My (dream) shopping list at Marni.com
1. Wool collar, 2. Wool crepe coat, 3. Sleeveless asymmetrical dress, 4. Printed jacquard skirt, 5. Printed jacquard coat, 6. Wool crepe appliqué top,
7. Resin flower necklace, 8. Acetate sunglasses.

Ever since I first heard of the launch of Marni's e-commerce site I knew this day would come. Once I had logged onto the website I could not stop until I had gone through literally every single category –both women's and menswear. To give myself a sense of purpose I decided to make a post of my favourite pieces. The funny thing is that, after doing this for a while, I found myself mentally dressing Viviana Volpicella. In my mind Marni and her go hand in hand.

One of the reasons why I love Marni so much is because it has such a genuine point of view and because you can always tell it apart from everything else without help from a tag. All the clothes and accessories have a real point of view and Consuelo Castiglioni has the best taste in the world when it comes to prints. But it wouldn't be fair to say that it's all about colour and funky prints. The more classic pieces like the black asymmetric dress to the right or the bomber jacket below are only shape-based. There is something so architectural and modern about the lines of the clothes and the way Consuelo uses colours and materials.

If, like me, you're a huge fan (Marni is a bit of a Marmite brand in fashion) log onto Marni.com and take your pick! And while you're at it take a look at Anticamera, Marni's quarterly online magazine directed by Carolina Castiglioni. 

1. Techno fabric bomber jacket, 2. Salmon leather clutch, 3. Resin bracelet, 4. Resin, glass and brass necklace, 5. "Prouvé Dot" t-shirt, 6. Patterned cashmere cardigan, 7. Lurex jacquard dress

Courtesy of Karla Otto

Marni is one of those brands that you either love or you just don't like. I say this every time I post about them because I feel like I always have to justify why I use the word 'cult'.

Consuelo Castiglioni, being the genius that she is, has just launched a jeans range for the brand. The style is very Marni with an accent on volume and a play with different materials —"The collection is composed of 2 silhouettes, skinny and regular, available in different washes and in a mix of denim and fabric".
I love the idea of a half wool half denim jean, anything to keep be warm and cool in the winter. My favourites, though, are the checked melange felt and denim piece (center) and the corduroy/denim one.

Are you a fan?

Marni-fique!

This season Consuelo Castiglioni wants to prove Marni's character is, in fact, timeless. And she's doing it by rescuing some of her previous designs (you could call them vintage), which she has named "souvenirs". It is being sold exclusively at Marni.com from yesterday 5h of November until the 2nd of December. What I love most about them is how scarily well they fit in with the rest of the FW10 line. Alas, I can't say this is a sale. You won't find many things below £100. The good news is most of the clothes are investment and transitional pieces that can work in any season. These below are my choices.

1. Silk crêpe polka dot blouse, 2. Metal and raisin brooch set, 3. Embossed silk asymmetric dress, 4. Lambskin leather trousers, 5. Brass bracelet, 6. Calfskin leather jacket, 7. Silk nude top, 8. Printed silk crêpe blouse.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Marni]

Luxury sportswear

Having seen a calmer side of Marni during the past few seasons it came as almost a shock when the SS11 collection went back to the house's über-eccentric roots. Consuelo Casteglioni, who created Marni in 1994, reminded her audience why her brand became a cult in the first place by bringing together sportswear and luxury. The models walked out turned into sophisticated scuba-divers wearing soft leather, mesh and wet suit fabric cut and ruffled like ordinary dresses and layered over cycling shorts. A fusion taken to the extreme on the maxi-sequinned looks toward the end of the show. Castiglioni made of colour play and prints a statement. The latter varied from the vintage to the contemporary pixelated florals. All of it quirkily topped off with swimming hats, Marni's infamous shades and chunky heels and aerodynamic hair.

I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com]

wear art

This is not the first time I talk about Marni's FW10 collection. In fact, I pretty much elevated it to the heavens in the review I wrote about it during last Milan Fashion Week. After that, we saw it in action worn by Sasha Pivovarova, Sean Lennon and Charlotte Kemp Muhl at the Met Ball. And now, after buyers have made up their minds and a bit over a month from the first of the Fall collections hitting the stores, brands such as Marni start to release further details about some of their products.

If you look back at the last collection from Consuelo Castiglioni you will remember how the designer included arty printed t-shirts to go with her innovative silhouettes and interesting colour palette. As it turns out, the designs of the t-shirts were created Gary Hume, a British designer known for his simplification of colour. An explanation is rather out of the question once one glances at Hume's work with Castiglioni's past of bold colours and simplified designs in mind, no?

I'd quite like to get one for myself had I not have to save the banging £437 they cost (even if they're made of silk). Would you spend that much on a t-shirt?
I'm off.

[Pictures: Style.com, AnOthermag.com, edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk, dogproject.co.uk, sumiki.files.wordpress.com]

italian cubism

March is a month that makes me happy. My birthday and the start of the spring coincide halfway through the month and that means I can start stocking up on items for the new season. This is why this morning I decided to post about one of my favourite collections so far —Consuelo Castiglioni's Marni. Nothing could be more glorious than a sunny London morning with a cup of coffee, Mozart's operas on the background, and Casteglioni's creations to behold.

Having a longer and closer look at the collection earlier this morning, a certain piece of art suddenly popped into mind. I see Marni as the clothing equivalent of Picasso's cubist reinterpretation of Las Meninas by Velázquez. Drawing similarities between Casteglioni and Picasso might be a daring thing to do, some might argue, but their creative processes are not afar. Just as Pablo, Consuelo has used staples and reinvented them by means of shape and colour. Like cubism, Marni is not apt for amateurs, it requires years of close scrutiny and appreciation. Are you a Marni acolyte?

[Pictures: Style.com]

I'm off.