Gabriele Colangelo made it all the way into the top 10 finalists of the LVMH prize last year. Proof positive that this designer has something to contribute to the global fashion narrative. This season the feedback that he took away from that formative experience helped him to hone his fall/winter 2015 collection into a polished and proficient production.

“This season the collection has two directions. One is the line of the garments and the other is the choice of fabrics,” said Colangelo before the show. “These are usually the two main points of my work, but in this case there is a little difference. Usually, the choice of fabrics dominates the lines. But this time the opposite is true. There is a development of volumes and forms in the collection that, combined with the fabrics, is much more subtle.”

True indeed. This collection was much starker and purer in its minimalistic tendencies than anything that Colangelo has done in the past. He let his noble fabrics, impressively constructed, show their strength with a sartorial whisper.

The designer folded back, tucked under, twisted, split apart and bonded textiles together with impressive results. A case in point were his trousers, which — granted, were a bit tricksy — broke open at the hemline, up and over the pointy-toed ankle boots, to give a novel sense of movement to the pants that caused front row guests to sit up.  Also worth a shout-out were the micro-laced ensembles inspired by the work of the artist Nicolas Hlobo. From afar the workmanship looked like a print. It was only up close that one realized that every line in the chevron pattern was a hand-laced embroidery.

This urban nomad collection once again underscored the depth of talent pumping through Colangelo’s veins. Is there anything harder to get right than a collection that tries to achieve a minimalistic maximalism? This designer found a way.