From 26 to 28 February, Lineapelle Designers Edition returned to Milan, bringing the exhibition organised by Lineapelle in collaboration with UNIC – Italian Tanneries back to the city. Nine fashion shows in which – often – leather ceased to be a mere raw material to become a language, a manifesto, an identity. Here is our best of
by Domenico Casoria
From 26 to 28 February, Lineapelle Designers Edition returned to Milan, bringing the event organised by Lineapelle in collaboration with UNIC – Italian Tanneries back to the city. Edition after edition, the event has established itself as one of the most significant highlights of Milan Fashion Week: a place where leather ceases to be a mere raw material and becomes a language, a manifesto, an identity. Originally conceived as a project dedicated to research and experimentation, today the format serves as an observatory for the new generations of fashion design. A laboratory where aesthetics, techniques and visions are put to the test, anticipating what fashion might become in the coming years.
Introduction
Let’s start with the basics. For three days, the Leather Fashion Hub in Piazza Tomasi di Lampedusa in Milan served as a sounding board: with leather at its heart, of course. As a living material, capable of absorbing biographies, tensions, fragility and desires. But also as a point of intersection with other materials. In this edition, the fusion seemed more natural than ever. Leather has returned to the centre of contemporary discourse, but with a completely rewritten vocabulary. And the nine collections highlighted its capacity to be a surface. For the body, for memory, as an emotional archive. The shows revealed an approach that oscillates between radicalism and intimacy, between brutalism and delicacy, between political gesture and emotional gesture. And for this very reason, rather than reviewing every collection, we want to share with you our personal top five pieces that struck us. In no particular order.
Our picks
Since“1972 DESA”, its focus has clearly been on durability and the creation of a tangible legacy. Ivana Omazic’s collection was entirely structured around leather as a form of soft architecture, capable of standing the test of time without losing its intensity. This is why the long black coat with a fur collar is the perfect embodiment of this vision. At Simon Cracker, however, the concept of memory was presented as a domestic yet radical gesture. Leather became a surface of friction, a place where imperfections are not corrected but displayed. Here, we admit, the choice was a difficult one. But in the end, a green leather jacket, midi-length with a belt at the waist, covered in graffiti, emerged as the winner: the designer’s signature.
Tokyo James brought a sharp, electric aesthetic to the catwalk, uniting Lagos and London in a single vibe. The leather, highly polished, was treated as a conductor of energy. But the garment we’ve chosen isn’t made of leather. We’re talking about an extremely long yellow coat, with an equally long yellow scarf that doubles as a head covering. Who said you can only wear black in autumn?
Aendör Studio, on the other hand, chose precariousness as its starting point. The Moving collection transformed the act of moving house (both physical and emotional) into a visual language of oscillations, protection and exposure. And what better way to tackle box after box than with a shiny leather suit? At Chronos Corps, leather has moved towards an imperfect future, made up of alloys, armour and grafts. A brutalist aesthetic that nevertheless does not renounce the possibility of rebirth. That’s why we’ve chosen a ripped skirt and a leather bomber jacket. Past and future.
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