Trussardi (Q1861)
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Italian fashion company
- Trussardi jeans
- Tru Trussardi
- trussardi.com
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Trussardi |
Italian fashion company |
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Statements
consultant
Palazzo Trussardi, the brand’s flagship, is right next to the Teatro alla Scala. Separating them from Palazzo Marino, city hall, is a pedestrianized space which is an ideal spot to observe the Milanese going about their business. They can be easily recognized for their industrious quality, their practical yet elegant attire, their sober, timeless style. Few brands are as Milanese as Trussardi, and its creative directors, Serhat Isik and Benjamin A. Huseby, who joined the label last year, understood this straight away. So much so that one of their first “quests” has been to find coolness for a puffer jacket, an essential piece for the Milanese who live in a mild climate (less and less so) and an iconic piece for the brand. Today, showing in the Palazzo, that’s what they came back to.The collection was an ode to the Milanese style that made Trussardi prominent between the ’70s and ’90s, modernized through the eyes of the two designers. It all started with the puffer jacket, taken to the extreme to become XXL, like a bathrobe, padded and super soft. The leather on men’s and women’s skirts was distressed, softened, while the duchesse silk and nylon imitated the leather on classic cut blouses and less classic skirts with diagonal zippers. Everything read “sciura,” a Milanese term for the typical city lady, who only wears black, hazel, ecru and bordeaux, as in this collection, allowing herself to wear a jacquard motive that is reminiscent of the tapestries in the palaces she frequents. Isik and Huseby played with these clichés without mockery, rather using them as a key to a brand story that would otherwise be left untold.The final look was a mermaid skirt paired with a jewel belt and a sober turtleneck, completely black. It was like a contemporary version of the Trussardi look for the Teatro alla Scala premiere, an unmissable event for the typical Milanese, which always happens on the same day that they celebrate the patron saint of the city, Sant’Ambrogio.
24 February 2023
How can the vision of two radical designers remodel the bourgeois codes of an Italian heritage brand into a modern, covetable, relevant new version of itself? That’s the conundrum facing Trussardi, which has appointed as creative directors GmbH’s Serhat Isik and Benjamin Huseby.Their second collection, presented in the gilded salons of Palazzo Clerici, gave hints of how they’re easing into their role, after a strong first outing which was a break with the past, clean to the point of subversion. It certainly severed unnecessary ties, opening the door to a more considered, thought-out approach which was played out in today’s show.“This time it was more about trying to develop a wardrobe that makes sense for Trussardi,” they said backstage. “It may sound boring, but we’re bringing our own vision, mixing modernity with history.” Digging into the brand’s archive was “excavation work,” they explained. “There’s lots of richness there—the exceptional leather work, the ’80s and ’90s sexy and cinched silhouettes, the sensuality, the femininity, but also a masculine glamour.”Some of these elements were brought back for spring. Sensuality was played out in fluid dresses in liquid jersey with twisted necklines and cascading hemlines; floor-length satin gowns were wrapped around the neck, draped and ruched; slits and cut-outs opened to reveal bare skin. The best representation of leather work was a faux embossed crocodile bomber, round-shouldered and cinched, paired with a ruched miniskirt. The designers also tried their hand at denim, one of the house’s signatures, offering sculpted pieces glamorized with crystal appliqués.“It’s a learning process,” they offered. “Absorbing and adapting to the Milanese culture is a sort of anthropological exploration. We’re learning to work with things that we don’t always like, or which make us slightly uncomfortable. Our view of history isn’t linear, rather it’s often chaotic. But the tarnished mirrors of Palazzo Clerici reflect lots of magic, too.”
24 September 2022
Serhat Isik and Benjamin Huseby have made their own brand GmbH into a success story by wryly and elegantly commenting on the moral, philosophical, and ethical quandaries of our era, from race to religion, through fashion. What could they do at Trussardi, a heritage brand so interlaced in Milanese lifestyle that even my hotel’s bar of soap is branded Trussardi?The designers began by taking Italian signatures and making them their own. Rugged, embroidered piumino jackets opened the show, a nod to the anonymous but ubiquitous outerwear of European city life. Then the pair cast their eyes back further, to the complexities of Medieval and Renaissance dress, building armor-like shearlings and stuffing bustles under foxy black minidresses. Each garment in their 40-look lineup had either a curiously compelling texture—especially the holey knits that appeared mid-show—or a grand-scale elegance, like the coat-gown hybrids for models of all genders. The emphasis on a mostly black palette, Isik said post-show, was to reinforce the strength of their silhouettes. No diversions!But the Trussardi show did, in fact, have to deal with a lot of diversions. Some were intentional, like the soundtrack, by Einstürzende Neubauten, that used air pressure drillers as instruments to shake the metallic walls erected in the former Trussardi store for the show. Others were not, like the fact that the Marni show, slated just before this thrilling debut, was 40 minutes away and ran over by about an hour. Then there were the protests in support of Ukraine in the piazza just outside, making the crowd in front so thick it was near impossible to pass. Models did walk outside the show space within a barricade to give the crowd a glimpse of what was happening within fashion’s elite walls. It was the only direct clash of fashion and reality; the only tacit—albeit strange—acknowledgement of what is happening in Eastern Europe officially on the Milan calendar. But perhaps Isik and Huseby can push it further. Their own brand challenges one’s thinking. How can they use their Trussardi platform to push their own ideologies and change fashion’s status quo?
26 February 2022
When asked backstage about the idea behind the Fall collection, Gaia Trussardi, the young creative director of her family’s eponymous label, referred to the concept of “Post Milanese-ism.” Expanding on the quite obscure meaning of this neologism, she declared: “Milan today is multicultural, multiethnic, and postmodern. At Trussardi, we’re looking at the young generations, who have a new idea ofitalianità[being Italian].” Honestly, to this reviewer, the concept still felt quite arcane. Or too generic. But designers are designers, not philosophers, are they not? What they have to do is send out (possibly) beautiful collections, leaving (possibly) opaque or cryptic meanings aside. Or, at least they should.The collection’s press notes were slightly more helpful in decoding the concept, referring to “a tribe” and to “an urban gang of guys and girls caught between tradition and contemporary revolutions.” To this Milanese reviewer, Milanese youth doesn’t seem particularly revolutionary—an idea confirmed by Trussardi herself. “Milanese people spend the weekends traveling to the mountains,” she explained. “Skiing, snowboarding. Sportswear inspiration is strong in the collection, together with the street style.” See? We’re definitely not talking about a revolution here, just weekends in St. Moritz.But anyway, fashion is fashion, no need to expect coherence. The multicultural “tribe” idea served Trussardi well, in that it gave her permission (we shouldn’t say “excuse,” should we?) to send out a mix-and-matched collection—“a pastiche” is what she called it—with not a care in the world about, as we already said, coherence. Anything goes in the urban Trussardi tribe; classic bourgeois wardrobe staples slightly reworked with a streamlined approach, as in a series of masculine-inspired city coats; by-the-book references to sportswear, as in anoraks printed with cute postcard-worthy images of snowy mountains; au courant styling tricks, as in the long black evening dresses (quite awkwardly fitting, to be honest) that Trussardi suggested backstage could be worn with a biker jacket tossed over the shoulder with nonchalance. But who on earth would buy a black evening dress from Trussardi?What you would buy from the label, which has a superb heritage in finely crafted leather pieces and accessories, would be well-tailored, well-designed outerwear, truly timeless, high-end, and expensive-looking.
What we saw on the catwalk was, instead, a sort of youngish style of the anything-goes, postmodern cut-and-paste variety—a bit generic, with a tad of sportswear here, a hint of street style there—just to follow the mainstream trends, without adding any personal, strong vision to the mix.There were fine pieces in the collection, though; a yellow felted wool-bonded cape with geometric details looked interesting, as did an anorak hooded hybrid in patchworked shearling; sporty-inspired parkas and puffers in bright colors had the right vibe. But, since the talk here was apparently about Trussardi addressing young generations, what the collection lacked was a dose of cool, Milanese-style, of course. There must be some cool somewhere in this city, so bring it on. Unless it’s all gone skiing in St. Moritz for the weekend.
25 February 2018
According to Gaia Trussardi—who, as a young scion of the Trussardi family, is now in charge of the label’s creative direction—the inspirations behind the show were all of the Milanese traits that commonly define the city’s identity: a sense of adventure, laboriousness, creative industriousness, openness to diversity, an international attitude, and (last but not least) the very Milanese penchant to escape the city every single weekend of the year to reach for the mountains or the seaside, rain or shine. A bit cliché, perhaps, but also quite an accurate description.As it often happens with mood boards or references, it was difficult to trace all these Milanese-isms into the collection—after all, practicality and a flair for urban refinement aren’t exclusive to Milan. Anyway, the collection looked just, well, practical and urban. Period. The nice thing about it was that it had a young, energetic spirit and felt less contrived and better edited than usual, which was definitely a bonus.The lineup was built (not surprisingly) as a believable wardrobe for the everyday, with separates that could be mixed and matched in a smart way. Even if Trussardi (and Milanese style in general) isn’t exactly known for its cutting-edge style, a dash of cool couldn’t have hurt. Menswear and womenswear were shown together. Style-wise, they looked quite well-matched. Leather outerwear was a strong point for both lines: biker jackets, bombers, and dusters were cut with clean lines and had an au courant quality. Girls looked best when wearing parachute-inspired flowy dresses, or bright floral slip dresses under elongated trench coats, or else fluid pants and blouses in bright yellow paired with leather dusters. They weren’t too girly or too obviously “everyday.” They just looked right.
24 September 2017
Gaia Trussardi was inspired by Tarot cards for her Fall collection. Temperance, The Empress, and Justice were the female figures who resonated with her creative vision, which is usually rooted in less esoteric, symbolic territory. Trussardi’s style has always been about leather outerwear and accessories with an urban and practical sense of understated-ness. Arcane references aside, her collection was all about a very unfussy approach to an everyday basic, realistic wardrobe.Milanese style has a timeless appeal. Itssotto-voceelegance can at times feel a bit dull, almost disappearing in the foggy gray colors of the city landscape. “I wanted to keep the sophisticated feel [while] adding a contemporary energy, morepasticheand less bourgeois,” explained the designer backstage. She resorted to a mix-and-match styling, which gave the lineup a modern twist. Coats, jackets, blazers, and pantsuits were cut in a simple, basic, no-nonsense kind of way. Long flowing printed dresses added a whimsical, bohemian touch. They looked perfectly accessorized by actual greyhounds—a symbol of the house—that were walking (on leash) down the catwalk, competing with the models for elegance and composure.
26 February 2017
Gaia Trussardi turned to tarot to augment the fortunes of her family brand this evening. Held among the fleshy drama of Caravaggios and Gentileschis in the Pinacoteca di Brera, Trussardi’s installation saw 14 models dressed and acting as archetypes from the deck of mystery. By investing character in her house’s clothes at these installations—last menswear season was a different version of the same idea—Trussardi cleverly inhabits already attractive clothes with vim.So The Hermit hovered in the corner of his booth clutching an overnight bag embroidered with an archive heraldic marque, shivering in fine black pants, boots, and a tufted check jacket and scarf. He looked traumatized but well dressed. The Magus wore a fine epauletted suede jacket with interestingly uneven buttons, gray wool trousers, and boots with that same winged symbol. He mimed.The Star wore a chalk-striped peacoat with a mélange mix sweater and a pair of laceless boots. He was relatively stable. The Strength wore a light suede overcoat with a striped waistcoat, silk shirt, and tight pants. The Judgment wore a lovely cashmere mix fine check suit, a Trussardi logo belt, and a striped scarf and round-necked shirt. And so it went. The presentation was a vehicle in presenting key looks that Trussardi said she doesn’t plan to change dramatically from season to season, merely to tweak. That is a fine philosophy. Among these painted daubs of the eternal, it was good to slow down a little.
16 January 2017
Gaia Trussardi’s last menswear collection was a treat: hilariously pretentiously presented but full of great clothes. Which makes it awkward to state that this womenswear collection was unsuccessful. The problem is thatTrussardi’s abundance of ideas were not matched by the quality of their execution. There was no patina. She said preshow backstage that she had been thinking of how sub cultures used to inspire fashion and that she wanted to invert that by generating a form of runway-borne spontaneous expression. So she again recruited a band to sing songs, the first of which she’d written herself, to soundtrack the show. “Lady / She’s a baby / Elegantly pop,” they sang. Unfortunately, the elegance on offer seemed akin to that of the Sanremo Music Festival in 1982 without the touted coat of irony to subvert it.Trussardi spoke of architecture influencing the diagonal line above a fruitily split pencil skirt in a jacket and skirt combo of what could have been a pleasant logomania print. But it was simultaneously too much and too little. There was so much work here, like her invention of a pleasant new future-retro logo for the brand, but also so many awkward car crashes of execution—like the Lurex tinted Spanx. And the less about the dungarees, the better. The Trussardi label is a fabulous house with a compelling story, but when the sliver of today’s insular runway audience that has a broader perspective on fashion talked after the show, they were less than complimentary.
26 September 2016
The heaven and the hell. ThisTrussardipresentation was held on the terrace of the Pinacoteca di Brera and soundtracked to live and truly exquisite ivory-tinkling (Mozart, don’t you know) by a member of Milan’s conservatoire. So, heaven. The clothes, mostly, were 100 percent super-desirable boho iterations of softened Italianate artistic-aristo (but a bit bourgeois, too) menswear tropes. So, more heaven. The presentation, however, although passionately executed and sincerely curated by Gaia Trussardi—absolutely the chicest artistic director at Milan’s menswear Fashion Week—was of a murkier flavor. The nut graf of it was this: Between a series of mirrored walls on either side of the balconies a series of actors played out various archetype roles. The first fellow wore a beautiful raspberry deconstructed woven herringbone suit with a track pant above a vibrantly printed silk shirt and bellowed. The second stared at himself self-involvedly in a mirror while moaning about something. The third wore python jeggings and a long suede coat with a purple neckerchief and paced up and down, cackling. At this point Trussardi wafted over and explained: “It’s about the theme of identity, madness, split personality, narcissism. But not the theme of craziness. All of us. I wanted to create this performance of different stereotypes.” Patiently she educated this yahoo that she had been inspired by Luigi Pirandello’s examination of the mask, subjectivity and objectivity: It was about who we are and how we present ourselves.Frankly that was way over this head, which simply enjoyed the clothes while trying not to interact with the interactive performance. A preacher railed against capitalism in a coated linen robe-manteau. A boxer fought with himself, meaningfully, in a silk short suit printed with a masked face. A woman who was conflicted about her gender negotiated with a chair and the mirrors in a green linen pinstripe double-breasted suit. A narcissistic hip-hop artist—so like, totally unreal—yelled into a mirror about how fabulous he was in a blue and red Henley striped suit imprinted with that face. The next fellow was in a terrible state, curled up like a fetus and kissing the mirror, but his look was good in woven suiting with silver buttons and neoprene detailing and double-monk-strapped crocodile shoes. And so it went on.
Harking back to that preacher though, it was tempting to throw Trussardi a curveball: Isn’t there irony in presenting an anticapitalist in a several-thousand-euro ensemble. “Ah,” she replied, “but it’s all about contradiction.” Brava to Trussardi for being such an accomplished author of her story. Less tortuously, some of the clothes were objectively worthy of being the subject of your attention.
20 June 2016
Backstage, preshow, GaiaTrussardititillated expectation by saying that the collection was an imaginary assemblage of Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”: “The way Dolly Parton says it is that she doesn’t hate her, but she begs her not to take her man. So I understand it that she is so charismatic that she cannot be hated, or create envy—she could look like she could be a bitch, but she’s not.”Oof! What a great starting point: totally unconscious, total desirability, via the costar ofThe Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. And there were some looks here that hit that aim-high sweet spot. The whale cord coats at the top and the needlecord suits at the climax, the Annie Hall–homaging menswear mix looks near the start, the needle-punch leather/Prince of Wales cape over paper-bag bouclé check shorts, and the vaguely prairie leather skirts worn with oversize sweaters were all fine and dandy—casually man-attracting without a whiff of vamp. The double-breasted Bordeaux-check wide-leg suit and wide-piped (with leather) wide-lapel notch greatcoats hit the spot, too.The main event of this collection, high-cut pants and low-hemmed jackets with overt boning, were a bit by the by. The riotous surplus of buttons was fun and the audacious apricot shearling was something to grapple with, as well.At the end, though, came a pastel problem. Sheer lavender skirts and—oh, no—a lavender croc hot-pant suit would both only steal your man if he was, frankly, far better off stolen. Gaia T has got an eye, but it needs a wider perspective to seduce internationally.
28 February 2016
Fashion shouldn’t be about setting, nor set dressing. Nevertheless,Trussardi’s adoptive home of the Palazzo Brera—a storied Milanese mansion designed by Giuseppe Piermarini—is pretty impressive. If you haven’t encountered it, the hand is the same that determined the Teatro alla Scala, which gives you an idea of the aesthetic and impact. It’s fairly grand.However, the palazzo is also an artistic hub of Milan; it houses a glut of Renaissance masterpieces and a painting academy. That fits with Trussardi—in 1996, the label established its own contemporary art foundation, supporting exhibitions by the likes of Maurizio Cattelan, Elmgreen and Dragset, and Martin Creed. It’s named after Nicola Trussardi, who didn’t establish the label (that was his father) but propelled it to worldwide success. The company is still a family affair: Tomaso Trussardi is CEO, Maria Luisa Trussardi is president, and Gaia Trussardi is creative director.Gaia’s last two menswear collections have been staged in the Brera, underlining her interest in men of the arts—namely, in their style. For Spring, models read aloud in the building’s library; the clothes, though, were simple sportswear. This season, musicians were busking through the corridors, and the collection itself was infused with the all-pervasive mood of ’70s rock that has seemingly infiltrated every other collection in Milan. It all tied neatly together.When you get down to the nitty-gritty of garments, we’re not talkingBowieor Ferry in their outré, lamé retro-futuristic glam incarnations; it was rather more like Paul Weller and John Lennon, whose style proved especially remarkable because it was pulled together from disparate, everyday items—corduroy and tweed jackets; silk shirts with matching ties; a subdued palette of blues, grays, and earthenware tones of sepia and terra-cotta. Those are normal, but the style they composed has endured. It still has an aspirational pull for men who aspire to the frequently fruitless task of looking cool.You can’t buy cool, of course. Nevertheless, Trussardi’s expertise in leather and skins managed to elevate the proceedings, the presumption being that if you can’t buy cool, you can definitely sell luxury. Examples: a scarlet leather jacket with bonded wool interior and a lush clay-red shearling with an intarsia of oversize lumberjack check in calf. They were unobtrusive but exceptional. Ripe for any luxury customer to pull into their wardrobe and wear forever. Cool.
19 January 2016
Gaia Trussardiwas already deep into her research for this collection when she caught a National Geographic documentary about Australian writer Robyn Davidson. During the late ’70s Davidson spent nine months traversing Western Australia accompanied only by four camels and a dog (who didn’t make it); her ensuing account of the adventure,Tracks, was a hit—thinkWild, without the relationship problems. “It represented the moods and characteristics of a woman I was thinking about,” said Trussardi. “The need for a contact with nature. How nature can fill you up.”The result was a collection intended to appear sandblasted, wind-whipped, and faded by the sun. Long-skirted jackets and pleated full pants in neutral striped herringbone linen were left unfinished and tattered at the edges. The ribboned bib on a blue shirt was ruffled as if by force. Shirts—more like caftans—were delivered ankle-length, split to the hip, and worn as layers under jackets or as a piece of outerwear. The beaded prints were created from blown-up images of religious tribal masks and the models all wore Virgin Mary necklaces.The palette swerved from neutral to pastel with debatable success; these rough-hewn, heavy-textured loose pieces rather disagreed with the prissiness of soft pink and apricot. Trussardi has complained that when it comes to using leather in her collections, she is damned if she does (so obvious!) and if she doesn’t (why didn’t she?!). Today she went with wrap split skirts and a fine raspberry duster jacket in double-layered suede and yellow jerkin-like calfskin crop tops, as well as a long gown with a half-moon panel that was cut too narrow to walk easily in. The oversize stitching detail on her penultimate look, a black suit, was a nod to Trussardi’s glove-making DNA.Overall, this collection was neither a triumph nor a catastrophe; that blue look was pretty good, the tailoring fine (cummerbunds apart), and there was plenty to catch the eye of liberal-leaning acai eaters in search of clothes that signal urbane rusticity and luxurious roughness.
27 September 2015
The Brera library is one of Milan's hidden gems. Nestled on the top floor of the Accademia di Brera (one of Italy's most prominent, and most historied, art schools), it is a charming concoction of wrought-out, gilded stuccos and wooden shelves crammed with books from floor to ceiling. It is opened to the public oh-so-rarely, but Gaia Trussardi knows how to push buttons. The collection she presented yesterday widely benefited from the grandiose set.Models stood in the main room, reading aloud in different languages, each one dramatically lit by spotlights that pierced the pitch dark and accompanied by a disturbing figure dressed in total black. "That is the dark soul, and represents ignorance, a lack of culture," explained Trussardi.Maybe it all sounds a bit too brainy for a collection that was essentially streamlined sportswear done in supple leathers, thus rendered exquisitely luxurious—loose calfskin basketball shorts were a standout. The whole situation looked intensely theatrical, but somehow it made perfect sense. Gaia Trussardi is fine-tuning her storytelling skills, and the context she chose was an apt one to describe Trussardi's man of leisure, with a new twist.
23 June 2015
Gaia Trussardi talks a good game. "I really felt the need to go to essentialism and purity," she said backstage before her show today. "Let's call it neo-minimalism, because of this cultural too-much that I am breathing at the moment. Too much information, too much stimulation." Fine hypothesis, nicely delivered. Yet to cut through the static of overstimulation like detergent cuts through grease, her clothes needed to be as surgically sharp as her message. And they were not.This was, though, a collection that spoke to the essentials of Trussardi. Vaguely militaristic greatcoats and skirtsuits were cut in a glove-making leather so liquid and thin that it moved with the ease of fabric. This is an indelicate observation, but one pair of leather pants was so princess-and-the-pea delicate that it bore a VPL imprint. Maybe on purpose: Underwear was an out-and-out emphasis here. Slipdresses in leather (look 24) and Lurex-coated leather (look 36) collaged from rectangular patches were an argument between hard and soft worth having for the sake of it. The cut of those trousers was '80s-touched, high of waist and broad of beam; so was the patchwork, and panels on oversize knits.There was nude, and a touch of green, but the color that dominated here was brown. Brown? "I worked with a chocolate color," said Trussardi. "It was as if the woman had jumped inside a chocolate swimming pool, from her shoes to her bag." Less minimal, that.
1 March 2015
There are images that are forever lodged in the collective subconscious, and periodically come back to haunt or inspire. Gaia Trussardi kept thinking of a Kurt Cobain portrait shot by photographer Jesse Frohman as she started designing the Trussardi collection. It’s an iconic shot: Cobain, in his signature haphazard layers and aviator cap, looks at the camera through oversized white-frame sunglasses, at once sarcastic and melancholic. "Kurt Cobain was so elegant in his utter fragility: That's what inspired me," said Trussardi today, adding that she wanted to create a luxurious version of grunge.The notion of taking what's rough and raw, even poor, and turning it into something precious is hardly surprising. It has happened many times in fashion. You know the method: Take the shape, cut it into an expensive fabric, and give the privileged a frisson of how the outcasts dress, without compromising on luxe. That said, Trussardi never pretended to reinvent the wheel. She used the oversized volumes and multiple layers of grunge to twist and turn the house's staples. Leather was featured in abundance, in the form of superbly supple deerskin for voluminous parkas and jean blousons worn on top of bouclé cardigans and cargo pants—again in leather—or five-pocket jeans that were actually made of cashmere. Cobain's ripped tees turned into gauzy cashmere underpinnings in the process.That's all we got: glorified basics in expensive textures. The idea worked, and the pieces indeed came out well. What was lacking, however, was the desire factor, the magic that turns a piece of clothing into an object customers cannot live without. A little more daring in the future could help. The Trussardi man, after all, is an adventurer. He deserves some guts. Gaia Trussardi has them, so it's time to bring them out.
19 January 2015
Spring marks Gaia Trussardi's third season helming the women's ready-to-wear collection for her family company. After some trial and error, her approach today was to simplify: The atmospheric accessories of season one's American road trip show were pared away, and she edited out the excesses—zebra prints, beaded crests—of season two. What remained on the runway this afternoon was Italian sportswear in colorful leather, suede, and ostrich skin, along with a sprinkling of knits.A double-breasted leather coat with a contrasting camel-colored lapel started off the show on a promising note. From there, highlights included a camp shirt and leather mini-kilt combo and a leather tank worn with pleated leather trousers. Both outfits had a sporty mien. Elsewhere, a jean jacket and miniskirt in burnished crocodile stood out for their conspicuous luxury. Among the knits, the chunky cable styles were the strongest; the others were a bit anemic, especially in contrast with the skins. Trussardi has a nice color sense: Pistachio green looked surprisingly good with both burgundy and tomato red. This was an improvement over her previous efforts—straightforward, well-made stuff, but in the end nothing to get too excited about.
21 September 2014
In the decade or so since Trussardi suffered the sudden loss of its third-generation director and patron of the arts, Nicola Trussardi, and his son four years later, the family-owned label has intensified its cultural initiatives. The Fondazione Nicola Trussardi was launched with the goal of preserving historic landmarks in Milan and, more broadly, bringing art into people's daily lives.It's out of this commitment to the arts that the Spring men's theme—jazz—came to be. Gaia Trussardi was particularly taken with the zoot suit, updating the three-piece classic of the Jazz Age with trimmer proportions and subtle stripes, pinstripes and otherwise. Of course, a zoot suit isn't for everyone, no matter how tame, so she also incorporated elements of workwear, like cargo jackets and denim jeans with prominent selvedge. Leather, the house's specialty, was used sparingly, with the notable exception of an all-leather, four-pocket jacket-and-pants combo in the color of brass, appropriately.Individually, many pieces will fit into a man's wardrobe just fine, but the collection as a whole was neither here nor there. It felt underdeveloped, even lethargic. Which is a shame, considering all the energetic ideas percolating through menswear right now.
20 June 2014
Jean-Luc Godard'sBande à Partand François Truffaut'sJules et Jimwere touchstones for Gaia Trussardi's new Fall collection. The restless, rebellious spirits of Anna Karina and Jeanne Moreau's characters seeped into her best clothes, which took their proportions and their patterns from menswear. A shearling bomber big enough to curl up and fall asleep in had a casual confidence, and Gaia had an easy way with a Prince of Wales check blazer and tweed pants. A pair of leather dresses, on the other hand, could have used some finessing, and why so many miniskirts? The Trussardi family business is one of Italy's ultimate heritage houses, with a century-plus history of leather goods artisanship. This collection didn't measure up to that past in a convincingly rich way. Figuring out how to amp up the luxury factor will be the first of Gaia's challenges for the future.
22 February 2014
Gaia Trussardi's challenge is to balance the backstory of her label with its contemporary reality. Trussardi is more than a century old and family owned, with a justifiable pride in its history and a predilection for keeping business and blood closely intertwined. (Members of the Trussardi family don't just own, run, and design the collections, some even model in the ad campaigns.) But the demands of a global brand mean translating that history into the present and making it accessible even to those for whom the Trussardi name doesn't inspire equal parts adulation and envy. It's not easy to be a servant of two masters, and the balance was unsteady this time aorund. Gaia imagined a modern man who had one foot in the traditional countryside, where the Trussardi family homestead is, and one in the speeding city. (She called her commuter a superhero, making her one of several Milan designers preoccupied with the notion of heroic multitasking this season.) The aristocratic, country-villa dweller was represented by pleated trousers, cabled sweaters, and camel coats; the urbanite by leather, in a nod to the company's leather-goods heritage, cut into skinny pants, woven jackets, and blazers. Leather parkas bonded to English wool made the two-sided man point literally. But on the whole, the fusion of sleek and sharp with soft and stately jarred more than it jelled.
12 January 2014
Gaia Trussardi has stepped into the driver's seat at the house that bears her name after Umit Benan's departure earlier this year. For Spring, she used the notion of the great American road trip as fodder. That might've struck her predecessor as too obvious an idea, although anyone who was present at the show he set on a New York City rooftop will remember that he wasn't immune to the seductive powers of the good old U.S. of A. either.In any case, Trussardi would've been smart to lose the cowboy hats and the bandannas clasped with metal slides; they gave the clothes the feel of costumes. Otherwise, this wasn't a bad beginning. Trussardi retained much of the menswear-inflected tailoring that Benan introduced at the label. A double-breasted ivory jacket tossed over the shoulders looked well-cut. Elsewhere, she added items that indicated she's sensitive to the way the fashion winds are blowing, like overalls in luxurious matte python, and any number of bandeaux and crop tops. And, of course, she made the most of the house's leather heritage, trotting out bombers and elastic-waist trousers in the stuff. For a designer novitiate, you can't legitimately expect much more. But the Milan calendar is stuffed with the most famous names in the business; this crowd will only tolerate a tyro for so long.
19 September 2013
Trussardi and Umit Benan, its designer of two years, parted ways after last season; Milan Vukmirovic, its previous steward, managed only a few more. It was hard to escape the sense that the ruling family wanted to keep its decisions made in the family. Maybe that's hindsight speaking, now that Gaia Trussardi has been named creative director. She was noncommittal on the advantages of the bloodline. "It's been 34 years that I've been breathing it," she said simply—it being Trussardism, whose dominant characteristics include a belief in the universal applicability of leather. Trussardi has been, for a century-plus, a stalwart of accessories and leather goods. Its Spring collection—warm-weather season notwithstanding—was almost entirely skin as well: thin, supple leather dyed dusty colors, cut into dusters and anoraks, T-shirts and jeans.Backstage, Gaia was spinning a traveling yarn: A "desert atmosphere," with "open space, freedom, bright light, a sense of movement," she said. Her leather pants were loose, pajama-style, not the rock 'n' roll sausage casings of yore. "Effortless elegance," she decreed. That's a phrase that seems to be applied everywhere these days, but the collection did in fact smack of it. It had less of the distinctive point of view that characterized her predecessors'. Whether that comes with the seasons, time will tell. The desert is wide; the trek's just beginning.
22 June 2013
Umit Benan has had a couple of challenging seasons at Trussardi after his promising Spring '12 debut. Today he found his mojo: This outing was his strongest yet for the house. It's not that he's changed his formula, per se; Benan has been reinterpreting his popular menswear for women from the start at Trussardi. But this one was more keyed in to the way we really dress. None of the stuffy mistakes or the strange colors of his Spring show. Instead, the clothes had a relaxed confidence, and an inventiveness to boot. The double-breasted brown coat he closed the show with (one of a handful of well-cut outerwear pieces) turned to reveal a navy ponyhair inset on the back above a white leather martingale. Trussardi being a leather goods brand, there were lots of skins here. A leather pantsuit can be a tricky proposition, but Benan made convincing work of his; same goes for a chalk leather biker with a matching V-neck tee and pleated skirt. Only a leather dress with knit sleeves looked off—the proportions of the shoulders were wrong.But slip-ups like that were few and far between in this 24-look collection. A windowpane plaid that he cut into a button-down and trousers then draped into a dress showed Benan's growing versatility as a womenswear designer. Should he and the Trussardis decide to part ways, as has been strongly rumored in Milan this week, that shouldn't detract from the solid achievement of this outing.
22 February 2013
Give a designer long enough, and eventually he'll head for the country. This season, Umit Benan did. The floor of his venue was covered with fallen leaves, and the family greyhounds were sniffing around. "The asphalt jungle is distant," the show's notes announced. Arrivederci, Milano.The change of scene offered reason enough for a parade of country coats and hiking-boot-cum-trainers. It was a shopper's feast of double-breasted overcoats, cotton mac raincoats with raglan sleeves, popover hooded anoraks, and leather field jackets. All of them—plus snug suit jackets and cropped pants—closed with Velcro patches on neoprene tabs. It made for a nice touch (not to mention likely helped to keep out the dust and leaf litter the models kicked up).It had less of the thick-spun narrative trappings that have earned Benan the tag "designer/storyteller" (at least, as far as the company's press arm would have it), but a vacation from the usual yarns put the designer in a sales-friendly place. In any case, a few funky double-breasted suits in wide-wale cord hinted at tales left to tell.
12 January 2013
This season, Umit Benan's destination was Manhattan. His Trussardi program notes mentioned a beautiful uptown home and the trees of Central Park, but his set depicted a graffiti-covered downtown rooftop. That disconnect isn't a small detail when a good portion of your audience hails from the Big Apple. But it wouldn't have mattered if these clothes were as winning as those he showed a year ago at his Trussardi debut.Benan's instincts as a menswear designer are indisputable. He still seems unsteady, though, when it comes to women's clothes. It's tough to picture the girl, uptown or down, who would choose his yellow double-breasted pantsuit with five rows of mother-of-pearl buttons. Tailoring was the meat and bones of this collection, and most of it just came off as too heavy and stiff. A leather top and a leather blazer in New York City in the summer? Not a good mix. What did look smart were the shoes, sling-back oxfords with metal decoration that nailed the luxe practicality we think of as essential to this label. Otherwise, the promise that has made Benan one to watch went strangely unfulfilled this season.
22 September 2012
The orbit of the Trussardi family is a charmed one. For Spring, house steward Umit Benan invited his audience inside. "The whole idea was to present the Trussardi world in a summer way," he said. "I thought of Nicola Trussardi's youngest son, Tomaso, having his friends over from all over the world, waking up on a Saturday morning. I wanted to present that 15 minutes when they were headed to the beach." He visited the family's summer home, and photographed them for a series of tongue-in-cheek prints.As avatars of the sweet life go, Tomaso Trussardi is about as good as you can get: young, rich, and handsome (handsome enough that nepotism alone can't account for his starring spot in the company's fragrance ads, co-star Anja Rubik barely a patch on him). You'd hardly need to shut your eyes to envision him and his set sauntering to the beach in Benan's loose linen shirts with their special pockets for the newspaper, their scarves wound round their necks, giant, impossibly expensive weekend bags on their arms. (This show was freighted with accessories that ran the luxe gamut, from fanny packs and towel rolls to garment bags, bicycles, even the greyhounds that are the company totems and practically its family crest.)To a piece it was enviably chic, from the double-breasted suits to the leather-patched polo. Benan is becoming a good interpreter of how the other half lives. "This is an Italian family, so it's about luxury—how they grew up," he said. If it wanted anything, it was scruff. Fifteen minutes to the beach with himself and his friends would be a very different—but just as compelling—thing to see. "I think it would be a little more twisted," he said. There's a prospect. And a promise, perhaps, to be kept at his own house—that is to say, his namesake line—when it shows tomorrow.
23 June 2012
Trussardi's program notes, not to mention the market stall packed with fresh fruits and vegetables at the end of the runway, promised a trip to the Peruvian countryside—straight up to the top of Machu Picchu. At another house, that might've meant all types of native dress, but under Umit Benan's new leadership, this Italian brand is becoming known for strong, sharp tailoring. Benan designed menswear first; his own evocative show is usually among the highlights of Milan's men's week.As with his debut here last season, the focus was on structured but not strict jackets, collared shirts, and well-cut trousers with an ease about them. (A few of the suits were three-piecers.) The only obvious nods to the Andes came in the form of wide-brim hats with rounded crowns, and oversize backpacks in exotics, and to a lesser extent perhaps the asymmetric hem of skirts worn over pants. Benan can't help himself, he designs clothes suited for women who negotiate the wilds of modern cities. A coat in shearling and snakeskin was made to attract attention, not repel the elements, while shirtdresses in leather or silk had a relaxed sense of chic. In all, this felt like a solid follow-up to Benan's strong debut at Trussardi, but you sense that, if he really buckled down to the task, he could push things further here.
25 February 2012
One evening in Milan, two Formula 1-themed collections. Anyone psychic enough to bet on that unlikelihood would've made a mint. But while Thom Browne at Moncler Gamme Bleu explored the style of the men on the track, Umit Benan, in his second collection for Trussardi, explored that of a champion off it. Benan was thinking of Jackie Stewart, the F1 champion of the sixties and seventies, whose mutton-chopped visage played on video screens around the runway. But he was careful to note that it was Stewart at play, rather than Stewart at work, that inspired the high-seventies collection.There were enough flared pants, flat caps, sideburns, and structured bags to stage a Me Decade revival single-handedly. It was a step in time backward from the eighties styles Benan rose to fame reinterpreting. But it was anything but arbitrary. After the show—"show" being the operative word here; models mugged and all but chugged their prop bottles of victory-lap bubbly—Benan claimed it had all grown out of the Trussardi family and label itself. "The family has an incredible passion for cars," he said. "Everything started with the company. Everything began with the most important product—with gloves." Many of the looks were styled with soft leather drivers.Pulled apart, the collection should yield plenty of the strong, not-quite-vintage pieces that are the Benan specialty, like his fur-collared overcoat, double-breasted blazer (with black leather-lined pockets), and geometric knits. Put together, they comprised a vision so totalizing that, if not for the hordes of onlookers pressing against the Trussardi boutique's glass doors for a look, you might've forgotten where (and when) you were. It may not have had the monopoly on Formula 1 tonight, but nothing else looked a bit like it.
14 January 2012
There was no easing into his new role at Trussardi for incoming creative director Umit Benan. The Italian brand is celebrating its centennial this year. To mark the occasion, the label held a full-scale women's runway show—in a clear tent in the middle of Milan's fourteenth-century Castello Sforzesco, no less. Afterward, there were food and wine and an alfresco dance party.The pressure was really on Benan, especially when you consider menswear is this relatively young designer's first calling. On a very basic level, he's proven with the men's collections for his own label that he appreciates how people actually wear clothes, a talent that shouldn't be underestimated. In that regard, his first women's outing didn't disappoint, even though it might've been better appreciated in more intimate surroundings, where you could see its promising, everyday beauty close-up. The vast stage also seemed slightly at odds with the sort of evocative mise-en-scène the designer specializes in at his own presentations.In a preview, Benan called his girl "the granddaughter of Annie Hall." As that suggests, there was a lot of men's tailoring—slightly oversize and boxy jackets, and pants that were high-waisted and full and cropped above the ankle. The trench with a crocodile collar was inspired by house founder Nicola Trussardi's original. It was typically smart of Benan to build on his menswear foundations in this way.Trussardi is a leather-goods house first and foremost, so the models often carried two bags, a long-shoulder-strap style and a weekender or a backpack or a hard case in high-contrast black and white. (Travel, as the airplane seats assembled at the back of the runway suggested, was a theme here.) But Benan seemed more confident with the mix and match of his clothes. A good percentage of the looks incorporated at least three pieces. Our favorite: a red blazer that topped a slightly different shade of red button-down and rust-colored long shorts. It looked sophisticated but still easy, a combination a lot of women could get behind. It was an indication of what Benan can achieve if given full rein to explore his vision.
22 September 2011
It was only a matter of time before one of the established European houses snapped up Umit Benan, the cosmopolitan 30-year-old Milan-based designer with a gift for sartorial storytelling, a sophisticated color sense, and charm to spare. The only question was, would it be a good match? What drew him to his new gig at Trussardi, Benan said at a preview a few hours before his debut presentation, was the fact that the Italian company's golden age was the eighties, the era that he continues to mine so assiduously for his own line. Though he didn't say it, you also suspect that he likes the idea that the house codes aren't necessarily set in stone. He sees the essential characteristic of the label as a certain mood—what he called the "charisma" of longtime driving force Nicola Trussardi. That leaves Benan with a reasonably blank canvas on which to weave his particular brand of magic.The conceit he hit on today was to restore a little of the fun and luxury to travel. As editors stood squeezed into the Trussardi store, a series of fancy cars pulled up outside on the Piazza della Scala, their arrival first spied on video screens inside the shop. Benan's protagonists—men he described as anOcean's Eleven-type gang or soccer players returning victorious from the World Cup—jumped out. Each toting a different set of luggage, they took a lap through the store before depositing their bags with a "doorman" by the elevators. There was an unreconstructed eighties feel to the clothes they wore. Mark Vanderloo, emerging from a low-slung Mercedes of the kind Richard Gere drove inAmerican Gigolo, had on a white boiler suit and mirrored shades. A bearded model wore a navy duster coat that Benan had taken directly from the archives, adding a contrasting collar in crocodile. Other models wore rakish safari jackets or double breasted jackets in the sort of rich shades that the designer favors for his own line, albeit in a rather more traditional cut. There were only around 20 looks, but part of Benan's strength is his refusal to be pushed too far too fast. It's the same confidence that allows him to resist over-modernizing that duster coat.In many ways, it feels like the designer's work here has barely started (he will tackle the label's womenswear too in the Fall), but he has already begun to transform Trussardi from an item-driven label to one with a story to tell.
18 June 2011
Milan Vukmirovic celebrated Trussardi's 100th birthday at Pitti Uomo last month by exploring the brand's heritage, cutting every single piece in the 36-look collection in leather. His approach to the label's women's line this season isn't quite that extreme, although there are a good number of cool pieces in that material, the kind his customers could get a lot of mileage out of. For instance: a simple cap-sleeve A-line dress with a buckle at the waist to give it a flattering shape, stretchy second-skin leggings in chestnut brown, and sexy sueded black flares. You can't exactly call them basics; the skins are too precious and the craftsmanship too fine. But Vukmirovic professed a newfound interest in designing pieces that last, rather than designing trendy.His first step in that direction: Work within a well-defined palette—just black, white, red, and camel. The second: Err on the side of minimal. That was his word, not ours. Yes, there was a cool graphic quality to a fitted red moleskin jacket and a pair of trousers, one leg of which was black, the other white. The lines were clean and spare, but quiet it was not. Bold is more like it. The same goes for a camel cocoon coat edged in leather. It was inspired by something worn by Faye Dunaway's character in 1968'sThe Thomas Crown Affair, but it had none of the retro associations of some other sixties-influenced collections this week in Milan. Outerwear is a natural for this house, but Vukmirovic made a persuasive argument for eveningwear with a long silk dress decorated with vertical and horizontal bands of leather fringe. That kind of range will come in handy when Trussardi opens its projected New York store. The rejuvenated label is currently shopping for real estate in the city.
25 February 2011
Dante Trussardi went into business 100 years ago making leather gloves, and his skill with skins was such that he soon counted the crowned heads (and hands) of Europe as clients.Trussardi 1911is still very much a family affair—Dante's great-granddaughter Beatrice is now in charge—but it was current creative director Milan Vukmirovic who decided to mark the centenary with a show that celebrated leather in every possible permutation, plus some that seemed _im_possible. Take a parka in a camo-printed leather so fine it was almost as translucent as nylon. Or a white cotton tee that was actually chamois leather. In fact, there wasnothingin the collection thatwasn'tleather, from the corduroy-look poncho to the athleticwear to the black suede tux with the satin-look lapel. The parade of head-to-toe hides succeeded best as a salute to a century of Trussardi's extraordinary expertise, rather than as an incitement to don a second skin. Vukmirovic himself saw it as a punctuation point, cleaning the slate for the future. The head-scratchers like the paper-thin leather camo were eye-catching, but reassuringly, it was the more "ordinary" pieces that pointed to that future. Cue a parka in glistening black pony.The Trussardi show was billed as the Main Event at Pitti. The evening celebrated not only fashion, but also the company's commitment to the best of everything else Italy has to offer. The Stazione Leopolda, the show venue, hosted an exhibition of quite startling works from the Fondazione Nicola Trussardi's collection of contemporary art. And Andrea Berton, the chef at the Trussardis' two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Milan, prepared an anniversary dinner after the show. A little fashion, a little art, a little food, all against the high Renaissance backdrop of Florence…Pitti it's over so soon.
11 January 2011
Ask Milan Vukmirovic why the seventies are back, and he'll be quick to tell you: "It's because people are going out again—a lot." It was fitting, then, that after a foray into the decade's more ladylike elements last season, the Trussardi 1911 creative director took a walk on the louche side with his on-message Spring collection. Think David Bailey's famous pictures of Marie Helvin in Tahiti, with a bit of a military vibe thrown in; "urban jungle" is what the designer called it.Yes, that meant there was a lot of leopard, and yes, that's a print that's been everywhere lately, but Vukmirovic made it new by doing it in white and black, sometimes pairing it with a palm-frond print. Still, the latter of the two motifs looked fresher, especially on pieces like a nightclub-ready one-shoulder cocktail number (worn with a matching flower at the neck), an easy jumpsuit, and a floor-length tank dress with a fitted suede macramé bodice. That last one was just begging for a beach party on a hot summer night.Three seasons in, the bags and shoes are the best performers at this classic Italian brand's new 1911 line. Here, Vukmirovic lavished plenty of attention and no little amount of the house's expertise on clutches stitched in swirling patterns from thin leather strips and on wedge heels with lacing up the back. Leather also features on the arms of the company's just-launched sunglasses.
24 September 2010
Since Milan Vukmirovic took over at Trussardi 1911, he's been spending more time in his namesake city, and he's noticed guys wearing unstructured jackets, narrow pants, and rolled-up shirt sleeves, a new-wave-ish look that reminds him of the way things were 20 years ago—or even longer. He clearly identifies with that flashy self-consciousness, and is busy reconfiguring military, jean, and biker jackets with the most emblematic new-wave pattern of all, the leopard spot.For Spring 2010, Vukmirovic printed those spots on ponyskin for a jean jacket, and heat-printed them on black leather for a tone-on-tone effect. He cut a military jacket from khaki leopard, and another jean jacket from blue leopard. There were belts, trainers, and military bags, all testifying to Trussardi's artisanship in skins. The designer also injected some of his favorite Taos touches—beaded belts, Mexican woven shirts, and an Indian blanket-patterned oversize cardigan with toggle closings.Vukmirovic has taken a few seasons to strike the right balance between flash and substance, but his self-confidence has eventually settled into a winning optimism. Everyone could do with a little leopard in their lives at some point—little or lot, they know where to look.
18 June 2010
As a design MO it's hard to go wrong surrounding yourself with fashionable girlfriends and making them what they want. Lately, Milan Vukmirovic's pals have been moving away from the rock 'n' roll aesthetic that influenced his Spring lineup for Trussardi 1911 and looking more toward Paris in the seventies for inspiration. Think Jane Birkin or Romy Schneider in fitted flares with a short, slightly military-influenced coat over a feminine silk blouse.Updates on these classics have been appearing on lots of other runways this season, but women looking for a new, unexpected resource could do worse than hitting up this recently resuscitated nearly 100-year-old Italian brand. Vukmirovic worked his slim silhouette in a multitude of want-able fabrics: oversize houndstooth (he uses the French termpied-de-poule, which translates to "chicken feet"), Lurex-shot bouclé, ladylike double-face cashmere in heathery shades of camel and gray, and edgier leather-coated tweed. Some of the bags have a bit too much Chanel and Hermès in them, but the designer has other temptations in store, mostly in the form of statement-making outerwear. A horizontally pleated and ruched black leather jacket, a sheepskin coat-dress with an undulating zipper that opens and closes from both the top and bottom, and a collarless A-line jacket in lamb fur dyed a subtly chic shade of café au lait—those all have serious It potential.
26 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.
15 January 2010
Milan Vukmirovic debuted his first women's collection for Trussardi 1911 at the brand's newly opened Piazza della Scala concept store today. He's been showing his menswear at the label for a couple of years, and he used elements from that side of things as a starting point here, explaining he'd had girlfriends buying pieces from the guys' stuff. His Spring line for men was partly inspired by the American West, and here he used colorful Native American beading on the shoulders of cropped washed leather jackets, as well as a beaded photo print on a slinky jersey cutout dress and a ruched pantsuit.That last look might be a tough sell with the designer's gal pals, but there was plenty more that meshed with the edgy rock 'n' roll sensibility that the fashion world is vibing on at present, from a buff suede bondage-laced sheath and a denim bustier dress (handmade using patchworked faded jeans) to an easy jumpsuit and second-skin sweaters and leggings for layering. The shoes and bags take their cues from the collection, so they're embellished with fringe, hooks and eyes, and tie-dye detailing. Trussardi may be just shy of a century old, but there's nothing stodgy about the direction Vukmirovic has in mind for it.
26 September 2009
The words "Trussardi-wearing hipster" aren't ones you hear too often. That could change, at least if the recently appointed creative director, Milan Vukmirovic, has his way. At a low-key runway presentation in a candlelit villa, the shaven-headed designer, editor, store curator, and all-around global scenester said his goal was to inject some "soul" into the luxury brand's menswear. He set about that by using seductively dusky colors—faded blues, grays, olives, and lilacs—and by working a silhouette that consisted of a short, one-button jacket over a collarless, pleat-fronted shirt and pleated pants that were tucked into nubuck booties. Vukmirovic dubbed the look "new folk," underscoring his theme with long scarves and floppy hats, but it also brought to mind half-forgotten New Romantic bands like Spandau Ballet, and by the end the collection had veered dangerously into New Wave territory. Only Peter Murphy in his Bauhaus heyday could have pulled off the full leather suit, and the black leather shirt with contrasting white collar and red leather tie might even have scared Gary Numan.With outfits like these, which would work better in a magazine shoot than real life, Vukmirovic threatened to squander the word-of-mouth buzz that had built among editors and retailers after last season's under-the-radar debut. Still, that was only half the story of this collection. The real focus was less on concept than on individual items: closely fitted bombers in black or tobacco-brown leather, crumpled cotton coats in navy or gray with clever military details, a terrific camo-printed duffel. Vukmirovic even attempted to rehabilitate that most overexposed of basics, the cargo short, cutting it in lightweight corduroy. There was a sense of anonymous cool to these pieces, in keeping with the designer's stated intention of producing discreet luxury. Whether or not cargo shorts can ever have soul is another question.
23 June 2008
Founded in 1910 as an upscale glove manufacturer, the Trussardi label always brings to mind old-school workmanship and classic elegance.Having said that, the house is also visibly out of sync with the fashion moment. For Fall, Trussardi suggests a variety of leather-trimmed calfskin coats, suede shirts with awkwardly twisted button closures and half-velvet/half-suede cocktail numbers. Some pieces, like the thin turtlenecks, sharp leather skirts and little punched-suede dresses, will work fine as luxurious staples. But others, including blazers and wool dresses with calfskin insets, simply fall flat.At a time when traditional labels are turning to a new generation of global-minded designers for inspiration, Trussardi could benefit from a similar jolt of adrenaline.
5 March 2001
It was a veritable fur-and-skin fiesta at Trussardi. Full-on luxury was the hallmark of a series of head-to-toe looks, like the sheared fur dress with python trim and matching bag and pumps that opened the show. Trussardi's logo, the sprinting greyhound, made a dashing appearance everywhere—from purse- and belt-clasps to printed cardigan twinsets and even cuff links. Evening consisted mostly of black satin dresses, also adorned with snakeskin trim. Massive fur and leather coats were accessorized with Trussardi's signature travel valises.
19 February 2000