When she discovered the Trussardi archives, 32-year-old designer Ilenia Durazzi asked herself a simple question: “What would me and my friends want to wear?”
Durazzi was tasked by the Italian house to create a capsule collection for fall as part of its Beautiful Minds project, taking key Trussardi-style elements and giving them a modern spin. She succeeded: the house’s extensive leather archive was transformed into a boyish black peacoat and a chocolate brown sleeveless shirtdress. Durazzi also unearthed never-seen-before Trussardi floral prints and used them on patchwork silk dresses in black, white and gold, worn with edgy gold pendant earrings. Some of the jewelry clashed with silver details on bag buckles — “because jewelry should be worn in a spontaneous way, not really paying attention to what matches or not,” the designer said.
The accessories were real eye catchers: most silhouettes — including a pair of tailored shorts — were worn with sturdy riding boots, and models carried leather box bags, bucket bags or old-school umbrellas. References to Trussardi iconography were infused with humor: the Trussardi greyhound was spotted on a cute belt buckle cinching the waist of an orange quilted coat, and on a thin gold chain dangling from the belt hooks of a pair of purple jeans, which were bleached with a moiré effect. There wasn’t the usual stuffiness associated with heritage houses examining their archives: the collection was chic, subtly feminine and definitely wearable.