Marco de Vincenzo makes rainbow magic

By

Dominique Muret

Published
Sep 22, 2019

The white light emitted by the sun is made up of nine radiation frequencies: two invisible – ultraviolet and infrared – and seven visible – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. Taking this scientific definition of light as his starting point, Marco de Vincenzo constructed a spectacular rainbow collection, presented in a powerful show on Friday as the sun danced on the canal at the Darsena, Milan's former river port. 
 

Wearing monochrome looks, the models walked with a slow and measured pace, creating the effect of a continuous wave. Due to the length of the runway, they arrived from afar, carrying their colour vibration all the way down to the bottom of the canal basin.
 
As usual, the designer, an optical effects wizard, played masterfully with light. At this late-afternoon show, the sun was high in the sky, reflecting off the water, as well as a pleated dress in silver-green Lurex, and elongating the models' shadows on the tarmac. Later, it shone on a pearl-fringed outfit with an undulating metallic texture, which flickered between bronze and gold. 

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The sunlight pierced through a shirt and skirt combo in South-Pacific-blue organza, worn over a spaghetti-strap dress in the same shade. Elsewhere, its rays skimmed over a tight-knit white dress, bounced off the little silver balls that decorated a frilly cream dress like polka dots, filtered into the pleats of a train which opened like fan, and caressed a glossy teal shirt-dress.

Without a doubt, the most successful part of the show was its run of some fifteen looks in the colours of the ocean, progressing from lead grey, mouse grey and cornflower to a range of blues - azure, sky, electric, sapphire, royal, gitane, peacock and Tiffany - before diving into opaline green and celadon. 

"I've always dreamt of putting together a human rainbow. There are 47 women, each dressed in a different colour. Starting out with the limitations imposed by making completely monochrome looks, the challenge was to create variety through the textures," explained de Vincenzo to FashionNetwork.com.

"I chose four basic materials, knitwear, organza, chiffon and Lurex, and I transformed them with applications, special treatments in relief, perforations and laser cutting," he continued. His work with knitwear was particularly interesting, resulting in some loose-knit dress and 3D wave effects. 

From the start, de Vincenzo sent out clothes for the sophisticated lady. Perched on platform sandals decorated with precious details, the Marco de Vincenzo woman never leaves the houses without her pretty little transparent gloves and delicate organza headscarf. 
 
Sometimes she treats herself to an ice-cream in the same colour as her outfit, which is usually a skirt, a dress or a suit. Little knitted ensembles with crop tops and slit skirts are a particular favourite of hers. 

The show ended beautifully, with the full rainbow reconstituted in its totality as the 47 models assembled on the runway... before scattering to the winds forever