Bal Harbour

Creative Director Francesco Risso carries Marni into a new era by embracing its wonderfully eccentric past. BY TALI JAFFE MINOR A Touch of Irreverence IT'S TRUE THAT DESIGNERS have been house-hopping at an ever more rapid pace as of late. But, it's far less often that a designer has the opportunity to take the reins from a brand's founder. at's exactly what happened to the young Genoese designer, Francesco Risso, when he was tapped to succeed Consuelo Castiglioni at Marni in 2016. Risso appeared to be destined for the position. A free-thinker with a family line steeped in fashion—his maternal grandmother was a well-regarded tailor in Genoa and his father an eccentric with a penchant for diamond-button cardigans and suits made from old mattresses—the 37-year-old designer is right at home at Marni, a house known for its bold irreverence. We caught up with Risso just before this summer's opening of the new Marni boutique at Bal Harbour Shops. What inspires your connection to fashion and clothing? I'm inspired by many different things. I am a very curious person. I read a lot and I'm obsessed with films. Sometimes I become fixated on the work of a single director and I spend my nights watching all the movies in their filmography. At Marni, when we source for inspirations, though, it's never to look for something that inspires us—it's more the psychological aspects that we like to investigate. In that sense, each collection explores some sort of state of mind, in intricate ways. In what ways has Marni established itself as a mindful design brand? Since joining Marni four years ago, I've tried to look at things from a different angle. Sustainability is a bit of a tricky word, and somehow it's been emptied as it became a battleground for self-promotion. At Marni, we've taken small, considered steps and slightly tweaked our decision making, taking the impact of our choices into serious consideration. Some changes have been easy to make, but others challenge the mechanics of our industry and are way more complicated to put in place. Today, it's impossible to tackle the problem only from one side; a so-called ethical approach must embrace all the aspects of the business. For instance, since 2018 we've been working intensely on upcycling materials. For the latest seasons, we have used fabrics from dead stocks, giving them a whole new meaning through our creative gestures. We looked for beauty in the leftovers. e women's Fall/Winter 2020-21 collection, for example, is collaged from beginning to end—it's a celebration of DIY! We created dresses made out of fragments of fabrics, including brocades woven on looms that were originally designed by Leonardo da Vinci. To me, mindfulness comes into place when we create clothes to be treasured, clothes that are valuable. What about the brand resonates most deeply with you? Probably its resilience in adapting to the times, but also as important is the ability to gather people around the brand. Marni has always been a welcoming label, in some way a "familiar" brand. It created an aesthetic that encouraged customers to express their ideals. When I became the creative director, I didn't want to impose my vision on the company. I observed it before lending my footprint. e company was very ahead of its time in its way of fostering a dialogue with its community. For me, it was just a matter of leading it towards a new future, preserving its free-spirit and adapting to new audiences. I'm driven by a concept I call "retrovolution"—which is about taking everything you've learned in the past and moving beyond it—and this is also what I am doing with Marni. Designer Francesco Risso "explores a state of mind" with each collection for Marni; Opposite, from left: vintage leather over-the-knee boot, Pebbles print dress, East-West shopping bag and an oversized shirt look from the Fall collection. IMAGES COURTESY MARNI 68 BAL HARBOUR

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