Carlo Volpi

“The grotesque image reflects a phenomenon in transformation, an as yet unfinished metamorphosis, of death and birth, growing and becoming. The relation to time is one determining trait of the grotesque image. The other indispensable trait is ambivalence. For in this image we find both poles of transformation, the old and the new, the dying and the procreating, the beginning and the end, the metamorphosis. The grotesque image remains ambivalent and contradictory; they are ugly, monstrous, hideous from the point of view of "classic" aesthetics, that is, the aesthetics of the ready made and the completed.”
This quote by philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin is a perfect summary of Carlo Volpi’s work: the designer has always been interested in all that is socially unaccepted or unconventional to redefine the canons of conventional beauty.
Throughout the years, the designer pushed the boundaries of knitwear, updating traditional techniques with advanced manufacturing technology and designed garments that surpassed the idea of gender identity.
FALL FROM GRACE, his latest a/w 17-18 collection, is a clear testimony of this: conventional knitwear and social stereotypes, like the old grannies who sit at home and knit, are questioned and subverted to create a colourful collection with Pop Art influences. The knitted sweater becomes the protagonist in Fall From Grace: traditional cables and moss stitches merge with thermal welded prints in polyurethane and screen prints, turning the key figure of the old granny into a modern Disco Sally of Studio 54 who goes out, gets drunk and substitutes blood pressure pills with ecstasy.
Colour is always a key player: for this season, the darkness of the night clubs and the flashes of artificial lights were the main inspiration. Deep reds, turquoises, oranges and yellows merge with large areas of black on sweaters, bomber jackets, hoodies and cardigans that resemble the colourful shell suits of 90’s ravers.