A common thread among Pitti guest designers is that the experience of showing in Florence, in one of the city's unique venues, often brings out new expressions. They like to pay homage. As Pitti Immagine Uomo’s guest designer, Kolor's came in the form of print, though characteristically subtle.



Junichi Abe for the stage of his spring collection selected a moonlit bright green futsal pitch flanked by a high wall onto which four different images of each model were projected as they made their way down a bright blue runway, to the frenetic sounds of a Radiohead track. Just beyond the wall was the velodrome where Carven presented its collection last summer.



The audience was tangibly transfixed from the get-go, not by any sartorial theatricality, but more by the quiet modern elegance of the covetable, real-life designs.



Opening with an apricot and white printed cotton mac over a cropped gray pant and white shirt, accessorized with gleaming sandals embroidered with metal threads, the line brimmed with new propositions for urbanites, tricked with soigné details like bands of color edging blazers, elasticated cuffs on shirts and side fasteners on silky cardigans.



Cleverly mixing leisurewear with tailoring, the looks, as they floated by, had the ease and lightness of sportswear though elevated by noble Japanese materials, going from crinkly blazers fitted at the waist and a papery sky-blue trench to cool black pants in a rigid technical nylon.



Abe's nods to retro Hawaiian prints spanned bright green florals cut up and rearranged to form striking patterns on shirts and blazers, sometimes broken by blocks of color, to washed motifs in somber hues on pants, shirts and coats that drew the eye. Gray jackets and pants were spliced with sections of bold florals at the hem or waist, while a drop shoulder monochrome striped shirt, its lines not quite meeting up, added graphic impact.



- Katya Foreman