Marco De Vincenzo is finding his footing at Etro. “Our souls are merging, it’s a sort of magic moment,” he joked at a pre-fall appointment. After his first catwalk outing in September, which came just three months after his appointment as creative director, he’s taking the time to enjoy a deep-dive into the archives, which has brought about a more rounded understanding of the label’s fundamentals. What’s expected of him is to refresh the look of a brand that has not only a solid heritage, but an equally solid growth potential.
De Vincenzo’s mantra is “not destruction, but celebration.” He doesn’t go for any unnecessary tabula rasa, quite the contrary. Fascinated as he is by the label’s history, he’s focusing on what he believes is its most valuable asset: “What I want to celebrate is the patrimony of unparalleled knowledge of textiles that founder Gimmo Etro has provided the house,” he said. “It’s a wonderful legacy that I want to preserve and bring forward.”
The collection took shape when De Vincenzo found a scrap of a Gobelin furnishing fabric in an antique book of textile samples in an old wooden library, a place where he spends time researching and where he had the lookbook lensed. The jacquard patterns of the velvet-woven textile were blown up into almost kinetic macro renditions, or reduced into lilliputian micro motifs, and then translated into the neat shapes De Vincenzo favors: a ’70s-flavored three-piece slim pantsuit, a sharp-cut short little coat, a high-collared, capped-sleeved, cute A-line minidress. A standout of the allover-patterned proposition was a classic trench coat, worn over matching bell bottoms and paired with a humongous shopping bag that’s part of the accessories line the designer is keen on expanding (he’s also keeping his longstanding position as Fendi’s Head of Accessories).
De Vincenzo has never played on overtly complex, elaborated shapes or volumes, rather leaning into the precision of a minimalistic silhouette to enhance decorative boldness. The introduction of black gave the collection some pause from the quite intense visual impact of the allover jacquard textures. Decoration was toned down to finely embroidered floral trimmings, placed at the halter neckline of a belted minidress in thick black crêpe, or on the edges of a cropped, midriff-baring black bolero, worn with low-slung bell bottoms.
De Vincenzo is also exploring less traveled Etro routes, one being the masculine-inspired offer. He translated classic men’s shirting fabric into a quite eccentric flounced, frilly minidress, while his take on the tailored pantsuit was offered in a series of fluid three-pieces with a hint of the ’70s in languid silk velvet and embroidered buttons giving a touch of handcrafted preciousness. Rendered in jewel-tone colorways, they made for covetable propositions. So far, De Vincenzo and Etro seem to be enjoying their honeymoon phase; hopefully it will develop into a long lasting happy marriage.
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