Prêt-à-porter Donna
Spring/Summer
“I could describe this collection in a single phrase, an expression halfway between fantasy and memory: ‘a sailor of romantic temperament who has fallen in love with Hawaii’. Thus, the sense of the uniform, the sleekness of white and navy, the freshness of piqué, the crispness of gabardine all stands in contrast to the languid, feminine shapes that arise from the natural gesture of wrapping and fastening. And the freedom to adopt an attitude suggests the utmost gentleness of behaviour”.
Gianfranco Ferré
1989
The pieces. The voile or organza shirt with piqué plastron over soft trousers in crepe or silk satin. The white-and-blue striped pullover worn with satin trousers. The striped sarong-skirt teamed with piqué jackets and the striped scarf from which little tufts of flowers emerge. The broad-pleated tulle skirt, sprinkled with “moonlight”, like the traditional blue marocain suit.
The materials. Marocain, tricot, lightweight wool, satin, cotton voile or organza, perforated suede, sheer silk gauze.
The workings. Embroidered piqué effects on shirt fronts. Waxed-cord macramé. Iridescent taffeta worked in honeycomb effects for mannish jackets. Decorations, ribbons, metal bandoliers.
The colours. White and navy reflected in strange, fantastical decors; red joined with navy like an emblematic pennant. Multicoloured exotic flowers. And absolute white, the most classic navy, the perfect black.
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Prêt-à-porter Donna
Fall/Winter
“I began designing this collection driven by a strong yet indistinct desire: lightness, the soft whirling of knit and fur, the silent force of certain colours... beige, black, white, grey, red. A range of classic tones that evoked unexpected materials. Compact, yet with relief effects; designed but not printed; soft, yet not limp… materials that express themselves through volumes. Games of assimilation, with precise optical echoes. I liked the idea of underlining an instinctive predisposition for eccentricity yet stripping it of any emphasis through a sporty attitude”.
Gianfranco Ferré
1989
Along pathways of illusion and secret parallelisms, black and white naturally spill into zebra stripes. Camel – full and dense – sways and moves until it becomes a magical spotted motif of mysterious origin. Flannel grey, naturally marbled, merges into the craquelé logic of the elephant – in endless pleats and minute wrinkles. Brown takes on the transparency and plasticity of ostrich skin through new techniques, veils, point d’esprit.
In the realm of invention, as in the magical world of Henri Rousseau, the “Douanier”, foxes – printed and inlaid – spontaneously create new furs and markings. Zebra swells, voluminous, interlacing fox and fake fur. Tiger emerges from the chaste union of different hairs. Lapin, lined with georgette, is printed like jaguar.
On the edge of illusion, between fantasy and memory, the real-fake reflects the fake-real: mixed with tweed, python builds indefinite surfaces, scale upon scale. Cut into strips and applied onto knit, crocodile reveals a supple, yielding nature. It is reinvented, too, through quilted velvet and heat-printed gazar. Inlaid zebra lines the easy jacket like a robe de chambre – or energises the pony-printed trench.
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