Once a private residence in the center of Milan, Villa Necchi Campiglio is a jewel of modernist architecture and is now Tod’s second home, as its elegant interiors complement the refined collections of Walter Chiapponi Designing for branding.
At today’s presentation, the designer said he wanted to work on “elegant memory”. Chiapponi is not one for nostalgia, but he favors a certain elegant bourgeois style that would look at home in Villa Necchi’s salon. “Walking around town these days, I see that people don’t like activewear as much as they used to,” he reflects. “I’m not saying streetwear or sportswear is dead because they’re not. The idea of comfort and casual wear is here to stay. What I’m saying is that sportswear is no longer an inspiration for fashion designers with a certain cachet Source. It makes me happy,” he continued. “A relaxed and elegant form of tailoring is leading the way, even for the younger generation.”
For fall, Chiapponi focuses on a collection that “speaks rather than screams” , he said, depended on his flair for casual elegance. He offers a range of loose, cropped jackets inspired by ’40 silhouettes. Paired with slim-fit classic trousers, jacket cut près du corps in the finest leather, cashmere and wool. Variations on the theme included white leather iterations, a cropped version with knitted intarsia, a fitted bomber jacket with fur lining, and a piumino in the softest suede typically used for gloves.
Chiapponi highlights the hand-applied chiaroscuro technique to the leathers, giving them a patina and three-dimensional depth. “These are beautiful objects made with craftsmanship,” he said. “They don’t need to be loud to be heard; they’re almost silent. But there’s a lot of life inside each of them.”
