Boglioli presents its new season collection through Adriano Russo’s catalog – pictures enlarged and garments displayed side by side with mannequins – in an adjoining Annual retrospective room to Vincent Peters portrait. It’s always fun to see an exhibition at the Palazzo Reale (other current exhibitions focus on Hieronymous Bosch and Max Ernst), but at first the decision seemed like a marketing misdirect. As you meander through a curation of near100 Peters portraits by fellow Vogue Alessia Glaviana, all framed with a sculptural mastery of light, tone and detail, your eyes don’t seem to be Not immediately ready for tailoring and its soft-clothes clutter.
But Boglioli, located kilometers from Gambara 100 Milan, is not a company that relies on superficial immediacy. As you can see, the costumes and Russo’s affinity for next-door portraits gradually become suggestive. A tawny cashmere coat has been garment-dyed to create an almost dialogue with the surrounding light and shadow, with shadows and lights in touch. A mix of aran fiber and cable-knit sweaters put a gentle twist on the more traditional expressions of their patterned structures. Boglioli endlessly returns to the theme—the unstructured ultralight K jacket of which he made his name—in oxblood herringbone sherpa, micron wool, wood-dyed brown, or monochromatic houndstooth Framed camel cashmere and so on in various ways such as grid and garment dyeing. Each release is recognizable and fresh.
The brand also strives to expand the depth of its offerings beyond the traditional focus on customization. Cashmere, velvet and corduroy composite outerwear—bombers, peacoats and parkas—were paired with five-pocket trousers in denim and more velvet. A riff on western dressing in denim and corduroy shirting and accessories seemed to the group the only rambling detail in an elaborate menswear assemblage that ended up looking just right.
