Emilia Wickstead put herself in the director’s chair for her pre-fall collection.
She reimagined what the clothes in Roberto Rossellini’s 1954 film “Voyage to Italy” would look like today if the film were remade in color.
“The collection is romantic and it plays on romance. I’m very much into interiors and artistic direction,” said the designer, who spent her childhood in New Zealand and teenage years in Italy.
Rossellini’s film is about an English couple, played by Ingrid Bergman and George Sanders, who are on the verge of divorce and traveling to Italy by car to sell a villa near Naples that they’ve inherited from a deceased uncle.
In recreating Naples through the couple, Wickstead used splashes of bright green, bubblegum pink and sky blue, as well as Neapolitan baroque prints and flowers that were produced in-house at Wickstead’s London studio.
The florals were embossed onto structurally statuesque-like dresses that emphasized the neckline and collarbone, which are prominent in the film as well.
The collection was a neatly mature one with rich detailing and fabrics with small elements of fun, such as a boucle jacket or an unbuttoned sleeveless cardigan that can be worn as a cape.
Wickstead used gold-foiled lace for two of the dresses. “It feels very Neapolitan and it’s flirtatious, [which is when] her husband looks at her in a different light,” she said.
The use of the vibrant blue checks on the shirtdresses were a nod to Sanders’ masculine character in the film that the designer softened with a paintbrush technique.
Dresses are the brand’s bread and butter — on and off the red carpet — but in more recent seasons, Wickstead has been introducing separates such as pocketed jackets, shirting or tops with a dramatic flair that still has the drama of her ladylike gowns.
The designer’s best work is produced when she’s being a cinephile, like her fall 2021 collection. She hinted there are more cinematic universes coming to her next show in February. We’ll be waiting with popcorn.
