might not be an everyday staple, but it would definitely spice up an old pair of jeans; we could all use some fun stuff for our after-school (or after-work) activities.
8 February 2020
Prisca Franchetti’s collections are not rocket science—and thank heavens for it. The young designer has built her career on dressing herself and her friends, and with her Spring 2020 collection, she has reasserted herself as the de facto designer for “cool girls who are really sexy, comfortable, confident, and don’t take themselves too seriously.” That’s how Franchetti described her customer base after her show, which is an astute take on the types of corset-and-baggy-jeans or sheer-top-and-miniskirt babes that flocked to her show. By really assessing her customer, Franchetti was able to expand her world into new arenas, like those corset tops that evoked Vivienne Westwood’s sexy bustiers or a new swim line that turns her flame print into a covetable bikini bottom.Franchetti imbued a strong sense of herself into the collection too. Words from Hieronymus Bosch’sSeven Deadly Sinspainting were printed on denim and chiffon; well, actually the words are a misprint, a mistake Franchetti made years ago in a copy machine and saved for their graphic qualities. Elsewhere, she continued her smartly constructed square-neck dresses and introduced several sheer pieces that could be used for layering—best marks to a floating black dress—or worn unlined, the way you might find Franchetti and her friends on the Lower East Side or in Bushwick on a hot summer night. With Nike sneaker boots on their feet and open backpacks revealing laptops smothered in stickers slung over their shoulders, these girls oozed that ineffable New York millennial cool. Listen, in the end, clothing can’t make you cool—you’ve either got it or not—but Franchetti can set you down the right path.
9 September 2019