The setting screamed "edgy": a dingy underground car park with a rubberized floor that, for some inexplicable reason, the production staff doused with a great deal of water. And some of these looks did exert a certain toughness via cherry red boots, tight jeans, and beefy three-quarter-length outerwear—a softened skinhead equation. But the hard edge was soft-centered. Despite the styling and the staging, Alexandre Mattiussi's collection looked easy: easy to wear, easy to want, easy to like. Blue pinstripe suiting, a denim trucker jacket, parkas, metallic shirting, a herringbone over a hoodie—all not far from prosaic, but finely finished—these pieces were here to seduce rather than stun. Mattiussi was promiscuous in his choice of pant silhouettes, and one ankle-flashing drop-crotch seemed a little OTT. That's subjective, though.
Afterward he said: "We are sold all over the world—Japan, the U.S.—and I have learned from my customers that they want softer fabrics but that they want to keep it light. So my work for this collection and for Ami is to make a nice outfit for people who want to wear a simple and elegant way." Note he said, "people," with no recourse to gender. Several female models on his catwalk wore not Pre-Fall but menswear, tweaked a little to fit. "The thing is that all my girlfriends are wearing men's clothes," said Mattiussi. And why not?
