The Loro Piana Spring Summer 2021 Collection is on the move. It depicts the wardrobe of a man – Italian in roots, borderless in outlook – who is active and nonchalantly elegant; a man who travels across situations, from mildly formal to informal, and across seasons, keeping an unmistakably light, natural spirit and a defining taste for easy sophistication. The movement, this season, is essentially a story of rich, natural colours that gain further depth in the choice of rich, natural materials for streamlined shapes. Silk, lustrous and flexible, is interpreted in full-bodied double fabrics and in soft knitting yarns, while linen is used for shirting and suiting. Materials such as cashmere, wool and bistretch wool are crafted, treated and interpreted in garments that enhance their extraordinary character.
Comfort, as ever for Loro Piana, is mandatory. The silhouette is lean yet soft, for a wardrobe that encompasses faultless outerwear, broken suits and deconstructed shirt jackets, knitwear and leisure suits. Texture comes to the fore: even on the simplest crewneck sweater, elaborate stitching and different weights create movement. Cuts are precise, with an eye on the shapes designed for travellers. Matching tops and pants create a sense of dynamism, while soft tailoring as well as the trademark buttonless polo shirts hint at the personal style of Sergio Loro Piana, a true icon of Italian nonchalance, giving the collection an individual feel, in continuity with tradition and openness to the new. Double fabrics are used to craft unlined, lightweight and performing garments, playing with the insides, the details and the colour contrasts, adding another element of playfulness.
Colours follow a movement that starts with warm hues of beige, rust that fades into orange, dark red and green and goes into shades of blue with accents of yellow. As the weights get lighter, the tones become colder, in a dominance of greens, from petrol to bright to aqua, light blue and cold shades of beige, plus grey lit by touches of yellow and cherry red. Finally, as summer explodes, a full palette of pastels unfolds in a feast of masculine joy. Accessories such as the Open Walk shoes crafted in wool and knitted linen sneakers complete a collection that gives a painterly patina to a dynamic style with a tactile feel.
The Loro Piana Spring Summer 2021 Collection is a journey, in every respect. As the clothing moves from the light weights and the mild layers of spring to bloom into the joyous weightlessness of full summer, so the colours shine brighter and brighter, conveying visions of just another journey: a quintessentially Italian one, along the riviera, going south on the coast, circling enchanting lakes, reaching marvellous islands and resort locations by the sea. There is this idea of ben vivere, which Italians have mastered in the fifties and sixties and carry on until today. The message is one of joy and elation, conveyed through pieces that retain a sense of energy and uniqueness: essential items that carry the summer spirit within them and that, as such, are must-haves of the seasonal wardrobe.
The whole collection is a tribute to colour and detailing, essential elements of the Loro Piana DNA, interpreted in ways that are innovative and fresh while preserving the integrity of a unique savoir-faire. The silhouettes convey a sense of ease: the sporty freshness of parkas, coats, trenches, jackets and anoraks that flow and gather at the waist either with a belt or a drawstring; of effortless belted coats, kabans, capes and vests in different cashmeres; of cashmere jumpers and tops or polos worn over capri pants; the spontaneous elegance of dresses and shirtdresses blooming in botanical print or swarming in charming embroideries that are crafty and precious. The colour palette begins with shy, muted tones of springtime, inspired by the sophisticated shades of the riviera at the beginning of the season – notes of peanut butter, ginger, pale rose, baby blue, boreal green, greenstone – and then brightens under the warmth of the summer sun to finally end in the glaring joy the Italian sea – bright white, gold lichene, gentian blue, oxalis green, sunrise pink, peach blossom. The juxtaposition of the different tones through colour blocking and graphic details evokes a landmark of Italian ben vivere, nodding at Gio Ponti’s tiles. The colours speak through the fabrics: not only cashmeres and Baby Cashmeres, but also linens and silks, jacquard cottons, popelines and silk jerseys. Shoes with a graphic heel, lace-up espadrillas and embroidered sandals and bags are a defining complement to the grand tour. Like a journey that unfolds one stop after the other, the elements of the Loro Piana wardrobe are layered into a polymorphous message that pleases all the senses, at once.
