So, other than queues out of the door, what can the shopper expect? Pilati’s tailoring – his bailiwick – is louche for him and for her, paired with silk shirts or slender scarves. There are leather dresses and kilts, oversized faux chubbies and strings of pouches doubling as a necklace and unintentional snack holders. Plenty for the traditional buyer – chic eveningwear and office-appropriate shirts and cardis – as well as colour-block trousers, a grommeted jacket, and a dramatic cape for the more adventurous dresser.
Simple enough, it’s clothes you want to wear that can easily blend into the wardrobe you already have. “I wanted to do something that is daytime, but could also be for a cocktail or the evening,” the designer says. “Or maybe it’s dinner with friends or at somebody’s house. I like the idea that it can adapt to the situation.”
And don’t forget the shoes – “50 per cent of the silhouette,” the designer states – from over-the-knee lace-up boots and heels to comfy patent loafers. “You can have an amazing dress with the wrong shoe, you look like crap or you can have a shitty dress with a fantastic shoe and you look great.” Write that one down!
With a powerhouse designing the clothes, the accompanying campaign obviously needed the same gravitas – enlisting Gisele Bündchen and Steven Meisel to join the action. Classic black-and-white portraits capture the designer and supermodel looking like the hottest married couple (bisexual panic!) on the planet, while each takes a turn modelling the menswear and womenswear collection solo. It’s one of a handful of highlights, Pilati shares, from working on the collaboration. “I’m very curious about how it’s going to be received,” he says. “I can’t wait to wear it.” All of it, he promises.
Now that the design legend has flexed his muscles a little, will we be seeing him add more to his already impressive CV? “Possibly,” he teases. “Random Identities has a very precise mission – affordable clothes for a younger generation – but approaching design in a way that is more luxury, I’m thinking about it.”
With the current creative director moves – Chanel is still yet to announce its replacement for Virginie Viard – it’s news that will excite his fans (this writer included!). Maybe those Instagram posts were a hint after all… “Stay tuned,” he concludes.
Photography by Steven Meisel.
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