At Genny’s spring show, the abundance of featherweight organza, flowing chiffon and drapey jersey were intended to conjure lightness — creative director Sara Cavazza Facchini’s response to harsh times, she said backstage.
A life-size white orchid — artist Marc Quinn’s “Geography of Desire” sculpture — stood front of the house in the post-industrial venue, an homage to the brand’s now-signature flower and an anticipation of the botanical motif recurrent throughout the lineup, printed on trenchcoats and blooming on see-through silk twill blouses.
Cavazza Facchini plays by a rule book the audience has come to know very well. One is sure to find the sartorial tropes subtly reconfigured and intended for statuesque figures like her own, including the high-waisted pants worn with a simple leotard and pearl suspenders seen here, the sensual, body-sculpting mini frocks and the subtly revealing flowing gowns.
Among the latter, models walked the runway in see-through organza numbers ruched on one side only and bearing a big flower at the hips — the ethereal character of the Genny woman coming to the fore.
Less so in the strapless minidress dotted in chunky multicolored rhinestones or the column dress made by a bow-bearing bra and fluid skirt edged in sequins.
What has been often missing in previous collections were every day’s options that gave a sense of what the Genny woman is when she removes her makeup and combed hairdo and trades the red carpet for a grocery store stroll.
Not here. The number of pajama-inspired pieces left the biggest impression. Cut in clean and unfussy silhouettes — think breezy shirts and pants, lingerie-inspired shorts, shirtdresses with bell sleeves — in creasy cotton or striped silk, they expressed a girlish attitude that looked refreshingly younger and cooler than most of the spring lineup.
In Cavazza Facchini’s quest to find balance between ethereal romanticism and sensual femininity, she often ends up exploring too little of both, but a third contender came under the limelight here, and to the best effect: charming daywear.
