United Colors of Benetton, under the artistic direction of Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, showcases “Blended Future” FW 2020 collection
Pelota Via Palermo, Milan
A magical date, perfect for Benettons “Blended Future”: – an exhilarating mix, a positive butterfly effect that spans from the designer’s creativity to the product, by way of the store windows, the customers, street style and social media. Here is Benetton style in all its immediate freshness. It’s fashion founded on ‘demo-lution’, a word I invented, a combination of ‘democratic’ and ‘revolution’, says JCC. “It won‟t be your everyday catwalk”. I liked the idea of a breakaway event for 2020 – the fashion show as a single act of communication is too simplistic for these times. I like to tell stories – about the world around us, about materials, colours, people and cross-pollination. We’ll have 30 models, 30 mannequins and an installation, all sharing a common aesthetic. I wanted to illustrate the power of visual merchandising, which has always been part and parcel of the Benetton philosophy. This event will be much more than runway show: it will take you into to a world where fashion, culture, music and social media meld and intermix. As JCC explains “Content Creator Goldie Williams will take over our IG profile, and there will be an experience area where people can take photos with the looks that have just been presented and post them straight onto social media. At the same time, electronic musician Jonathan Fitoussi will play for us.”
The venue for the event was Pelota in Via Palermo, one of the fashion capital’s iconic locations and the ideal setting for staging the future according to Benetton, where carry over pieces, basic and more on-trend apparel blends into a single style idea. As the designer says, “It‟s a flexible, shared and fluid style without divisions, like today’s culture. A mix of art, fashion, museums and street. An amalgam of camouflage and Mickey Mouse prints, college-style stripes and Bambi’s face, our iconic colours and super chic shades of camel, as well as animalier prints and the designs of my great friend, Keith Haring, an artist whose identity chimed with Benetton’s original vision and whose style has always been blended.
The Treviso-based brand‟s celebrated technical expertise will obviously be at the forefront: from knitwear with lurex inserts and embroidered jacquard patterns to fabrics that include double-face neoprene, printed raincoats and soft eco-leather, as well as meticulously crafted accessories. Because Benetton‟s Fall Winter 2020 is truly Fashion for Everybody, a nomadic style, free and hybrid, to experience and share. For citizens of a world without walls. There’s no future without happiness.
