MENSWEAR LABELS TO WATCH
LABELS TO WATCH
BRANDS
MAGLIANO
An alumnus of L.UN.A (Libera Università delle Arti), Luca Magliano interned at Alessandro dell’Acqua
in Milan before launching his own brand, Magliano,
upon his return to Bologna. His focus is on updating sartorial essentials of the Italian male wardrobe: think a reworked suit, a gilet and a shirt. Inspired by the films of Pier Paolo Pasolini and Vittorio de Sica and the novels of Pier Vittorio Tondelli and Roberto Calasso, his collections reveal iconic identities such as the Latin lover, the bully and the Neapolitan scugnizzo. The A/W 20 collection continues to explore the new take on traditional tailoring, offering nineties-style suits with unfinished details, pockets turned inside out, asymmetric velvet vests and shirts that feature stitching in a rich palette of deep purple, olive green, emerald, burgundy and brown. The label is represented by the OTHER/ WISE showroom in Milan and is sold at Machine-A (UK), Sugar (Italy), Soop Soop (Canada) and others. www.magliano.website
PETJA ZOREC
Even small nations harbor some huge talent: the multi-award-winning designer Petja Zorec founded her label in 2014 in the Slovenian capital Ljubljana. With a mix of traditional and technical materials, her looks effortlessly incorporate seeming opposites: business and leisure, classic and avant-garde. Not forgetting gender roles: her sportswear-inspired menswear line is also popular with female customers. In her A/W 2020 collection, called ‘Case 2805’, masculine jackets, shirts and pants meet transparent feminine tulle tops and overtrousers; deconstructed knitwear allows plenty of skin to show through, and graphic patterns such as plaids and stripes take flight on delicate fabrics. Zorec is an advocate of slower fashion cycles. This is partly why she plans to continue producing in small volumes while simultaneously expanding to European retailers in the coming years. At present, the brand is sold at the Pentlja Concept Store in Ljubljana. Zorec’s designs can be seen at the I.Dea PR x Fashion Scout Showroom in London and at Ljubljana Fashion Week. www.petjazorec.com
RANDOM IDENTITIES
After working for Armani and Prada, and his stellar tenure as the Creative Director at Yves Saint Laurent and then at Ermenegildo Zegna, the celebrated fashion designer Stefano Pilati launched his first independent project: Random Identities. The line’s signature stark silhouettes, monochromatic palette and rigid cuts – accompanied by footwear capsules made in collaboration with Birkenstock and with Li-Ning sneakers – caused a furore at Pitti Uomo 97. A/W 20-21 saw novel oversized shapes for the suit (realized in bold colors such as yellow and orange), fluid coats, bomber jackets and pants with a military attitude, yet in soft and luxurious fabrics; all of this garnished with a slight touch of gender ambiguity – think cinched waists, sheer tops and provocative accessories. “This ‘power of silence’ is in direct contrast to the disruptive maximalism and its insistence on creating generations of ‘aspiration’ which I find obsolete, inelegant and counterproductive,” Pilati explained. The label retails at Dover Street Market and SSense. www.instagram.com/randomidentities