For his sophomore outing at Fondazione Sozzani, Francesco Murano detoured into androgyny, drawing on the sleek Art Deco glamour of Tamara de Lempicka. Openly bisexual, de Lempicka rose within an almost entirely male artistic milieu with a strikingly modern style; her subjects were enigmatic, poised between masculine and feminine archetypes.
Murano conceived the lineup as a gallery of portraits, where his enduring fascination with Greek classicism met his signature sensual bias cuts. Bodies were swathed in languid silk-jersey drapes recalling the sculptural sensuality of Madame Grès and Madeleine Vionnet. “What captivated me most was de Lempicka’s treatment of Art Deco glamour,” he explained. “Apparently decorative, yet rigorously pared back and form-driven. Through chiaroscuro, she sculpted the body with clarity, mining classicism while recasting it in a modern key.”
He translated this vision into elongated, razor-sharp silhouettes, further informed by the photography of Horst P. Horst and George Hoyningen-Huene, where figures read almost as shadows, intensifying the sense of verticality. Last season’s ribbon motif evoked futurist movement; here it turned architectural in structural segments that extended and refined the body line. Angular geometries introduced a sculptural edge, with pointed details reinforced by a soft internal wire that allowed the garments to be subtly molded rather than constrained.
Draping—where Murano excels—was more controlled, anchored by structures that heightened the contrast between fluid jersey and classical tailoring. Masculine inflections emerged through strong shoulders and precise construction, while the silhouettes remained fluid, bias-driven, and seductively stripped of ornament.
