1. Au Jour Le Jour
Founded in 2010 by design friends Mirko Fontana and Diego Marquez, Au Jour Le Jour offers both men’s and women’s wear collections that blend luxury fabrics and details with the fun of statement prints and bold colorways. Big on zoo animal motifs and prints, as well as high definition jewel decorations and embroidery, the Milanese brand believes: “Made In Italy, is not a detail but a style statement, which stands for excellence and uniqueness.” Their clothes have even been snapped on the backs of Lily Allen and Solange Knowles. AW15 Au Jour Du Jour’s Fall/Winter 2015 collection at Milan’s Palazzo Reale was big on story play, re-telling the disco sub-culture that danced through the city in the late seventies. Retro mini-frocks, shimmied with flares, while long pencil coats hypnotized in psychedelic micro-patterns. The collection’s motif for Fall was vinyl with record-inspired bags rolling slimly next to the sides of models. Key fabrics included red python print PVC; black mohair; lycra neon zebra prints; leather look smocks; and lightweight foil gold quilted coats. 2. Stella Jean Part Haitian, part Italian; Stella Jean is a Rome-based designer who cut her fashion teeth as a model muse for Egon von Fürstenberg. Taking inspiration from her multicultural heritage, Jean’s signature aesthetic merges creole motifs and ‘wax’ fabrics with Italian tailoring – particularly in men’s wear. She has an eye for classic feminine tailoring too; cinched-waists and dirndl skirts infused with bold tribal prints and color. Last year, her women’s wear collection for SS14 joined in with the International Trade Centre's Ethical Fashion Initiative; printed fabrics were sustainably sourced, hand-crafted and aided trade workers in poor African communities.AW15 Taking a trip to the Himalayas, Nepalese handicrafts and oriental opulence clashed almost paradoxically, in Milan for Stella Jean. Tailoring was masculine, made from grainy tweeds (some with tassel pom poms) and embroidery made from the wool of the region’s yak. The overcoats and shearling tartan-look jackets hung over matte trompe d’oeil animal prints; while slim, longline skirts in textural wool took on beading and embellishment at the hem. Traditional poncho knitwear turned into coats too; multi-colored fringing framed the edges. Head-to-toe Nepalese religious prints saturated high-neck, floor draping frocks in satin to round out the collection. 3. Marco de VincenzoRoman designer Marco de Vincenzo has risen steady in the Italian fashion ranks in the past few years. After working in the Fendi studios on accessories lines and having his designs shown for four years under the Italian brand, de Vincenzo went solo, before receiving a cash injection from LVMH Group last year. He is a couturier at heart, but humbly works hyper-technical craftsmanship (learned from while making leathergoods) into his women’s wear construction. And he is big on fabrics, which he develops himself.AW15The denim at Marco de Vincenzo Fall/Winter 2015 was luxury patchwork at its finest. Wide-legged pants were first sewn of pieces of Italian-made black or blue denim, then roughed up to fade the seams and deconstructed. Each piece was dyed again to mimic muddy yellow, orange and violet. Finally, the pieces were re-sown into pants or coats. Silk fringing returned again this season, acting as seam trimming on tailored skirts or the necklines of a pinafore frock. Embellishments were strong: cabochon studs on shearling jackets, diamond embroideries on lace dresses and wool coats, and laser-cut tunics and skirts woven into checks clashing color panels.