Iceberg (Q1423)
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fashion design house in Italy
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Iceberg |
fashion design house in Italy |
Statements
2000
creative director
creative director
The lockdown has proved a learning curve for James Long, Iceberg’s creative director, as it has for many other designers. Working remotely with his team in Italy from the British countryside helped him refocus his practice. “I couldn’t have made it without them,” he said during a showroom appointment. “It wasn’t about the office mentality anymore, but about coming together to make the collection actually happen.”Long wanted to convey a feeling of optimism for the future, so he worked on a relaxed, off-duty wardrobe for the coed offering, inspired by a hopeful dream of coming back to happier times,La Dolce Vitastyle. “We couldn’t travel anywhere, so I fantasized about traveling,” he said. For lack of IRL options, he took a virtual trip into Iceberg’s archives, where he found a heritage pattern inspired by the Sistine Chapel’s famous Michelangelo frescoThe Creation of Adam,giving it a bright Pop art vibe with what he called “an escapist palette.” “I wanted to reinforce the Italian-ness of what we’re doing,” Long said. The motif was printed on a loose-fitting, ankle-grazing summer dress, on a soft-tailored pantsuit with an easygoing feel, and on a plissé skirt worn with a roomy knitted sweater, with an intarsia split-in-half image of Iceberg’s mascot, Mickey Mouse.Further referencing the label’s Italian Riviera roots, a laid-back attitude was similarly apparent in the men’s collection, only it was punctuated with more rugged, utilitarian, and military accents. Think safari vests built into T-shirts, anoraks emblazoned with oversized pockets, and high-end technical quirks nodding to the world of luxury sports.Long spent his quarantine in his hometown of Althorp, in Northamptonshire—which also happens to be the home of Princess Diana’s family estate. “I got into thinking about her, and about her look when she started to be more free, going out on her own and letting everything go,” he mused. Waxing a bit nostalgic, he wanted to channel her off-duty uniform of sweater sets and two-piece easy suits, “her school pick-up and drop-off style,” as he described it. An egg-yolk yellow blazer worn with matching leggings and a bandeau top would’ve surely whipped the hordes of paparazzi chasing the Princess into a frenzy.That said, in general both collections had a calmer, simpler attitude than usual. Long hopes to bring what he has learned in lockdown into his fashion practice in the future.
He also reused and upcycled materials—nylons, cottons, knitwear yarns—for both collections. “I’d like to keep a more considerate and focused approach to how we work,” he said. “I feel very privileged to have a job that I love; I’m much more appreciative of how much human effort goes into what we do—and of how many people would be affected if we weren’t doing what we do.”
29 July 2020
The lockdown has proved a learning curve for James Long, Iceberg’s creative director, as it has for many other designers. Working remotely with his team in Italy from the British countryside helped him refocus his practice. “I couldn’t have made it without them,” he said during a showroom appointment. “It wasn’t about the office mentality anymore, but about coming together to make the collection actually happen.”Long wanted to convey a feeling of optimism for the future, so he worked on a relaxed, off-duty wardrobe for the coed offering, inspired by a hopeful dream of coming back to happier times,La Dolce Vitastyle. “We couldn’t travel anywhere, so I fantasized about traveling,” he said. For lack of IRL options, he took a virtual trip into Iceberg’s archives, where he found a heritage pattern inspired by the Sistine Chapel’s famous Michelangelo frescoThe Creation of Adam,giving it a bright Pop art vibe with what he called “an escapist palette.” “I wanted to reinforce the Italian-ness of what we’re doing,” Long said. The motif was printed on a loose-fitting, ankle-grazing summer dress, on a soft-tailored pantsuit with an easygoing feel, and on a plissé skirt worn with a roomy knitted sweater, with an intarsia split-in-half image of Iceberg’s mascot, Mickey Mouse.Further referencing the label’s Italian Riviera roots, a laid-back attitude was similarly apparent in the men’s collection, only it was punctuated with more rugged, utilitarian, and military accents. Think safari vests built into T-shirts, anoraks emblazoned with oversized pockets, and high-end technical quirks nodding to the world of luxury sports.Long spent his quarantine in his hometown of Althorp, in Northamptonshire—which also happens to be the home of Princess Diana’s family estate. “I got into thinking about her, and about her look when she started to be more free, going out on her own and letting everything go,” he mused. Waxing a bit nostalgic, he wanted to channel her off-duty uniform of sweater sets and two-piece easy suits, “her school pick-up and drop-off style,” as he described it. An egg-yolk yellow blazer worn with matching leggings and a bandeau top would’ve surely whipped the hordes of paparazzi chasing the Princess into a frenzy.That said, in general both collections had a calmer, simpler attitude than usual. Long hopes to bring what he has learned in lockdown into his fashion practice in the future.
He also reused and upcycled materials—nylons, cottons, knitwear yarns—for both collections. “I’d like to keep a more considerate and focused approach to how we work,” he said. “I feel very privileged to have a job that I love; I’m much more appreciative of how much human effort goes into what we do—and of how many people would be affected if we weren’t doing what we do.”
27 July 2020
Word was that an influencer had been hit by a car outside this Iceberg show, which explained the crowd ofcarabinieriand their vehicles adding extra drama to an already hectic scene. Whoever you are—nobody seemed to know—get well soon!Now sporting a mustache that lends him a rakish and slightly Escobar aspect, James Long is racking up collection after improving collection at Iceberg. This one seemed trifling in origin story “my experience of London street style, I suppose” and included references to Björk on a flatbed in the video for “Big Time Sensuality” (Long listened to a lot ofDebutwhen he first moved to London), an image of Kate Moss in a diamond paneled bias-cut green silk dress in 1999, and the Spice Girls out partying.Long incorporated elements of the skiwearpiumino—Italian forpuffer—into a collection that injected streetwear elements into tailoring and vice-versa. Graphic sweats featured a Jetsons-style flying bus worn above bicolor lace floor-length skirts; there was a retro-future spacey Lurex tracksuit; and knit embroidered outerwear included corset details. A red knit dress featuring a snap-fastenedpiumino-sourced double belt was very well done, as were the Ginger Spice coral and pinkpiuminoskirt and tracktop combinations with bucket hats. Under Long, Iceberg is progressing nicely.
21 February 2020
Anyone who says that full-on, muscular sporty/street style is dead should’ve been at the raucous fashion show staged by Iceberg’s James Long tonight at Alcatraz, a historic Milan nightspot, with throngs of enthusiastic kids appropriately clad in club attire populating the audience. “I love the idea that the name of the club is also that of a prison,” said the designer, who, inspired by the concept, concocted a sort of narrative where guards break the rules and start to rave with the inmates.Narratives come and go—what remains after all the blah-blah are the clothes. And Long is definitely making some good ones at Iceberg. He stuck with conviction to the vision he has created for the label, riffing on an endless series of shiny puffa jackets in block colors, ’90s sportswear with military undertones and oversized outerwear, splashed with cleverly spliced and slightly trippy Iceberg logos. Long calls it punk sport.But what Long really excels at is knitwear; every season he kicks out new versions of Iceberg’s famous sweaters with knitted cartoon characters slashed and spliced apart and re-sketched into un-recognizable, crazy abstract motifs. For this show he upped the ante, working with British artist Eddie Peake on a series of knitted oversized sweaters where the artist’s layer-by-layer technique was translated into bold lettering in vivid colors. They looked absolutely fabulous.
12 January 2020
For anyone here of a certain vintage, entering this venue was a queasy flashback to five and a bit years ago: Philipp Plein’s Spring/Summer 2015 show. Because, yes, this was the very same swimming pool in which Theophilus London rapped on a Jet Ski while we watched on and were slowly devoured by mosquitoes.And yet it was also not the same. This then-dilapidated, fascist-era open-air lido has since been fully restored—by donors including Giorgio Armani—into one of bourgeois Milan’s most chichi destinations: theBagni Misteriosi(“mysterious baths”). Its waters dapple cool and blue beyond perfectly tended beds of herbs. There is a café where you are spritzed by cooling jets as you drink your post-swim Aperol Spritz.It made for an ideal spot for James Long’s first womenswear-only show, not only under the banner of Iceberg but also in his design career at large. He said he had chosen his title, Underwater Lovers, long before discovering thebagni. As he explained backstage preshow during an urgent search for nail varnish remover: “Because we’ve been showing in London, I really wanted this to feel like Milan, and it does. It’s a bit show-offy, like Iceberg.”There was certainly a lot of showing off poolside from the audience, and when the looks began their circuit, they just as certainly fit Long’s description, along with that of one of my bench mates: “These are clothes for influencers.” Vivid pastel-sequinned swimwear and minidresses, and long color-paneled silk dresses scattered with houndstoothIreliefs, which were sometimes paired with knit sweaters patterned withLooney Tunesgraphics, represented the first section. Then Long stepped back into a nearly all-white section which featured a fluorescent-green piped lapel jacket over a double-layered pleated long skirt with moreIs, also green. The models wore pool-slide and slingback sneakers. The third section was all about oomphs of color and roamed across the Long-defined Iceberg landscape, a broad topography that runs from airy sportswear to finely observed tailoring. The final section flipped the second to go all-black—“mermaid gone bad,” as Long put it—and came to a full stop with what he said was a reference to Grace Jones. In the middle of the pool, on an island sunbathing area surrounded by loungers, DJ Siobhan Bell was throwing out some crisp tunes (Smoke City, Gwen Stefani) that sadly splintered against the ear as they echoed off the apartment buildings around us.
Long’s collection, just as tightly mustered, faced no such handicap: Impactful both on the eye and smartphone lens, it’s paradise attire for aquatically inclined attention seekers.
20 September 2019
James Long pushed along his intelligently maximalist interpretation of this heritage Italian knit-turned-sportswear brand this evening by incorporating the graphics of British pop art granddaddy Sir Peter Blake and broadening his usual frame of Brit youth subculture reference. The bondage chains that jangled at the pants of a fluoro-toned double-breasted suit were drawn from punk, while the suit itself was a nod to mod, and that eye-watering shade was pure late-’80s Global Hypercolor euphoria. There was so much visual action here that the promised Blake graphicBabe Rainbow—a cheery brunette in a white bikini surrounded by a rainbow frame—must have slipped past unseen, but the rainbow at least was there against the mod-loved target in the knit sweater in look 2. The rocker-rooted black leather tracksuits were the quietest pieces in this collection, but coolly effective.As in last season, there was a discombobulating section of sophisticated, almost mature, tailoring and daywear for women in more powerful colorways. There seemed to be way more denim than usual, and although carefully rendered, it lacked impact here. Normality and hilarity resumed via knitwear homages to Mickey Mouse and Looney Tunes over pulsating toned paracord-detailed track pants and resin-dipped sneakers. Iceberg, for so long such a nothing show in Milan, has under Long become, if not quite a tentpole, then certainly a substantial guy-rope show in London.
8 June 2019
Before launching himself into the fashion arena, James Long worked as a shop assistant in London for the legendary Virginia Bates, a goddess of high vintage if ever there was one. Her famous store in Holland Park was the epicenter of an über-hip boho tribe of musicians, beautiful people, and artists: “They were all friends, hanging around, having fun,” recalls Long. “The painter Peter Blake was one of them.” Blake was to become a world-class Pop art icon, best known for co-creating the sleeve design of the Beatles’ albumSgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.Always a huge fan of his work, Long recently reconnected with the artist, asking him to collaborate with Iceberg. Blake provided a series of eye-popping prints (using his seminalBabe RainbowandAmerikaartworks) which grace a roomy sweatshirt, a knitted sweater, and a shirt-pants combo, a strong visual proposition tapping into the label’s tradition of Pop-inspired imagery. This kicked off the first of a series of ongoing collaborations under the Iceberg Art Denim banner.Since his appointment as creative director, Long has helped boost Iceberg’s exposure and increase sales. He has been able to revive its repertoire, infusing it with a disruptive, punkish vibe and a very British sense of irreverent fun, while at the same time respecting the house’s codes through a genuine appreciation for the Italian label’s technical savoir faire. For Resort, Long further worked on keeping the message cohesive, giving his provocative penchant for goths, punks, and bondage a more sophisticated, polished edge.Tailoring was introduced in fluid-cut, sporty versions and given a Pop Day-glo flair; but do not expect homages to sartorial tradition here. Long gave sleek pantsuits the punk treatment, placing buckled belts across jackets or zippers at the back of high-waisted pants, opening to reveal metallic skater-boy chains. He kept the irreverence, ripping apart and reassembling patches of floral prints (a first here) rendered in acid colors on elongated, slim pantsuits or track pants. Dresses were long and fluid in vivid block colors, made from slashed pieces of different fabrics or patterns, held together by buckled straps; intricate, sheer technical-mesh inserts had a revealing allure, while the take on Iceberg logos was played with zest, bleached-out on an extensive ’90s-inspired denim offer.
It made for a fun, self-assured collection, with an energetic balance of a certain Italian taste for sporty glamour and British tongue-in-cheek flippancy—Brexit be damned.
7 June 2019
Not so long ago, the climate at Iceberg was stone-cold dead. Now, that’s changed: Since James Long began emitting his vision for the brand, Iceberg’s temperature has been rising at an alarming rate.This afternoon’s show was packed to the aisles with Iceberg-clad acolytes keen to be frozen for posterity by street style lensers. It was a bit of a circus, but much more fun than the sad old days.Long’s collection was shot through with the broken-check pattern that also graced his carpet, a fractured update of last season’s intact check. There was some very impressive blended outerwear—bombers and overcoats for men and women—in which the wool was grafted onto branded Iceberg-logo strata. The near-the-beginning, silky blue jacket and jumpsuit for women featuring the carpet pattern as jacquard had both sophistication and pep. That opening blue period segued to white as a gesture towards this season’s licensed characters, whose portraits were etched in paneled knitwear: Snow White, The Evil Queen, and Dopey. Then, via black, came a shift to pupil-dilating pink, which Long said was a nod to Barbara Cartland. The sky-high curl that looped aloft many of the female models’ heads looked hugely Suzy Menkes. Through all of these asides, a chopped salad of diverse garments featuring the same underlying pattern kept coming—in shiny PVC, red on black, as a bomber, a pant, a pair of boots that came with shin guards, as pleated pink kilts with buckle-heavy overlayings, as the pattern on fanny packs, and as more, more, more.Long said afterward: “I was looking at PJ Harvey, Siouxsie Sioux, Tori Amos, Karen O . . . . I was trying to mix the punk with the sports, which is what I always do.” And so very well, too.
22 February 2019
“The story—because I always have a bit of a narrative— goes like this: You know how the people in Milan always go to the mountains for the weekend, that very Italian thing that they do? So you have the nine-to-five suits which transition to punky mountain and they meet the London guys there.” Having just spent a bracing few days in Courmayeur, chichi Milan’s favorite alpine getaway, I can attest that nobody on the ground dresses quite as James Long imagined them here: The reality is more about big furs accessorized with small dogs than the British designer’s powerfully colorful cut-and-paste of graphic, fabric, and menswear genre.As a vehicle, however, that story worked fine as a framework around which to hang Long’s confidently zesty exercise in mishmash-ery. This collection was so rich in detail under all that color that it forced you, runway Ritalin, to pay attention and unpack its myriad ingredients. That suiting for men and women incorporated bomber sleeves, or duffle hoods, or crossover slalom stripes on leg and sleeve. There was a strong undertow of soccer references—manager jackets and soccer shirts—which, along with the bucket hats and Primal Scream on the soundtrack, alluded to Iceberg’s trophy status on the English terraces of yore. Artfully unpicked sweaters featuring semifinished Mickey Mouse sketches referred to another significant Iceberg backstory. Knits (the main event here, of course) and confidently executed shearlings and leathers were interwoven with working drawstrings of fluoro-mantled climbing rope. Velour tracksuits in berry tones and contrast pleated kilts in plaid and Iceberg collage were sounds-awful, looks-good propositions.Since Long’s addition to the Iceberg team, sales have increased 300 percent and the brand has 40 new points of sale in the U.S., plus 40 more in mainland China. Apart from the fact that every time he comes back from work stints in Italy he finds himself saying “ciao” to his friends—so not East London—Long’s hookup with this excellent-afresh Italian heritage brand seems win-win. They should do a pop-up in Courmayeur, for sure.
5 January 2019
Collaborations between fashion designers and artists are as tricky as they are commonplace these days, and more often than not they’re just marketing tools that benefit both sides from a communications standpoint. Art gives cultural validation to fashion, while fashion lends art visibility and (guess what?) money. Apparently it’s a win-win situation—but sometimes it lacks honesty. Examples abound. But obviously there are exceptions.Iceberg’s James Long and his fellow Brit, artist Eddie Peake, are longtime friends. Their common love for rave culture brought them together, creating a strong bond of friendship and mutual respect. Peake is one of the brightest young artists of his generation, with a multifaceted practice encompassing painting, videos, music, and installations, in which eroticism and absurdity are conveyed through a sense of energetic extravagance. One of his most spectacular and provocative performances, calledTouch(2012), was a five-a-side soccer match where the two teams played completely naked, except for socks and trainers of different colors. Peake called it “a joyous event.” It certainly was. But as a template for a possible fashion collaboration it would’ve proved quite reductive and a bit too controversial—even if fashion loves a good controversy. Long was reasonable enough to choose Peake’s more suitable paintings as an inspiration, which translated into a series of knitted pieces.Innovative knitwear techniques are Iceberg’s forte, and Long took full advantage of them here, rendering Peake’s colorful multilayer paintings on oversized jumpers. The artist’s RAVE!RAVE!RAVE! slogan was knitted into a sort of new logo on elongated sweaters, and a painting of hallucinatory pyrotechnics was printed on an oversizedpiuminowith a matching plissé skirt. They made for a strong statement and looked pretty cool.The rest of the collection played on sporty references and fluid, informal tailoring infused with the punkish/grunge-y irreverence the designer favors. Outerwear silhouettes were voluminous and military inspired with an emphasis on shapely, attention-getting sleeves; parkas and puffa jackets were shiny and loud, printed with a trippy night garden motif or a camouflage pattern of abstract flora. As for the humongouspiuminoinflated into a trapeze coat, Long said, “It’s a mood inspired by Janet Jackson’s 1989Rhythm Nation.” You can’t get more theatrical than that, really.
16 January 2020
Milan’s weekend culture is one of its peculiar traits: With clockwork precision on Fridays city dwellers escape to the seaside in summer or to the mountains during the winter months. As a Londoner living in Lombardy since his appointment at Iceberg’s helm in 2015, creative director James Long has embraced the wintry commute to the slopes; he even shares a house in an old village in the Alps with friends. “It’s all about learning how the Italians live and how it blends with my London punky culture,” he said. “The story for Pre-Fall is Milan office working hours nine-to-five on weekdays and then après-ski fun party time in the mountains during the weekend.”And so the collection was built from sporty pieces injected with the irreverent vibe that the designer favors. Puffer jackets and nylon anoraks in flashing colors were emblazoned with a red and white striped motif that Long called “twisted slaloms,” for a bit of Italian show-off attitude, while a silk twill shirt was printed in “a blizzard of crazy puzzle graphics.” Glowing sequined intarsia and side patches gave black jersey tracksuits a jolt of acid après-ski glamour.While logos are still central to building brand identities, here Long opted for a low-key gesture, hiding the Iceberg insignia in folds zippered on pants’ sides or on sleeves’ cuffs. He also focused on a more upscale knitwear offering, mixing optical graphics and grungy elements with a much-worn feel, like unfinished hems, hanging threads, and a Mickey Mouse embroidered in faded wool on an oversize, spongy knitted cardigan.Tailoring isn’t usually a focus at Iceberg, but seeing as it is a big trend, the designer obliged, offering a sporty, personal take on the look, cutting fluid tailored pantsuits in technical fabrics accented with slalom stripes. They looked convincing and rather self-assured, much like the rest of the collection.
19 December 2018
The courtyard of the old palazzo where Iceberg staged its coed Spring show boasted a display of flamboyant, high-gloss-epoxy-painted vintage race cars. The expensive-looking fleet of Jaguars, Maseratis, Alfa Romeos, and Porsches were all part of the private vintage collection of the Gerani family, Iceberg’s owners. Their lifestyle of fast cars and motorbikes is typical of a certain area of the Italian Emilia-Romagna region, where the label’s factory is located and which is known as a popular center of racing competitions. Creative director James Long was clearly fascinated, and had the collection revolving around the rather testosterone-driven hot rods.A parade of tough-looking would-be racers wearing zippered sporty jumpsuits or tracksuits in endless variations stormed the runway, cheered by a raucous posse of local rappers. The zippers often opened to reveal knitted glossy-color sweaters, where the Iceberg logo was slashed and reworked in a riot of reassembled fonts and graphics. The girls sported an equally fierce attitude, wearing sexy pleated skirts with lacquered logoed panels or leather race suits embroidered with sparkling sequins.The show had an assertive vibe; James Long is doing well at Iceberg, revitalizing the label’s heritage with energetic irreverence and a clever understanding of the house’s codes. Yet the collection, though cohesive, would’ve benefited from a tighter, more compact edit; such a strong, fast and furious message would’ve been better served in a less diluted version.
21 September 2018
This 1974-vintage, original knit-wit label has cut itself adrift from Italy. Under the creative directorship of James Long, tonight Iceberg presented its first show on the London menswear schedule. Right place, right time, right man, right brand.Iceberg was the original proponent of athleisure, back in the days when “athleisure” was a portmanteau undreamed of. After some conceptually sincere but in reality pretty painful reboots, Long seems the perfect person to add—dreadful-word alert—authenticity. Using his natural traits, evident when he ran his own label, of both arch wittiness and sincere geekiness, Long put Iceberg’s heritage logos, cartoon graphics, and knitwear expertise into his creative tumble dryer. What came out was a mashed-up jambalaya of a collection that mixed a multitude of semi-literal sportswear references (moto pants, soccer shirts, manager coats) with graphics sourced viaPink Pantherand Schultz (but redrawn, with approval, by Long) and a mammoth dose of logomania. The frayed, logo-paneled jeans at the end were supposed to represent the results of a horrendous crash, but in fact this was a collection that navigated serenely through many obstacles. Mix a tailored-jacket body with stadium-jacket arms? Check. Redesign the track pant via a back-fastened drawstring and angled zippered pockets? Totally. Link almost every piece—from the knit-sock Resort mid-calf booties for women to the coated knit panels in the bags—to Iceberg’s defining specialism? For sure.Iceberg may have been 500-ish miles from home, but there was a neon urgency to many of the pieces, the excellent sneakers especially, that harked back to its roots in Rimini—font of the ’90s Italian house scene. Front of house PR Ella Dror, a fearsomely connected force of nature in nu-London, had called in many of her new-gen music contacts, all way, way cool. They, in turn, knew completelynadaabout Iceberg’s history, but there was palpable love in the room for a collection that took the notion of heritage streetwear and ran brilliantly with it. Withauthenticity.
9 June 2018
This 1974-vintage, original knit-wit label has cut itself adrift from Italy. Under the creative directorship of James Long, tonight Iceberg presented its first show on the London menswear schedule. Right place, right time, right man, right brand.Iceberg was the original proponent of athleisure, back in the days when “athleisure” was a portmanteau undreamed of. After some conceptually sincere but in reality pretty painful reboots, Long seems the perfect person to add—dreadful-word alert—authenticity. Using his natural traits, evident when he ran his own label, of both arch wittiness and sincere geekiness, Long put Iceberg’s heritage logos, cartoon graphics, and knitwear expertise into his creative tumble dryer. What came out was a mashed-up jambalaya of a collection that mixed a multitude of semi-literal sportswear references (moto pants, soccer shirts, manager coats) with graphics sourced viaPink Pantherand Schultz (but redrawn, with approval, by Long) and a mammoth dose of logomania. The frayed, logo-paneled jeans at the end were supposed to represent the results of a horrendous crash, but in fact this was a collection that navigated serenely through many obstacles. Mix a tailored-jacket body with stadium-jacket arms? Check. Redesign the track pant via a back-fastened drawstring and angled zippered pockets? Totally. Link almost every piece—from the knit-sock Resort mid-calf booties for women to the coated knit panels in the bags—to Iceberg’s defining specialism? For sure.Iceberg may have been 500-ish miles from home, but there was a neon urgency to many of the pieces, the excellent sneakers especially, that harked back to its roots in Rimini—font of the ’90s Italian house scene. Front of house PR Ella Dror, a fearsomely connected force of nature in nu-London, had called in many of her new-gen music contacts, all way, way cool. They, in turn, knew completelynadaabout Iceberg’s history, but there was palpable love in the room for a collection that took the notion of heritage streetwear and ran brilliantly with it. Withauthenticity.
9 June 2018
James Long, Iceberg’s creative director, decided to stage his coed Fall collection in the streets of Milan. Unafraid of the rain (“I’m from London, we know rain,” he declared), he had the performance start with an impromptu open-air catwalk show chez Il Salumaio, possibly the poshest restaurant of Milan’s so-called Quadrilatero della Moda, one of the world’s most expensive stretches of retail space. Then, the fashion brigade ventured down Via Montenapoleone, later touching Milanese tourist milestones like Piazza Duomo, and ending in the historical Piazza Castello. People along the way went crazy. “When I was planning the event, I thought:[This] could be the start or the end of my career,” mused the designer. No need to worry; it was a success.Long has brought London’s punky vibe to Iceberg; he’s reworking the label’s logos and cartoon imagery—Mickey Mouse, Wile E. Coyote, and Road Runner included—injecting his explosive mash-up aesthetic into sporty-inspired staples. Intarsia multi-logo jackets and parkas, often rubberized or coated with a plasticized layer, had oversize proportions. A touch of reworked, patch-worked, and hybridized knitwear was a sort offil rougeof the collection. It was added to everything from biker jackets to chunky sweaters.The irreverent spirit the designer is bringing about was apparent in a massive nylon parka, where an attached intarsia-knit blanket had a rave feel to it, while an Aran sweater looked as if it had been shredded to pieces and then resuscitated in a new incarnation, mixed with paillettes, Lurex, and chenille, then glossed with a shiny lacquered coating. It looked pretty great.
25 February 2018
James Long, Iceberg’s new creative director, has adopted a mash-up technique to give the Italian label a much needed jolt of cool. “I juxtaposed masculine and feminine and then put some glamour on top; I split the logo apart, then added a punk vibe,” he said after presenting his Pre-Fall collection. “It’s a London-Milan grungy machine. I’m throwing everything in the sink; either it works or it’s a complete disaster!”Long, who is British, is recalibrating Iceberg, adding an elevated fashion element to its casualwear roots. Let’s call the results glamorized but utilitarian sportswear, tinged with ’80s pop references. Iceberg’s archives are bursting with the cartoon graphics that have long been its most significant visual trait, and Long explored them with evident relish. ResuscitatingTom and Jerry,he abstracted the characters’ outlines and slapped them on the back of wool sweaters, exposing raw threads or using an inside-out knitting technique. Different pyrotechnics were applied to Iceberg’s logo, which appeared on patchwork puffa jackets in high-gloss silver nylon or on intarsia knitted sweaters in block colors.A sporty street vibe permeated the lineup. Outerwear had impact, yet feminine elements gave a gentle feel to the confident look. Plissé skirts with striped lateral panels complemented zippered anoraks; Lurex lent a luxe ’70s flair to ribbed turtlenecks; and see-through black lace added a naughty feel to boyfriend sweaters. All of it made for a cohesive collection, one that Long seemed to have a jolly good time making.
24 January 2018
James Long, Iceberg’s new creative director, strongly believes that the mix between punky, disruptive British cool and polished Italian edge is a marriage made in heaven. Um . . . really? It certainly sounds a bit provocative, which is expected of the unconventional Long. Yet looking at the men’s collection he presented in the showroom, one had to admit that the combination actually worked.The designer seems to really understand what Iceberg’s stylistic codes are all about; he responded to them with a kind of twisted freshness. Long is fascinated by the endless possibilities that the company’s production techniques can provide. Case in point was the treatment he gave Iceberg’s logo and the Tom and Jerry cartoons that were ’80s trademarks. “I split them apart; I threw them away, then put them all back together,” he said, laughing. “It’s a bit of a punky proceeding.”The mash-up technique that is becoming the designer’s modus operandi is what gave the collection its strong modern appeal. Rooted in elevated casualwear, it was injected with a hip streetwear vibe, then polished up with a touch of luxe, thanks to impeccable construction. Big puffa bombers and oversize hooded cagoules were patchworked with a mix of quilted leather, high-gloss nylon, and knitted intarsias, then spruced up with army details and vintage patches, studs, and stitches. Even if it sounds bombastic, it looked pretty fabulous.Logos and cartoons were given the same explosive treatment. It made for an irreverent take on traditional Italian casualwear; it felt fresh, cohesive, fun. “Sometimes London just takes over,” said Long.
19 January 2018
Hung on the walls of Iceberg’s showroom, Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani’s advertising images from the ’80s exude the same groundbreaking appeal they held at that time they were made—as strong and modern as if they were shot today. The portraits are set against a simple background with stark, beautiful lighting; and the subjects wear Iceberg’s color-blocked oversize jumpers and big-shouldered, wide-collared jackets. The likes of Andy Warhol, Vivienne Westwood, and Iceberg’s designer at the time Jean-Charles de Castelbajac were lensed alongside designer Franco Moschino, illustrator Tony Viramontes, visionary Elio Fiorucci, art director Terry Jones, and the artist Mimmo Paladino. It’s a regular ’80s hall of fame.James Long, Iceberg’s London-based creative director of menswear and womenswear, joined the label last September, and the ’80s references clearly appeal to him. “I’m searching for the label’s authenticity,” he said. “To make it relevant for today, I’m playing around a sportswear-de-luxe concept injected with a ragged London twist. A little punky vibe!” To make his point, he put his own spin to the Mickey Mouse image that is one of the label’s trademarks, embroidering or printing it on everything from knits to outerwear. He sketched a new version himself, “so I know for a fact that no one else can do it the same way,” he laughed.For all the raw British edges that Long would like to bring about, the collection has a polish that feels very Italian. The designer is taking full advantage of the craftsmanship and the industrial prowess that Iceberg can provide, infusing the lineup with the sort of accurate detailing and perfect execution that elevates a casual look with a more luxurious appeal. He treated knitwear as a fabric, and mixed different materials like canvas, leather, and nylon into functional and practical pieces with a cool edge. The ‘80s vibe was apparent in the oversize boxy proportions, in the colorblock palette, and in the profusion of logos—macro and micro—emblazoning tracksuits, hoodies, and sweatshirts; treated as appliqués, tone-on-tone ribbons, and lettering; or inspired by archival denim patches and printed in nylon bombers. “I like a loud, screaming logo,” said Long. “It says that you’re proud to be part of the label’s tribe.”
5 July 2017
Iceberg’s reset button has been hit again; James Long, the label’s London-based menswear designer, was recently appointed womenswear creative director, succeeding the Austrian Arthur Arbesser. Pre-Fall was the first collection in his new role, which will be followed in February by a show of both lines during New York Fashion Week. “It’s a new chapter,” said the designer.Iceberg has a substantial knitwear archive, thanks mainly to the genial pop imagery envisioned in the past by Jean-Charles de Castelbajac. “Of course I’d like to celebrate its spirit, the cartoons, and the sporty vibe. Yet I’m trying to add true Italian sophistication and luxe, not turning the imagery into a joke,” said Long, whose homage to De Castelbajac was injected with a distinctive punky edge stirred with a quite glamorous Hollywood feel.The choice of Catwoman as the main character for cartoon prints and knits tellingly refers to Long’s penchant for sexy, powerful women. Yet he’s not thinking of abstract muses when designing a collection: “I have real people in mind, not a fantasy,” he explained, pointing to an oversize scarlet knitted cardigan with fringed details with a smiling Catwoman on its front. Worn with a striped skirt with an asymmetrical hem, it made for a feminine look with a slightly provocative tilt.Long is known for a certain flamboyance, which he kept in check here; yet Lurex, which he has often used in his menswear line, added sparkle to sporty multicolor striped sweaters emblazoned with the Iceberg logo. Elsewhere it came knitted into geometric motifs on a luxe tracksuit, highlighting the lineup’s sportswear flair. Denim was stonewashed and distressed, yet lavishly splattered with glittering stars that added a touch of pop Hollywood Boulevard–inspired appeal. Paired with a short jacket printed with black and white comics offset by bright colors, the look was sleek with a dash of fun. Long’s stance seems likely to giving the label the jolt of energy it needs; his ebullient, irreverent style could be further refined by the exacting production techniques that Gilmar, Iceberg’s Italian owner, can provide. “The quality of what they’re able to achieve is amazing. Their headquarters are so pristine and efficient, they look like a Stanley Kubrick movie,” Long said in admiration.
21 December 2016
Many are the Milan runways that have featured a logo this week. The fact that we’ve entered a new Instagram-fueled age of logomania is as clear asGucciGhost’s spray-painted double Gs. Arthur Arbesser, now in his second season at Iceberg, went big with logos, too. On the one hand, logos are the obvious thing to do when everyone else is showing them, but on the other, it’s a risk for Arbesser. Iceberg is a different kind of label than Gucci, with less international cache. On the whole, though, the risk paid off. Printed in a bold font across the front of turtlenecks and wrapping around the hem of a sleeping bag coat, the logos delivered a graphic punch. It isn’t a stretch to picture them on the street next season; they’ll help Arbesser raise the profile of this mid-tier Italian brand.It’s some distance from Gucci levels of recognition, of course, but Arbesser has a few things going for him. A long tenure atGiorgio Armanitaught him the ins and outs of working for the man. That’s important. He launched his own passion project eponymous brand a year or so before he landed at Iceberg, which probably frees him up to think fairly commercially here. That’s a plus too. And you can’t underestimate the value of a supportive local crowd.Arbesser’s collection for Fall had a zippy, streetwise sensibility, starting from the models’ square-toe loafers. Beyond those logo knits, the best pieces were the sleeping bag coats, one red and sleeveless and the other black with another can’t-miss-it logo below the knees. Next in line were the patent leather peacoats. Grids and squares were the dominant motif, modeled after Superstudio, an architecture group founded in Florence in the mid-’60s. Arbesser sometimes overdid it, as in the case of a pair of checkerboard patchwork fur pants. Fur pants are rarely a good idea. But the opening series of looks with small squares bopping around like a Tetris game channeled Arbesser’s energy in a positive way.
26 February 2016
Last summer,Arthur Arbesser, the Austrian designer recently appointedIceberg’screative director, went on holiday to the Greek island of Hydra. There he met with Polish artist Goshka Macuga, who was a Turner Prize nominee in 2008. Her installations revolve around obsessive, almost investigative historical research. In person she’s quite a quirky character, boasting an odd fashion sense—think: a ’70s Eastern bloc, bordering-on-the-derelict kind of aesthetic, with a dash of luxe vintage thrown in for good measure. Arbesser was instantly smitten.“I like her sense of humor,” said the designer of Macuga, who inspired his first Pre-Fall collection for the brand. “The past is her canvas, from where she creates a new, modern vision. Her work is very conceptual, but she’s the funniest person, full of irony and joie de vivre. This is what I’m trying to do at Iceberg, capture its spirit of lightness and fun, yet filter it through my Nordic, more abstract sensibility.”Iceberg, an Italian brand in need of resurrection, was quite well-known in the ’80s for its sporty, practical knitwear. A string of talented designers worked on its collections, the most remarkable being Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, a French aristocrat with a penchant for art and an obsession with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and all sorts of Disney characters, which he replicated in blown-out proportions on jumbo Technicolor sweaters. “Let’s say that Felix the Cat is not exactly my cup of tea,” said Arbesser, alluding to Iceberg’s archive. “But I do like to keep a sense of fun in the brand,” he added, pointing out a lineup of streamlined separates: fitted sweaters, tube dresses in diamond patterns and vibrant hues, and high-waisted pants with a ’70s vintage vibe. These were complemented by parkas and faux-fur coats for comfort and protection. As for Mickey, there he was, still grinning but reduced to a graphic motif on a black-and-gray-striped oversize minidress.
20 January 2016
The guard has changed atIceberg. Young Vienna-born, Milan-based Arthur Arbesser, freshly installed as the label’s womenswear designer, was front row (or, at least, front of the jostling crowd) at the first men’s collection by new menswear designer, Londoner James Long. Long may not speak Italian, but he’s got the visual language down pat. His debut amounted to the peppiest, poppiest Iceberg men’s presentation in years and was a fitting follow-up to Arbesser’s well-received September showing in terms of brand revival.Long spouted off plenty about roots and codes, the new descriptive vocabulary of choice of any designer working for any label, including his or her own. But really what Long did was look back at Iceberg’s start in 1974, grab the rainbow-color triangle logo its first designer, Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, came up with, and run with it.There was an easy athleticism to this collection. “Iceberg is luxury sportswear,” stated Long, wearing a silky rayon bomber emblazoned with that rainbow emblem. Bombers formed the core of the stuff sported by the models, atop techy Iceberg-branded sneakerlike scuba socks and with army surplus knit combat pants or knit track pants in between. Each piece incorporated some kind of knit, in rainbow-striped panels or ribbing. Much of it was reversible. The models wound up resembling a mid-’70s Olympic team from some obscure, outlying nation, in their bobsled-ready multicolored knits and nylon track pants.One section was patterned with Mickey Mouse scrawls, based on a hand-drawing by De Castelbajac that had been redrawn by Long. “I felt it was important it had my hand in there,” Long said. In turn, the design was refracted through the artwork of the label’s founders, Silvio and Giuliana Gerani. They’re avid Pop Art collectors, so we got a knit Mickey via Bridget Riley stripes, and another à la Andy Warhol, obviously.After a messy, overworked show under his own label in London that, unfortunately, pulled a bigger crowd than usual thanks to the Iceberg gig, Long was on best behavior. Maybe the aim was to prove that he, still a relatively unknown niche London name new to the Italian fashion establishment, was up to the job. If so, it worked.
16 January 2016
Iceberg has seen a long list of designers come and go over the years. Jean-Charles de Castelbajac,Marc Jacobs, the Dsquared2 brothers, andGiambattista Vallihave all held the top post. Alexis Martial was the most recent recruit until he graduated to Carven earlier this year. NowArthur Arbesser, who launched his own label a few seasons ago, has assumed the role, and it’s a sign of his buzz factor, and Milan’s growing enthusiasm for nurturing local talent, that the turnout in the front row was the best it has been at Iceberg in recent memory.“I feel quite honored and happy to be here,” Arbesser said backstage, “but at the same time I feel [the line] needs a good injection of fun and energy. And a clear message.” He certainly brought zest to the endeavor this afternoon, embracing the brand’s heritage in knits and not skimping on color or pattern either. The “bonkers” work of the Italian artist Enrico Baj was a jumping-off point, informing the bold print on a silk dress and the plastic badges pinned to the chest of some pieces, creating a loose, sort of military vibe. But the knits are what really resonated. With their preppy-psychedelic sensibility and body-conscious fit, they’ll be catnip for the street style posse. They’ll also be a pleasure to wear, which will make them attractive to more restrained types, too. It will be interesting to see what Arbesser does for Fall, when he can really have a go at sweater dressing. We expect to see an even bigger crowd at round two.
25 September 2015
"I think it's time to bring fashion closer to reality, a tangible reality," Federico Curradi said during the Iceberg presentation, which was held again in a magnificent Milanese palazzo. The non-show format suits him. Worn by models standing still on a giant podium made of books piled one on top of the other, the collection was a captivating exercise in progressive nostalgia. The analogue '70s were referenced in the rusty, earthy, and organic color palette, as well as in a few shapes and details—straight leather blousons, striped jumpers. But it was just a distant echo, more a hint than a faithful reproduction. Curradi is not a designer prone to homage. Rather, he said, he was interested in "the radicalism and organic intellectualism of a unique time in Italian culture."There was something raw and conceptual, in an Arte Povera kind of way, in both the setup and the clothes. Curradi claimed inspiration from Michelangelo Antonioni'sZabriskie Point, which depicted the highs and the contradictions of radical culture, and whose striking scenes were painterly amalgamations of desert hues. A stain pattern—think action painting explosion—looked particularly appealing printed on a satin bomber. It was created by Curradi to mimic the explosion that closes the movie."What I am drawn to," Curradi said, "is the idea of working with something that you can smell, touch, manipulate. The virtuality of our digital world is a nightmare." This writer agrees.
20 June 2015
Alexis Martial's work for Iceberg has been aerodynamic since he arrived at the Italian brand, but this season it felt particularly streamlined. So it wasn't much of a surprise to hear that he was looking at aviator gear and the graphic design of airplanes themselves for inspiration. Martial refrained from showing anything quite so obvious as an MA-1 flight jacket. Instead, his variations came cropped and fitted in multicolored intarsias of shearling, or elongated to the knee in color-blocked nylon with ribbed-knit collars. The connections between the airport landing strips on his mood board and the graphic sweatshirts that came down the runway with his signature high-waisted pants were obvious. On the surface, at least, orchid prints had less to do with the aviator women he was talking about backstage, but they had little of the saccharine sensibility that floral motifs often do, which was a good thing.Martial is a precise, considered designer with a consistent point of view, and as he's settled in at Iceberg, his clothes have gotten progressively more ready for their real-life close-ups. There were none of the stiff, spongy fabrics he favored at the beginning of his stint, for example. The rumors going around have Martial, who is French and a former assistant to Riccardo Tisci (though his aesthetic is more Nicolas Ghesquière-inclined), heading to Paris for the Carven job. It was left vacant when Guillaume Henry departed for Nina Ricci. If it's true, Martial will be missed. In his four seasons here he's given Iceberg a distinctive look and attitude.
27 February 2015
Whoever said that skipping the catwalk show in favor of a presentation is akin to a downsizing? That's the general perception in the fashion world, where appearance trumps substance by default, but it was not the case for Federico Curradi, whose Iceberg collection greatly benefited from the lack of runway action. The presentation was held in a magnificent Milanese palazzo, which was a joy in itself with its wrought stuccos and painterly mosaics. This was the first time Curradi has chosen to stage a presentation, and it was a smart move, bringing the audience close to the clothes, with the option to touch them. In contrast, Iceberg's previous shows under Curradi's tenure had a militaristic, urban tone that was occasionally slightly off-putting. Perhaps he has finally found his own stylistic balance for the house, highlighted by the tight final edit.Everything looked cozy, intimate, and tactile. Curradi worked almost solely with knitwear—which is Iceberg's main area of expertise—creating his own melting textures in richly dense colors by mixing yarns and treatments. Even outerwear was knitted instead of woven. "With knit, you need to appreciate things up close," he said.If the collection's starting point—a Japanese person in Williamsburg, Brooklyn—was a tad random, and the mix of Edo art and Pop Art little more than an excuse, the result was nonetheless outstanding. Loose volumes influenced by both kimonos and workwear produced some interesting hybrids, and the idiosyncratic color palette derived from the art of Jean-Michel Basquiat felt new and sophisticated. Working with just a handful of elements, Curradi looked focused and inspired, bringing excitement back to Iceberg. Let's hope he keeps the new format; it clearly suits him.
17 January 2015
Something about California is super captivating to the French. There's even a popular T-shirt about the phenomenon: "Je pars habiter à Los Angeles," it reads. The slogan isn't Alexis Martial's creation (that honor belongs to L.A. local and designer Jasmin Shokrian), but it could've come from his brain this season. The Iceberg creative director was inspired by Southern California—the intense colors, its seedy strip malls, the people's obsession with being physically fit. It made for his best collection yet for Iceberg: confident and vivid and, thanks to the sport influences, easy to wear.The silhouette was narrow and lean, with belts perched high on the waist to elongate the legs. It hasn't been a notable week for pants in Milan, so Martial's stood out—note the high rise, the double pleats, and the Iceberg logo on the turned-up cuffs. He paired them with collaged print snap-front shirts, pinstripe baseball jerseys, or sexy little tops that bared the shoulders and most of the back. As for skirts, they were mini and A-line or curvier with asymmetrical hems.Iceberg has a history of using comic strip characters on its sweaters. Martial smartly swapped them out for a logo sweatshirt in a video game font and novelty knits that could've been poking fun at SoCal's health food freaks. The dragon fruit sweaters don't bear too much analysis. Neither does a series of chiffon pieces with appliqués that look like a school kid's sticker collection. But that doesn't mean they weren't a kick.
19 September 2014
One must see it from all sides before coming to any conclusions about Iceberg's Spring 2015 collection. Nearly every look included a print of some sort—marbled tie-dye, exploded plumes of colorful paint, collaged patches of abstract prints—sometimes appearing covertly, as on the back of an otherwise perfectly regular MA-1 flight jacket.Nature was the theme here, according to the press release, but designer Federico Curradi didn't entirely nail it. The fabrics, surprisingly, were all natural. Why surprisingly? Because much of the cotton, wool, silk, and linen had been treated to look synthetic. There was an outdoorsy vibe, but it was more delinquent mountaineer than nature boy. Drawcords cinched just about every opening, including, strangely, shorts hems and sleeve cuffs. An anorak came adorned with patches reminiscent of the popular North Face fleeces of the nineties. Boot gaiters even made an appearance.When the collection didn't veer toward the superfluous, there were moments that were eye-catching enough without the extraneous details. The roomy, pleated trousers and shorts looked modern and cool. The paneled parka with zip-off mid-length waist piece was inventive and tech in just the right way. It would have been nice to see more clothes like that.
21 June 2014
"In the late sixties, Parisian high society escapes to the mountains for an acid moonlight party getaway." As setups go, Alexis Martial's for Iceberg this season ranked high on the weirdness scale. And true to his press release, there were ideas both space age and spacey on the runway today. The transparent plastic rectangles that decorated a few of the designer's sweatshirts come to mind—those definitely weren't washing machine safe. Slightly less odd, but still somewhat superfluous, were the transparent chiffon overlays he added to simple knits.As Martial gains experience and confidence, he'll learn to pare down such runway tricks. Anyway, most of his knits were plenty interesting on their own. We liked the roll-neck ribbed pullover and wrap dress in navy. Chunky sweaters treated with a crinkly silver foil, like an astronaut's space suit, were even better. Iceberg's foundation is knitwear, so the fact that Martial is so handy in this area counts for a lot. But his real talent just might be tailoring. The mod jackets and pants looked timely and sharp, despite the fact that they were cut from spongy neoprene-bonded fabrics. As Martial gets situated at Iceberg, what we're really looking forward to seeing are more of his suits.
20 February 2014
Putting poppies and spacecrafts in the same collection would not be anyone's idea of obvious. As the two main motifs in Alexis Martial's second outing for Iceberg, they represented diametrically opposite ways to explore seventies tropes: one, feminine and free-spirited; the other, retro modern. The real story, however, took shape in Martial's unconventional way of recombining classics. His skirts, for instance, were an asymmetric merger of handkerchief and accordion pleat. His turtleneck knits were capped with a quilted yoke. Trimmed in fox fur or offered in nylon, his extra-long zip hoodies assumed new responsibility as outerwear.Despite his best intentions, the designer didn't always make a splash. His near-obsessive use of neoprene felt fresh when double-faced with knit; formed into a blazer, the material remained more constricting than a space suit. Multicolored python belts, glossy patent plackets, and Rainbow Brite shearling collars made clear that Martial can think like a stylist. But the spaceship appliqués took a wrong turn along the way from young boy's universe into high-fashion space. He need not try so hard to convince us that he can navigate contemporary Italian terra firma. The simply striped ski sweaters and salt-and-pepper tweeds seemed to make this point cleanly and without compromise.
19 January 2014
Milan is in need of heroics. That message came through loud and clear from the number of menswear designers in the city who spoke of creating clothing for superheroes. Iceberg's Federico Curradi has the distinction of being one of the first to send up the signal—the Bat signal, in this case. His stated inspiration was Bruce Wayne. Apparently he'd been thinking of the way that the Wayne wardrobe (glen plaids and tweeds, in Curradi's version) would morph when he assumed the persona of his caped alter ego.There was an insistent techiness to all of the clothes Curradi showed, both in their fabrics (spongy neoprene for sweatshirts and shiny, nylon-looking silk/poplin blends for shirts) and in their patterns (scrambled and slashed abstractions of Wayne's plaids and tweeds). The way the designer put them together—the same print for jacket, pants, and long tunic shirt—suggested the all-of-a-kind unity of a costume or a uniform. Pulled apart, individual pieces will likely have a sporty, future-leaning feel that will make them salable propositions.Behind the runway, an animation played, showing swatches of the collection's suit-fabric patterns twisting, bubbling, and deforming to an electronic beat. Batman may be an icon along the lines of Mickey Mouse, whose face used to grace Iceberg's knits, but the real heroes of Milan might be those hardy plaids and tweeds. They can be subjected to what you will, and live to fight another day.
11 January 2014
Young designers come around so infrequently in Milan that when one does emerge, it's cause for celebration. Even better is when they arrive with credentials in hand, like Alexis Martial, the newly installed creative director at Iceberg, who worked under Riccardo Tisci at Givenchy for five years. The Frenchman's new role at this Italian label should go some way to raising the relevance of the brand, which has lacked a strong point of view. "I wanted to turn the page," he said backstage, going on to explain his story line for Spring: "It's a Boy Scout on a dreamed visit to Tokyo."Well, that's different. But Martial balanced the quirk with good business sense. Having witnessed the phenomenon firsthand at Givenchy, he made sure to include his own versions of the designer sweatshirt. Martial's riffs on the item were influenced by manga and decorated with Japanese letters, or printed with an iceberg. Why hasn't anyone here thought of that before? Beyond the clever sweatshirts, there was an emphasis on uniform and a strong preference for high-tech fabrics. We could take or leave the newfangled plasticky knits with the chest patches, like you might see on a Scout aboard theStarship Enterprise. But there were interesting things going on toward the end with straightforward tanks and tees encircled by iridescent acetate bands, which Martial showed with nicely cut rolled-hem pants. Definitely one to watch.
19 September 2013
Something definitely felt different at Iceberg today. And that was no accident: The brand can't yet reveal the name of its new designer, but it has one, and consequently this collection exuded a fresh point of view. The designer-who-cannot-be-named took a long, hard look at the Iceberg archives and decided to focus on its historic youthful energy and specialization in knits. In combination, that added up to one genuinely fantastic item, a pair of snug knit trousers cropped ultrashort. VeryGidget Goes Thrifting,those, especially in the wavy stripe that also turned up in several of the stronger looks. The faintly sixties vibe extended to the collection's A-line minis, notable for their oversize eyelet hardware, but the emphasis was on pieces with a kind of slouchy nonchalance that felt very contemporary. Whoever that new designer is, he or she is definitely focused on making Iceberg relevant.
7 July 2013
The talk in Milan this week has been about youth. The newly restaffed Camera Moda, the Italian fashion association, convened a press conference to address the need to nurture Milanese talent. (The average age of the new governing board members is well into AARP territory, and the conference was held at 8 a.m., an hour unbeloved by the young, but never mind.) Giorgio Armani donated the use of his Teatro to the up-and-comer Andrea Pompilio, who staged his show there. And Iceberg's Paolo Gerani used the occasion to offer an announcement of his own: He was turning over his men's collection to the 37-year-old Florentine Federico Curradi, who has been consulting on the collection since 2006. Gerani will continue as Iceberg's artistic director, overseeing the collection. Iceberg, he said, "has always been very close to emerging talent," mentioning the early-career layovers there by Marc Jacobs and Giambattista Valli. He hinted that a similar announcement would be coming for the label's womenswear before long.Curradi, a veteran of Roberto Cavalli and Ermanno Scervino, said he based his inaugural show on "people who need to live in a big city, frantically and dynamically." In his hands, Iceberg took on an aerodynamic sleekness not much in evidence before. The collection did look younger, but more to the point, it betrayed an awareness of the dominant trends in menswear: a fetish for sports and sportswear, the mixing of technical and sartorial fabrics, and the elevation of casual dressing. Geometric, paneled sweatshirts and side-zip, tunic-style T-shirts paired with skinny, casual pants and slip-on mocs didn't reinvent the wheel, but they did spin it a bit faster than it has spun of late. That, cautiously, is a good sign. Currardi, who, according to a press release, lives in a house in the hills outside Florence, is now one of those people who need to live in a big city. Bring on the frantic dynamism.
22 June 2013
The Cure's hit "A Forest" played at today's Iceberg show, cuing a 1980s vibe. Big rounded shoulders, pleated leather pants, acid pastels, novelty sweaters. Iceberg's bread and butter is its knits, and this being Fall, there was a lot of variety here—not just pullovers, but also sweater dresses and cardigan coats. Some came color-blocked, others were patchworked with fur, and one was crisscrossed with leather-trimmed zippers. Turns out, the last was a replica of a sweater Jean-Charles de Castelbajac designed for an Iceberg advertising campaign in 1983. Iceberg was a big deal then, so reminding us of its knitwear roots isn't a bad plan; the sweaters were heads above those multicolor swirling prints and embroideries at the end—those were better off ignored. Still, there were other items worth calling out, notably a sharp, tailored white blazer with bold black stripes on the arms, and a color-blocked yellow, black, and tan parka with leather trim and a fur lining. Fewer extras—chokers, elbow gloves, leather sash belts, etc.—would have made this trip down memory lane feel more modern.
21 February 2013
Knits are Iceberg's stock in trade. There were plenty to choose from in the label's pre-fall lineup—a chunky ribbed sweater dress; a cute green turtleneck with three vertical stripes of black shearling down the front; graphic, color-blocked crewnecks. The center of attention was a clingy black mohair style with a little dog embroidered in sequins. The label has long put Disney characters and the like on its sweaters, but this little pup was an original sketch from the archives. It had a lot of personality. But a sense of humor, like runway tricks, only goes so far. The selling point of this Iceberg collection was its everyday usefulness.
20 January 2013
Bauhaus in the haus: Gropius group revs for revival.Imagine it on the front page of theCorriere della Serathis week. A thatch of designers in Milan (and before that, at least one in London) called up those restless spirits again. The latest medium was Iceberg. On a geometric red, yellow, and blue set, out stormed an austere brigade, the necklines of their sweaters squared, their pants cut tight, the elastic of their Chelsea boots dyed red. (Christopher Kane tried that trick a season or two back.) Among spongy, neoprene-spiked coats and sport coats colored under the lapels, the best of the bunch were the graphic sweaters—comfortably in the label's wheelhouse. Or so it seemed from the blurs as they raced by. "I wish I was a robot. I wish I could fly," barked the soundtrack. These guys did.
12 January 2013
"Part rock, part rebel, part aristo" the Iceberg show notes promised. Designer Paolo Gerani might've been conjuring the Glastonbury music festival or Ibiza or anywhere where junior members of the jet set like to congregate when the weather turns warm. There were long skirts with slits up the thigh and wide belts slung at the hips, skinny silver-dipped jeans, a blazer densely beaded in mosaic patterns. If there were echoes of Isabel Marant and Balmain in a multicolor knit baseball tee and an acid-wash denim double-breasted coat-dress, no big deal—who hasn't lifted something from those two influential runways? But a couple of missteps—the not-so-great fit of a strappy halter dress, suedes that didn't quite look aristo-rich—prevented this season's collection from living up to the full promise of its theme.
20 September 2012
Bianca Jagger, especially in her Studio 54 heyday, is a perennial fashion inspiration. Her latest turn in the spotlight comes courtesy of Iceberg's Paolo Gerani, who loosely based his Resort collection on her Me Decade style. In case the reference wasn't clear, he screened her image on an oversized T-shirt, shown as a slouchy dress. Tailoring provided the his-and-hers look that Mick and Bianca used to trot out—here, a tuxedo jacket with an appliquéd tee and long tuxedo skirt—but for the most part, the look was morefemmethanhomme. Print maxi dresses and jumpsuits left the most lingering impression.
28 June 2012
The porkpie hats perched on the models' heads at Iceberg were a clue to one of its free-floating inspirations. "We had a look to New Orleans, to the atmosphere of black music, jazz and soul," said designer Paolo Gerani backstage. "Even the color, the joy of life typical of there." The geometric knits that opened the show let out a trumpet blast of orange and blue. It was largely calmed by the sea's worth of marine blue to follow, and the soft wornness of the clothes and knits. Gerani pointed to the overdyeing, which lent everything a weathered feel, but there were also tea-stain-seeming prints and looser silhouettes to complement the mood. Of note were the ultralight, unstructured graphic suits that brought up the rear. They pointed to a certain cultural overlap otherwise unobserved: New Orleans may be only place on earth as swampy in midsummer as Milan.
24 June 2012
Iceberg's Paolo Gerani wasn't the only designer to give a shout-out to Marianne Faithfull this season. Rachel Zoe beat him to it in New York City. In fact, they sent out nearly matching outfits: white pantsuits with black shirts, and black long-hair goat jackets tossed over the shoulders. Somewhere there must be a picture…45 years on, the rock chick turned singer-songwriter's image still holds a mystique, despite countless comeback tours and a long-playing revival at the hands of Balmain's Christophe Decarnin.Parts of Iceberg's Fall show felt like Balmain-lite—the disheveled sexy look, minus the couture-quality workmanship, could be seen in the sequin numbers, the sharp, lapel-less jackets, and the second-skin leather pants riding low on the hips. Where Gerani put the Iceberg stamp on things was with the knitwear. There were sweaters here that will give shoppers a reason to go into the label's stores, starting with look number 1, a long-sleeved clingy dress in black and ivory shot through with gold. Crewnecks in bright intarsias looked fresh, too, as did the little furs that echoed them with their multicolor patterns.
23 February 2012
ModernModern Times. As it was in the thirties of the Charlie Chaplin original, the global situation's a little bleak. But while the ongoing financial crisis has snapped many designers in Milan this week to crisply suited attention, at Iceberg, things were a bit more rumpled. The collection mixed English traditional suiting, like tweeds and Prince of Wales checks with workingman's clothes, and put the whole through the wash. Everything slouched, but nattily. Scattered accents of gold, like the band on a colorblocked sweater or the embossed print of the Little Tramp's face on a T-shirt, lent a note of glam.
15 January 2012
Paolo Gerani's notes claimed Charlotte Rampling's "contemporary alternative lifestyle" as inspiration for Spring. What the 60-something actress had to do with the proceedings at Iceberg today is a bit of a puzzler. Gerani's thinking didn't become much clearer when the clothes hit the runway, although he did position himself in the midst of some current trends. First, the sport-chic mix: Stretchy bandeau tops were the glue that held the collection together. He layered them underneath everything from boxy, open-weave sweaters paired with silk cargos to a black and white cocktail dress with a mesh panel at the bodice. Paillettes were another essential motif. They covered the entirety of a waistcoat worn with a black silk shorts suit and, less successfully, decorated portions of slouchy utility jackets. Gerani checked oversize florals off the list, too. A daisy-appliquéd crewneck looked sweet with a pencil skirt in the same print. Sweaters are an important business for Iceberg. You couldn't be sure if the intarsia knit dress with a woman's face on the front was meant to be Rampling back in the day, but it will certainly have more hanger appeal than the bulky, braided multicolor ribbon pullovers and skirts.The strongest pieces, not unlike last season, were those that were tailored. Oversize silk tuxedo shirts with beaded bibs that Gerani showed with shorts looked like an outfit you'd see in the front row. Hammered satin suits in mismatched colors also had a confident, bold appeal.
22 September 2011
Iceberg built its business on knitwear, and based on its Resort collection, we'd say the Italian label hasn't lost its groove when it comes to sweaters. Case in point: the oversize, sunny yellow cashmere pullover with a can't-miss giant Mickey Mouse face covered in crystals. If it sounds almost gaudy, it was surprisingly fun when styled with scrunched up sleeves, a wrap-effect pencil skirt, and double T-strap pumps. It's hard to compete with Mickey, though, and the rest of the lineup faded into the background with the exception of the evening looks. One long gown had a twisted halter neck, copper beading, and a high slit for a hint of sex appeal, while a tuxedo jumpsuit brought the label's casual sportswear approach to after-hours dressing. Going forward, more of this would be welcome.
30 June 2011
Today's Iceberg show, like some others in Milan this weekend, was dedicated to artists and bohemians. The models, many with scruffy beards and long hair gathered in top knots, paraded out in a series of deconstructed looks in shades of gray and pale blue. Jackets had the ease of knits, tops came with deep Vs, and trousers were turned up to reveal a few inches of ankle above casual suede oxfords. The dangling colored ribbons attached to the inner lapel of a couple of jackets were the only concessions to the dandyism spoken of in the program notes. Otherwise, things didn't deviate from Iceberg's stock in trade of easy sportswear.
19 June 2011
On the last big day of Milan fashion week, the trends are coming into focus. The big stories here are the sixties, the boy/girl mix, and surface interest. Iceberg's Paolo Gerani nailed two out of three—not bad, but not entirely good, either. As she has on so many other runways this season, the model Arizona Muse kicked things off. The outfit: a gray tweed pantsuit tricked out with contrast trim on the pockets and a popped collar, the underside of which was embroidered with cabochon stones. Tapered and cropped above the ankle, her pants came in the season's essential new shape. Toward the end of the show, Muse appeared again, this time in a charcoal suit layered over a white T-shirt embroidered Pearly King style in turquoise-colored baubles. That was just one of the surface treatments Gerani sampled. Also in the lineup: beaded flowers, shaggy knits, patchworked furs, Mongolian lamb, and shearlings, not to mention more of that Pearly embroidery, but in white on black. As one idea after another came out, we kept returning in our head to the elegant simplicity of that first pantsuit.
27 February 2011
There's a bit of a Brit thing happening in Milan. The classic fabrics of English tailoring—houndstooth, herringbone, Prince of Wales check—are being taken out for an airing time and again. They opened the show atIceberg, as soft, unlined cashmere coats and jackets, flapping over tweed trousers and long, layered cardigans.But if the show began in old England, it quickly headed south. Paolo Gerani's professed theme was gauchos, or make that their contemporary descendants, who "rather than roam the vast pampas now wander the streets of Tokyo, Berlin, New York on modern bicycles." The gaucho's draped blanket poncho became the basis for striped outerwear knits. That exotic note—plus the almost uniformly gray-ish palette—placed the clothes at a remove from much of what we've seen of Fall 2011 so far. But as such things go, they had a nubby, rough-hewn charm. Or at least as rough as cashmere gets.
16 January 2011
Paolo Gerani and his new design team have traded in Hitchcock blondes for muses a little closer to home—Lauren Hutton, Faye Dunaway, and Farrah Fawcett, all of whom starred in the ad campaigns Oliviero Toscani lensed for Iceberg in the late seventies. That meant there was a pretty big disconnect between last season and this one, but it landed the label smack-dab in the middle of things in Milan, which is never a bad place to be.What was good: the fact that Gerani and company's take on fashion's favorite decade was more impressionistic than literal. Oversize men's blazers with pushed-up sleeves, a sea blue cotton jumpsuit with embroidered straps, silk button-downs tucked into A-line skirts—we've seen enough of this sort of thing lately for it to have shed its retro associations. But with so many labels all over the price spectrum doing the seventies, which elements provided a compelling reason for shoppers to seek out Iceberg next spring? Not the beaded and feathered macramé tanks and scarf tops. Simpler was better here, and there was nothing simpler or better in this collection than a faded denim elastic-waist dress.
26 September 2010
For Spring 2011, Iceberg creative director Paolo Gerani took the classic children's taleThe Little Princeas his inspiration, mining that book's proto-environmentalism for a collection that touched on themes of decay and renewal. Gerani created a backdrop from an undulating wall of cardboard, like a giant abandoned filing system, that suggested the kind of repurposing you might see in the slums of Lagos or Rio. (The association was strengthened by the techno world music accompaniment of the Chemical Brothers' "Galvanize" on the soundtrack.)The designer showed knitwear that looked old, burned, and holey; T-shirts decorated with duct tape; a shearling that could have been rescued from a bin; and distressed footwear. He also worked the recycling theme in sweatshirt material reconfigured as a tailored jacket/bomber hybrid and as a blazer with a baseball jacket's sleeves. Pinstriped silk pants with an elasticated ankle felt like they'd been pajamas in a former life. Two pristine blousons in green leather, meanwhile, evoked growth and rebirth.
21 June 2010
There was a marked change for the better at Iceberg this season, and we have Alfred Hitchcock to thank. Taking cues from the early-sixties costumes of his icy blonde movie heroines Kim Novak and Tippi Hedren, the collection had picnic-blanket-check blouses worn with calf-length pencil skirts, long ribbed cardigans topping ankle-cropped pants, and tailored coats in menswear checks and plaids with Mongolian lamb collars. Those men's shirts were worn suspended from the shoulders with a black ribbon and could've come from the wardrobes of the Hollywood director's dapper leading men.Iceberg didn't break any new ground here, of course-—Hitchcock has long been a favorite with designers. Still, the collection looked more right for today than usual, thanks to the slightly oversize and slouchy shapes, and those hits of fur here and there. If knit sweaters and tanks with missing backs lost the plot, there was a lot here that looked destined for success on the selling floor.
27 February 2010
Style.com did not review the Fall 2010 menswear collections. Please enjoy the photos, and stay tuned for our complete coverage of the Spring 2011 collections, including reviews of each show by Tim Blanks.
18 January 2010
The theme of Iceberg's Spring collection? Mickey Mouse on safari. The cartoon mice that appeared as emblems on loosely knit sweaters and as a jacquard on a miniskirt seemed to please the children in the Saturday afternoon audience tremendously, but how a grown woman might rationalize such a purchase isn't quite clear. And as for the mouse-ear shoulders on coats and jackets, they were too close to the Dolce & Gabbana collection of a year ago not to notice.The safari portion of the show, on the other hand, produced some viable pieces. Epauleted coat-dresses in black or olive drab linen looked sharp and gimmick-free, and leopard-print camouflage dresses had a slinky vibe. A cropped, fitted jacket laced together from squares of leather was cool, too. The takeaway: Next time, skip the kids' stuff.
25 September 2009
Style.com did not review the Spring 2010 menswear collections. Please enjoy the photos, and stay tuned for our complete coverage of the Spring 2011 collections, including reviews of each show by Tim Blanks.
22 June 2009
Iceberg's Paolo Gerani can be counted on to nail the trends. Volume, fur, chunky knits, neons—he had them all, plus the season's glossy red lips for good measure. But wearability too often seemed like an afterthought at his Fall show. A hot pink heavy-gauge cable-knit sweater topping a black python-stamped stretchy skirt is one thing, but a strapless dress made of the stuff isn't likely to go over with this collection's target audience of lithe young party types—can you picture dancing in the thing?What worked were the more body-conscious looks, like a purple jersey number inset at the waist with an hourglass-enhancing panel of black quilting. The Robert IndianaLOVEsculpture intarsia sweater dresses, meanwhile, made a clever follow-up to last season's Jeff Koons prints. They were a sweet reprieve from the show's aggressive styling.
27 February 2009
It was the eighties all over again at Iceberg—the big-shoulder, big-attitude eighties. There was a little bit of Azzedine Alaïa in a black bra top with crisscross straps and a lean, curve-loving skirt with scuba seaming. And you could see shades of Norma Kamali in a short-sleeved blazer or a pair of ruched leggings worn with a cropped, kimono-sleeved jacket.Breaking up the black, beige, and wine-red palette (and the sexy, take-no-prisoners vibe) were a couple of polka-dot knit dresses and a quirky print that looked like Jeff Koons'Balloon FlowerandBalloon Dogsculptures. The magenta-and-blue print showed up on one of the round-shouldered jackets, a fitted sheath with an asymmetrically wrapped bodice, and a strapless dress with a fluttery hem. Sure, the eighties are big this season, but in a collection that otherwise inspired a serious case of déjà vu, the balloon print, at last, was something we'd never seen before.
23 September 2008
For a certain breed of fashion fan, the name Iceberg may conjure memories of sweaters and jeans emblazoned with Donald Duck, Goofy, and various other Disney characters, but the label has labored to change its profile since the cartoonish nineties. Over the past few seasons, creative director Paolo Gerani has put together a string of solid—and, no offense to Goofy—eminently wearable collections. For Spring 2009, he sought to cover all the places a modern man must go, and all the elements he must endure while there. In other words, versatility was paramount, exemplified by blazer-style knit cardigans that were decked out with pocket squares or, in the last sequence, a hybrid of khaki shawl-lapel tux and windowpane linen suit. The color palette leaned on navy, olives, and grays, which, if on the somber side for spring, are nonetheless cornerstones of modern dress. And playful details elsewhere countered those muted notes: the baby-blue interior of a sober gray mac, for instance, or the white facing on the interior placket of an olive Henley. Other welcome pops of color included cobalt and baby-blue ribbing of a shawl-collar cardigan, or the color-blocked back on one of those aforementioned blazer-cardigans.
23 June 2008
The program notes cited pop artist Roy Lichtenstein as inspiration for the comic-strip print that appeared first as the lining of a jacket hood, then as part of a bright blue patchworked sheath, and eventually on coats edged in fur. In fact, a cartoonish undercurrent—something very much on the minds of showgoers after this morning's press conference for the Costume Institute'sSuperheroesexhibit—suffused the entire Iceberg collection. First there were the outsize, even outlandish proportions: tailored coats came with bulging, down-filled quilted sleeves; a puffer jacket was reimagined as a skirtsuit, its eccentric volume still intact. The theme then extended to embellishments: In the bodices of colorful, leopard-print silk chiffon gowns lurked abstract face masks. One model wore a black hood complete with feline ears à la Catwoman.In the mix were some more approachable and seasonally on-message sweater dresses. That was a good thing. Much as we'd all like to be able to leap across buildings in a single bound—and do it in stilettos, why not?—it's not clear how many of these pieces will fit into a real-life wardrobe.
19 February 2008
Iceberg's Spring collection keyed into the nineties body-con trend that's still reverberating out from London. Clingy jersey dresses, with cutouts at the hips or down the back, revealed more than they concealed. Likewise the high-waisted shorts that were alternately paired with bell-sleeve blouses in a high-metallic sheen or boxier cropped sweaters. And then there was the sequined, zip-front all-in-one that closed the show.All in all, this is probably a smart way to lure that sweet-spot shopper, one who has a tight body to show off and money to burn. (The geometric plastic paillettes that decorated a lot of the evening numbers surely won't come cheap.) But will the same client go for the more challenging outerwear? Coats, usually a strong suit at this Italian label, came in kimono cuts with huge, statement-making lantern sleeves. It's a look very much in keeping with the Eastern silhouettes influencing the Milan shows, but their viability at retail is less of a sure thing.
24 September 2007
To the average American fashion customer, Iceberg is still a bit of an unknown quantity. But with the benefit of some creative input from Giambattista Valli, a stablemate at parent company Gilmar, the Italian label is doing its best to change that. The Fall collection tapped into some key trends, starting with the quilted cocoon coat that opened the show. Other strong outerwear included a fur-trim army-green parka with sporty glamour to spare, and a puffer jacket in safety-orange tucked and folded into this season¿s capelike shape. Mongolian lamb chubbies were on target, too, save for the superfluous contrasting color straps that cinched the torso.There were a few too many tricky details like those. The sashes crisscrossing oversize cowl-neck sweaters, and the decorative resin chips fastened to a miniskirt, weighed things down. But the unstructured eveningwear was refreshingly simple (the best being an asymmetric-strap goddess dress). All in all, this collection should help bump the brand identity up a notch.
22 February 2007
Iceberg, which was brimming with youthful energy, was inspired by the topic of love. Lilac, orange, red, gold and white were the colors of choice for a broad range of silhouettes--there were '70s flared pants with appliqués, macro and miniskirts, Chaplinesque trousers and elaborate knits, most with glittering paillettes thrown in for good measure. It was a lighthearted collection that should easily find a niche in Iceberg's new Las Vegas boutique.
30 September 1999