Who else can we count on for bursts of color and miraculous, maximalist silhouettes that make one rethink the very concept of wearability? During Milan Fashion Week, the title belongs to Marni creative director Francesco Risso, season after season. The designer has been making a strong case for oddly eccentric, weirdly wonderful fashion since he took the reins in 2016. But even before that, the brand has historically leaned into the intellectual, arty side of whimsy. Risso did just that once again for Marni’s fall 2025 show held on February 26.
During the show, models wound in between the small tables where guests sat with cocktails in hand, as Dev Hynes aka Blood Orange played lighthearted background music. Each season, Marni drives home the concept of character casting with a crew of recognizable and unique faces. Amelia Gray opened the runway, while Tracee Ellis Ross, Paloma Elsesser, and Dara Allen paraded through the space in swan-like gowns draped with colorblocked stoles, chunky furs, and pleated skirts that had major movement.
The collection spoke to high-volume silhouettes and punchy, loud colors. Given Marni’s predilection for all things arty, it made total sense that there were artist collaborations involved. For the occasion, the brand partnered with visual artists Soldier Boyfriend and Olaolu Slawn, the latter of whom uses spray paint to create pop art pieces with mesmerizing, melting faces. These prints were seen on the backs of fur-trimmed coats, plastered on blazers, and transferred onto dresses.
Highlights included some seriously joyous Frankenstein dresses, which looked like they had been cut out and pasted back together by a curious child. There were pleats, wonky textiles, and fun features like scarves, which trailed far behind the models. A red sequined hibiscus bloomed from a matching scarlet gown while a fur-trimmed coat with a spray-paint print fell off the shoulder.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Marni show without a little bit of menswear, too. Risso focused on structured tailoring in off-kilter colors this season: a long coat in soft pink with an ochre collar and a bright red suit covered with an embroidered sequin rat, for instance. Leather trench coats were split down the center in contrasting colors: one side brown, the other black. And many carried top-handle, ladylike bags that mirrored a doctor’s case.
These were clothes to make you question shape and rethink form. Where does the coat begin and where does the gown end? Layered and piled on top of each other, there was a raw sort of realness that felt totally fresh.
