Valentino and Berluti Alum Aldo Maria Camillo Goes Solo in Florence
ALDOMARIACAMILLO Gallery
Clearly an admired fellow—several connected movers insisted perhaps a bit too insistently that his would be a show worth seeing—Aldo Maria Camillo has certainly earned his spurs. Two stints at Valentino, one at Ermenegildo Zegna, another at Cerruti, and finally a consultant role alongside Haider Ackermann during his brief but beautiful Berluti chapter prefaced the launch at Pitti Uomo tonight of his own namesake label.
The show was held in a raw concrete space behind Stazione Leopolda and the looks were undeniably pretty strong. The collection was entitled Radici—roots—and in that press release Camillo talked about borrowing his dad’s tailored jackets and admiring Helmut Lang and Martin Margiela. Matching wool greatcoats for men and women, deep arm-holed fine-gauge vests, very nicely tailored slim-fit suits in olive wool—especially beautifully cut in a ventless jacket for women—and a post skinhead marinière vest worn above slim-fit cotton pants and painted red zipper boots were all convincing. A moleskin work jacket with action shoulders starred in an all-red look, a tightly cut white three-button topcoat reprised that role in a look that came in all-white. There were some nice, expensive-looking crackled-finish brown shearling jackets and gilets with black panel details, and little leopard print aside.
It all looked very professionally done, as you would expect from a designer with a CV like Camillo’s. But what is going to truly compel men to buy into a new luxury menswear marque when there are so many out there already jostling for attention? Like all agenda-setting fashion designers, Lang and Margiela told old stories (aka, you know, clothes) in voices so radically unconventional that they made everything sound fresh: If Aldo Maria Camillo can add that magic attribute to his evidently finely honed skill set, then he’ll be all right.
