Following the journey started last season, Santoni continues its collaboaration with Art Director and photographer Olivier Zahm (read interview here), who potrays singer and socialite Caroline Vreeland as a modern Marlene Dietrich. Playing with the timelessness of black & white and the suggestion of poses that evoke modern memories of stardust and striking resemblance, Zahm create a subtle short-circuit among Caroline, Marlene and Diana Vreeland, Caroline’s grandmother and iconic symbol of extreme and rigorous elegance. The message: fashion intended as an instrument of unlimited imagination and self-representation.
The tension between masculine and feminine elements, distinctive feature of Santoni’s identity, is intensified, polarized, and made absolutely in a research of seductive refinement. New balances spring from reinterpretation of style details that, out of proportion and context, create a new unexpected aesthetic.
Men’s lace-ups’ laces or brogue’s perforated piping are magnified, caging the foot in high heel sandals. The lace-up’s tongue is enlarged transforming into a slipper. Geometric indentations feature shoes of rigorous taste. Jais embroideries run through the fringes. Opulent pumps are filled with maxi-sequins imitating crocodile’s scales. The quest of the absolute knows no half ways. High stiletto heels alternative with flat styles. Shapes are round or open-toe.The rigor of design seals several elements in an expression of quivering balance, completed by a faded palette of blacks, blacks and whites and antiques burgundies. From Santoni’s patina calfskin to crocodile leathers, the material selection is unmistakable.
