Marni’s Spring-Summer 2025 Show at Milan Fashion Week Was a Search for the Sublime

Marni’s Spring-Summer 2025 runway at Milan Fashion Week was a bold quest for the sublime, where the concept of beauty was redefined with every step.

Hours before the much-anticipated show, an enigmatic message appeared on Instagram: “The lights seem iridescent, and a faint sound of piano surrounds me.” “If you follow it, you’ll find me where it all began.” With these words, Marni plunged us into a narrative where a lost character awakens to the beauty around them. This prelude set the tone for an experience overflowing with creativity and wonder, creating an atmosphere as unexpected as it was magical. On the screens, seemingly unrelated images were projected: balloons, cacti, a dog with its stuffed toy, and shoes floating in a visual limbo that heralded the immersion into a dreamlike universe. Francesco Risso, Marni’s creative director, broke the barriers of reality and invited us to see the world with the innocent fascination of a child. Thus, a physical space at Milan Fashion Week transformed into an abstract dimension, a modern fairy tale, full of mystery but tangible enough to be touched by the eyes. The soundtrack, composed by Dev Hynes and inspired by Julius Eastman’s compositions, was performed live on piano with Sharleen Chidiac and Adam Tendler, adding an emotional layer to the visual and aesthetic crescendo that defined the show.

On the runway, there was no traditional catwalk with models walking briskly. Instead, Marni offered a surreal spectacle where the models resembled characters from a dream. Moving in groups, blending with the environment and each other, iconic figures such as Eva Herzigova, Irina Shayk, Paloma Elsesser, and Anok Yai took on new, almost fantastical forms. Their looks were stories in themselves: bicorn hats that evoked Napoleon’s headgear or boat-like structures, feathers that accentuated movements, exaggerated cartoonish brows framing faces, and painted roses unfolding as prints on garments. The details didn’t stop there. Luminous, three-dimensional appliqués, pages torn from books and hand-pasted onto clothing, portraits of Dante Alighieri, and even an illustration of Bambi all contributed to a unique aesthetic where the familiar and the fantastic mixed audaciously. Marni managed to deconstruct the idea of beauty, fragmenting it and then elevating it to its purest form.

The garments on display maintained a simplicity that emphasized their visual impact. Capes, voluminous skirts, elastic dresses, skinny pants, and exaggerated shoulders outlined the body’s shapes without constraining them, creating silhouettes that seemed to flow as lightly as air. This approach contrasted with previous collections, offering a refreshing and more essentialist take on Risso’s designs.

Throughout the venue, the phrase “Beauty? Boooo!” appeared in several places, a clear nod to the playful nature Risso infused into this collection. Beauty became a surprise, a visual trick that both astonished and amused. “Beauty is like a white rabbit running through your garden. You chase it, and even if you don’t catch it, in that chase you discover a wonderful place,” Risso wrote in the show’s notes. For him, beauty is not a destination but an experience, a continuous process of discovery. “Beauty is a speed, not a destination. And Marni’s romance lies in the ephemeral yet persistent desire to chase rabbits.”

With this show, Marni not only presented a fashion collection but also offered a visual and philosophical meditation on beauty, desire, and the human experience, making it clear that the true magic of fashion lies in its ability to transform the ordinary into something extraordinary.

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