Above us, a drone whined and twisted, its rotors producing enough air to blow the strands of ostrich feather collars worn on some models’ lips. Another drone was at our feet, this one with wheels. It clinked and clanked while it forwarded and reversed so that we could catch a glimpse of the mono boot and split-toe contracolor womenswear heels. This boot was a contoured EVA foam Puddleboot, which was an updated version of a similar piece launched a few years back. F1lthy created a slow-burning, snare-rattling beat for the models. He had received images of the show venue, a richly-decorated, but nearly-derelict, church at the edge of the town of Saint Victor and the Forty Martyrs.
Only 70 people were present at the first Matthew Williams’s brand show in Italy, 1017 Alyx9SM. It was a bit of a return for a label that Williams founded in Ferrara in 2015, with Slam Jam’s Luca Benini before the design studio moved to Milan two year later. All its shows before the pandemic were held in Paris. Williams said, “But Milan was our home for that period, and now, we’re here, which is cool.”
The collection was consistent with those past Parisian promena