Few designers have the courage to bring back a silhouette so universally feared as the stirrup pant and then pair it with a curvilinear capelet (also a new spin on a silhouette). But Marni’s Conseulo Castiglione has no fear. She also made this loathed pant of the ’80s fit nicely into the sporty-luxe agenda she pushed for fall.

With the models’ wavy tresses and deep plum-red lips inspired by Daphne DuMaurier’s famed 1938 mystery-romance novelRebecca, the strong dame look was a complement to the updated lady-fied clothes. If Castiglione wasn’t pushing the proportions on the sleeves of a terrifically simple red sheath and a parade of printed blouses with bishop sleeves, it was in the way she scooped out the front of capes and coats.

Trim knit sweaters with athletic stripes sported those signature colour combinations that are pure Marni. Red, mustard, light blue and dark green, for instance, which were then worked together in a print pastiche on loosely belted dresses, blouses gathered at the neck and paper bag-waist skirts.

For all the silhouette-pushing, the overall take-away was one of elegance, albeit a colourful one. The typical “ugly” chic Marni shoe gave way to subtle pointy-toed pumps while the jewelry was just as varied and interesting as the clothes. Pearl strand earrings and organic-shaped gold, wood and gem baubles that clung to ears and bag straps.

For all the sporty elegance, though, you can’t keep Marni quirk down. And the two ideas can live nicely together. Here, it came via bold prints on spare shapes or the way she used mega sequins to jazz up ladylike suits.

From: Harper’s BAZAAR US