For the second consecutive season, the young stylist and designer Francesca Liberatore returns to New York Fashion Week as the Italian Talent supported by the DHL Exported Program. Her FW15 collection draws inspiration by today’s super hero woman; busy, confident and eclectic as she often is. Her show at the Lincoln Center was a feast of colors, textures and symbolisms complemented with some eye-catching statement accessories.
The winner of the prestigious DHL Exported Award stunned as with her signature pure aesthetic and conceived deconstruction, blending artfully history with innovation, simplicity with the complexity of our times.
Deriving imagery from history and infusing her creations with sporty elegance, Francesca describes the evolution of femininity and its essence as a source of heroism. The designer is seeking to empower women through a narrative of great figures that loved to charm, create and seduce. There is both a provocative element and a moral quest implied throughout the collection.
Such ideas are translated into strict tailoring, attention-grabbing outerwear, precise lines, and black & white deconstructed and enriched with prints akin to Medieval Knighthood. To achieve her vision, she uses various rigid fabrics, leather, furs, heavy jacquards and, for the first time, knitwear with the bold battle colors: red and silver.
With ease, Francesca’s woman can wear the daily fashionable uniform as well as outfits that show the audacious side of a Metropolitan Heroine who stands in between the sacred and the profane, but never without her signature piece: the miniskirt.
I loved her asymmetrical hemlines, subtle use of metallic, leather craftsmanship, smart use of trims and paneling, and her ability to create loose silhouettes that look super sexy!
Her magical time travel in a show featuring styling by Joanne Blades, a braided hairstyle by Jorge Luis for Cutler, makeup by Fatima Thomas for MAC Cosmetics, shoes by Repetto and YIN, nails by Pattie Yankee, original music by Ermal Meta and production by People’s Revolution, was a real treat! Discovering another promising talent amidst big designer names and the already established creatives, always makes me happy.
Francesca Liberatore made me also think of countless fearless ladies, working hard, going after their dreams in life, juggling all sorts of responsibilities, and yet maintaining a great sense of style as well as the lust for beauty!
Love!!!
Elena Sendona
