Lara Mullen Showcases Marni's Spring 2019 Collection, Lensed By Chloe Le Drezen For SSAW Magazine

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Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

Model Lara Mullen is styled by Roxane Danset in Marni for ‘These things take time’, lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019. Marni’s Creative Director Francesco Risso is interviewed for the issue about Marni’s new youthful, broken-down look.

In 2018 Risso’s new look for Marni was described by Wallpaper as visually very much in keeping with the SSAW editorial. “Show sets have featured metres and metres of scaffolding, while invitations have come with fabric and thread. The message? This is a work in progress. “

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

Set up in the mid-90s by Consuelo Castiglioni and her husband Gianni, the Italian label became well-known – and much loved – for its unconventional shapes, clashing prints, ugly shoes and statement jewellery, with gallerists, architects and fashion creatives among its dedicated fanbase. In 2013, though, it was sold to the Italian fashion group Only The Brave, owned by Diesel founder Renzo Rosso. Castiglioni walked away four years later. The Guardian Feb 2019

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

‘I never liked to wear things as they were, I had to somehow cut a piece out of it or change it. I still do that. My boyfriend sometimes finds cut-up pieces at home, or hems on the floor, sleeves discarded. I can never feel comfortable unless I have made something my own. I was always like that – there was a time where I also attacked my family’s wardrobes, tearing up my sisters’ clothes and my mother’s clothes.’ Francesco Risso, Marni

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

A cheerful soul, who is as obsessed with stories as he is clothes, Risso has no desire to flip the house on its head with an aesthetic U-turn. To most, Marni is synonymous with ‘intellectual’ fashion. Risso is keen that this shouldn’t change. ‘Consuelo (Castiglioni) was trying to make pieces of clothing that would stand out from common stereotypes – this is as important to me. My method starts from a narrative, and with any narrative there are meanings and layers of meaning. It can be naïve but at the same time really conceptual.  Wallpaper online. March 2018

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

It’s a good moment for Italian fashion, given the buzz around new appointments and rebooted houses. ‘Five years ago, Milan was the most boring place in the world,’ Risso says. ‘There is a great new energy. The city has really made a big change in terms of what art is offering, what creativity is offering. It seems that people would rather come here than Paris or London.’ Wallpaper online. March 2018

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

The designer’s latest womenswear was in part inspired by Tate Britain’s 2018 show All Too Human, featuring the work of Francis Bacon, Lucian Freud and Jenny Saville. The idea of bodies and flesh was central to the clothes. Risso and his team researched sculpture and statues across the ages, collaging images they painted on with their fingers to create the surfaces of skirts or sundresses that look like collectible art pieces. The Guardian Feb 2019

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

Before Marni, Risso spent almost a decade working for Miuccia Prada. “The most fascinating thing about working with Mrs Prada was the surfing of brains. We used to sit down for months, talking, and trying to express ourselves,” Risso says. His role at the influential label was vast and broad. “It was an incredible experience. She taught me to go to my brain. Suffering a bit more, but in a good way – pulling all the secrets out of the brain!” The Guardian Feb 2019

Lara Mullen wearing Marni lensed by Chloe Le Drezen for SSAW Magazine March 2019.

Related: Marni’s Francesco Risso Debuts a New Retail Concept Rolling out Worldwide