Why last night's Martine Rose show was one for the ages:
known for embracing and assimilating the south London rave and reggae subcultures she grew up around in the 90s, music has always been at the heart of Rose’s brand. At her Autumn/Winter 2023 show last night – the designer’s first outside of London – British hardcore segued into Italian house music, with models storming through the Mercato Nuovo, a Florentine open-air market dating back to the
mid-1500s that had been kitted out like a “louche” nightclub, with lush chartreuse carpeting and panelled mirrors. “I had to bring my London past,” Rose said backstage of the show’s soundtrack. “There’s so much about music that brings us together … it unifies everything.” On the runway, Rose’s outsized tailoring was back, inspired by 1980s New Wave – she is widely credited as the brains behind Demna’s oversized silhouettes at Balenciaga, where she began consulting on menswear back in 2015 – including one rather hilarious ‘BuyOneGetOneFree’ blue jumpsuit, which gave the thrifty illusion of a two-piece suit from the front.
A triumphant hybrid of Italian and British sensibilities, there was one especially cheeky show detail that brought the Martine Rose brand of humour home: back in the Renaissance, the Mercato Nuovo hosted the pietra dello scandalo – a place where those who couldn’t afford to pay their debts received public bum spankings.