AS THE orchestration of the physical into the virtual continues, Kris Van Assche, creative director of Berluti is intent on confronting the restrictions of our present reality with the brands A/W21 collection, which celebrates freedom and that act of crossing borders.
Entitled Living Apart Together, the collection was presented as a digital installation in Paris, featuring sterile white walls adorned with familiar social distancing signals. For this collection, Berluti collaborated with Berlin-based contemporary artist Lev Khesin, reflecting the artists tactile, vibrant creations in relaxed two-piece silhouettes and Geometric patterns.
The collection itself was a kaleidoscope of shades, with colour blocking in damson red, teal and indigo, and tailored suits dyed in an iridescent gradient finish. Also featured is a hand-woven leather jacket, striking cloche-like hats and an abstract Lev Khesin artwork translated into a hand-stitched coat.
Celebrated for crafting impeccable leather shoes, Berluti has used traditional shoe-making techniques to inform their designs, using patina to dye leather jackets, faded by hand and rendering a white stitch into the piping of quilted leather jackets.
Shoes feature an upcycled platform sole, with new sneakers in patina leathers, giving the collection a delicate opalescent finish.
by Sophia Ford-PalmerÂ