Marni launches the Marni Miao capsule collection of womenswear and accessories

Dear Members and Friends, 

The China-Italy Chamber of Commerce (CICC) is pleased to share an article published by our Member Marni.

More than a year in the making, Marni launches the Marni Miao capsule collection of womenswear and accessories - part of a wider project stemming from a creative dialogue between Marni’s creative director Francesco Risso and the Miao communities, which also spawned a photographic document in the form of a book, lensed by Jack Davison. 

Marni Miao is a collaboration based on the will to honor a community and its unique craft. The Miao communities are keepers of centuries-old artisanal traditions, expressed through embroidery, lace, pleat-ing, weaving and silverware. As inhabitants of the Guizhou region of China, the Miao minorities own a vastness of knowledge that is unknown to outsiders and that deserves attention and celebration. 

Marni Miao is a selection of pieces of clothing and accessories in which the deconstructed shapes of Mar-ni meet the dense colors and intricate motifs of the Miao symbology, in a stream of consciousness that draws captivating patchworks and precious jacquards all over the surfaces. The collection consists of ar-chetypes such as the shift dress, the tunic, the pinafore dress, the long leather coat, the short coat, the jean jacket and the t-shirt, in a palette of bright red, purple, black and white, with touches of electric blue. Made prevalently in silk, these items – which Francesco Risso has made part of the wider Marni lexicon and interpreted anew, every season through collages, patchworks and raw hems – are now in dialogue with the preciousness of the Miao motifs, which are either turned into blown up jacquards or worked as applications and embroideries. 

The result is at once rich and raw: a keen transposition of traditional patterns into a contemporary ward-robe. The same motifs are applied on bags, thigh-high boots and fussbett sandals. Each item - the selec-tion includes jewellery, too - becomes an artifact that bears the sign of the hands that made it. While pay-ing tribute to the traditional Miao culture, the collection brings the ethics of ever-transforming Miao to contemporary lives.

On the occasion of the launch, the Jack Davison book will be reissued, presenting Marni Miao as a wide-ranging cultural celebration. The pictures will be part of an exhibition, entitled Song Flowers and curated by Liu Hanwen, highlighting the dialogue and collaboration between two cultures, and reflecting on the marvelousness in the Miao craftsmanship that transcends time and space. Through Jack Davison's lens, spectators will see the Miao culture evolve in a modern context, as the lives of members of the minority unfolds before their eyes: wild lotus flowers growing wantonly in a wetland against the state-of-the-art transport network; a Miao woman concentrating on her embroidery; hung cables across the Miao com-munity; various free-ranging animals in the community. The concurrence of modern life and ages-old tra-ditional culture is striking, as well as inspiring. Song Flowers depicts the Miao exquisite culture, highlight-ing the richness of cultural diversity. 

Kind Regards,

CICC Team