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Francesco Risso is stepping down as Marni’s creative director after 10 years at the brand, owner OTB said in a statement Wednesday.
The Italian designer succeeded Marni founder Consuelo Castiglioni, leaning into the brand’s eclectic energy and bold use of colour while eschewing its focus on pared-back, elegant silhouettes. His aesthetic was crafty, with many looks that appeared hand-made, unfinished or put together from scraps. Traditional motifs like florals became bold statements when scribbled or hand-painted in intense hues.
While some devotees of Marni’s previous wardrobe never got on board with Risso’s take on the brand, the fashion establishment mostly embraced the designer, whose texture, creativity and sense of narrative stood out in the ultra-commercial Milan fashion calendar. In later seasons, his youthful, art-school-inflected universe gradually became more refined, with sculptural, red-carpet-ready looks infused with Risso’s raw aesthetic.
Building a consistent business around Risso’s off-kilter sensibility appears to have posed challenges, however. The brand attracted new fans in markets like the US, where its fuzzy cardigans and fur-covered mules were a hit with menswear fanatics. But those wins were rarely enough to power a network of nearly 100 stores. During 2021‘s post-pandemic luxury boom, OTB called out the brand’s rapid sales growth (up 29 percent) before going back to its usual practice of omitting the label from its annual results.
