“Every fabric has the idea of metamorphosis and transformation,” explained designer Gabriele Colangelo backstage before his show. “It starts in one way and finishes in another way. It is a balance between heavy and light, masculine and feminine, finished and unfinished,” the designer elaborated.

Colangelo himself is a bit of a transformative Italian designer. Unlike many of his compatriots he isn’t interested in referencing the past or dressing the Signoras in classic looks. He is a modernist with a minimalistic sartorial outlook and a soul that craves creative embellishments.

This season the modern artist Colangelo decided to use as inspiration the French photographer Laurent Segretier whose distorted digital images he discovered at an exhibition at the hip Paris store L'Eclaireur.  “I liked the idea of the poetic imperfections,” explained the designer.

What this translated to on the catwalk was a rather experimental show that had its hits and misses. The looks that worked were those that played with transparency, like a long classic gray coat that slowly melted into shimmering translucent fabric at the hem, and a sleeveless cream alternative with a raw hem and sheer panel appearing in the middle. Or a burgundy striped knit sweater that used the model’s skin as the secondary shade.  Good too were the fur pieces (the designer’s family are furriers) and the rounded boxy tops.

But it was when Colangelo began to cover everything in glossy nylon that this show began to move away from looking luxe to something a bit more low class. It was a minor stumble for a designer who has clear potential.

- Jessica Michault