“I think we can turn something negative into something beautiful,” says Antonio Tarantini, who did just that for his deeply personal fall collection a little. The death of his beloved Nona turns the designer’s world upside down. “She was my world, and my biggest fear was losing her, and when she left, I was literally paralyzed,” Tarantini said by phone. “I remember one time, I closed my eyes and I tried to imagine myself, and I tried to think, well, you’ve got to keep going; you’ve got to do something. The snake was my fear and it really immobilized me. So I said, ‘Maybe I have to put this snake in real life and fight this snake to overcome my fear. From then on, I started creating the series. I said, ‘Let’s face this fear, let’s try to make it real.’” (Interesting, but Thom quotes The Little Prince this season, The snake Browne also helps the protagonist of the story to move on.)
So some fierce looks are done in custom green jerseys and are paired with black Threads are intertwined to evoke the shimmer of reptiles. The creatures’ dark power, strength and “animal feel” are all embodied in a coated jersey that looks like faux leather – ATXV’s signature material. The snake-print sweaters (and a cute midi bib with a snake at the waist, but not in the lookbook) were handmade by friends Tarantini met while working with John Galliano, and they even have a small head. They flesh out the fall story, but they also relate to the designer’s lacy cutouts from last season. There is also a dense snake pattern, the first pattern the designer has used, which makes perfect sense within the frame of the product, but is not as striking as in knitwear. Perhaps that’s because they’re flat, and at their core ATXV is a brand that emphasizes stretch, movement, and fabric treatments that emphasize three-dimensional bodies.
Tarantini does his own draping, and this season, the creation of the collection was like an exorcism with physical gestures. “I decided I had to hang my clothes in another way, in a rougher way,” explained the designer. He imagined the soft, sensual fabric as a snake, which he physically manipulated through buckles. “I decided to block the snake with power, and that movement for me was blocking my fear and freeing me.” (The use of buckles on the slit-sleeve shirt and “fear hunter” pants can also be seen as referring to Another extinct life force, that of Vivienne Westwood, though that was not the designer’s intention.)
Not only metallic threaded knits, but wool pinstripes ( A fabric taken from Tarantini’s childhood memories, which, he noted, also provided a necessary contrast to the sensuality of his clothes) and tulle. The tunic made of it has the flowing and flowing feeling worn by Botticelli Primavera,
the three goddesses of beauty, but, paired with slim pants made of Japanese fabrics, It has a bit of a bite – but no venom. Tarantini explained that he was drawn to transparency in part because others might not be able to see their own pain. “For sure, there are a lot of people who have moments like mine,” he said. “I find it nice to talk, to be together.” For Tarantini, it’s fashion that facilitates this genuine exchange.
