Berluti applies rainbow-bright brushstrokes for dressing in a post-pandemic world

By now, the fashion community is well versed in distilling a fashion collection via the medium of Zoom. But no matter the ply count of that cashmere sweater, it’s hard to communicate a message about luxury products in digital format.

Thank heavens, then, for Kris Van Assche’s take-no-prisoners approach at Berluti. “You could say it’s pretty eye-catching,” says the designer over video link from Paris, where his autumn/winter 2021 collection swung from rails like rainbow bright sentinels in the background. Colours, from Balearic sea blue to dusky sunset, drizzling into one other, flank the black-clad designer.

“Yes, we’re in glorious colour again, but this time with a difference,” says Van Assche of his shift - during his three-year tenure at the house - into exploring the history of the Paris bottier and its use of patinas via his own discoveries in the nuances of colour. The difference in question this time around was his collaboration with Russian artist Lev Khesin, whose arresting canvases use ombre colour gradients to ghostly effect.

That translated into the breezy jackets with painterly brush strokes swirling from burnt orange into purple and teal, or woven streaks like fantastical static across a coat made in silk. The painted effect was applied to bomber jackets, leathers and suits - if tailoring needs a bit of oomph to recover from the dress-down era of lockdown, Van Assche’s solution is to give it a shot of saturated adrenaline.

This being Berluti, with all the skill and artisanal arsenal that comes with the LVMH-owned brand, the collection isn't just about splashy shades for the sake of noise. That was evident in the dappled painted-effect in the weave of mohair knits, like Monet’s impressionist effect in fashion form.

Leather colouration has always been a hallmark of the house, which was founded by Alessandro Berluti in 1895. It is distinctive in its use of rich, nuanced patinas on shoes. Van Assche nodded to that shoemaking history via the use of a stitching normally used to fuse the upper part of a shoe to the sole on clothing, across coats and jackets.

Is this just the injection of hifalutin' fashion we need to shake us out of our lockdown uniformity come winter? “I certainly think we’ll want to dress up,” said the designer. “But maybe in a new way that’s not so traditional or formal.” In his own bold way, Van Assche certainly makes a convincing case for that.

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