MILAN – You could almost smell the fried calamari and the sea breeze at Antonio Marras' Spring/Summer 2016 show that primed us for the type of Italian summer that dreams are made of and depicted the life of a Sardinian sailor.
Aged books by Edgar Allen Poe and Guido Tadini served as the rocks supporting two fisherman boats in the middle of a steamy white-tiled venue on Via Bergognone.
Models dressed in navy blue French berets and polka dot scarves, tablecloth printed jackets, and exaggerated cuffed jeans, illustrated the first chapters of the young seaman's life. His muse also made an impact on the runway with her roomy a-line mariner stripe dresses with delicate polka dotted lace.
"The collection tells a tale of a fisherman from Alghero, who travels from shore to shore meeting new people," Marras told NOWFASHION backstage, noting that the sailor leaves from Alghero, the Sardinian city Marras calls home and where he still resides and designs his collections. "The sailor leaves, but there is always that link. While he always wants to go away, he also always wishes to return," he said.
As the young man moves up in the ranks, he becomes more intellectual and set in his ideals as ever. Washed in military green, his uniform was more boxy and his pants strictly tapered. We also see him drift to distant shores, wearing Hawaiian prints reminiscent of the 1950s era films of Montgomery Clift.
An almost autobiographical collection, Marras' shared his islander spirit with the fashion community, demonstrating that he too has travelled all around the world, he has woven his experiences into his work, but his islander roots are what keep his collections grounded.
"Yes, nostalgia. That's always there," Marras said.
