Marni

MILAN, September 28, 2004
By Sarah Mower
With her country-fresh pink cheeks, bird's-nest hair, and enviably serene smile, the Marni girl projects an easy, all's-well-with-the-world outlook. Step over her threshold, and you're in a place of slightly batty loveliness, where clothes have the touching resonance of sunny days, and getting dressed seems like a series of happy accidents.

Designer Consuelo Castiglioni picked up her spring vibe from a couple of handcrafty, nostalgic artifacts: a Hessian place mat naïvely appliquéd with birds found in Portobello market and a bright-green flower-printed cotton sixties swimsuit from the L.A. vintage store Jet Rag. She teased out the essence of those oddly contrasting artifacts and wove it in to her existing passion for fifties kitchen-curtain prints, mattress stripes, and glitter-shot fabric.

Result: a collection of pretty egg-shaped skirts, Empire sundresses, duster coats, and shrunken knits, often pulled together with sparkly belts or a humble piece of string. The Hessian table mat turned up as a burlap, birdie-embroidered skirt, and the swimsuit pattern in cheerful printed terry boleros and frocks. Castiglioni also made her first excursion into eveningwear, in bunchy pearl-gray taffeta dresses. As with everything else in this collection, they were charm personified.

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