Luca Faloni’s new spring-summer campaign takes to Lecce’s stone-hued streets and Baroque buildings
For its SS22 campaign, the Italian label ventures to the heel of Italy to showcase its latest wears, from linen shirts to silk-cotton T-shirts
Words: Josh Lee
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For its new spring-summer campaign, ‘Meet Me in Lecce’, storied Italian clothesmaker Luca Faloni has journeyed to the heel of Italy’s boot. Here, the brand has taken to the sun-washed Puglian city, a destination home to just under 100,000 inhabitants and renowned for its cream-hued stone streets; ornate baroque architecture that’s faced with colonnades and crafted from soft, local stone; the distant gongs of church bells; and hidden piazzas whose intricate, carved designs act as portals to the region’s ancient past. And helping facilitate days full of wandering the narrow, beautiful networks of this city is an elegant, practical selection of clothes that can be worn for those everyday moments, from that first hit of espresso in the morning to the post-dinner aperitivo in the evening.
As has always been the case, as symbolised by its evergreen ‘Timeless Collection‘ of menswear essentials, Luca Faloni’s latest campaign is defined by a commitment to crafting its stylish clothing in a timeless, traditional way. Faloni, whose eponymous brand has become synonymous with an elegant, classic style, grew up in Italy and from an early age was embedded with a love for artisanal craftsmanship and quality of fabrics – but it was only when he began living abroad that he realised not only that these principles dear to him were rare and less accessible elsewhere, but that Italian labels had also stopped relying on the unique skills of local artisans.
As such, to counter this trend, Faloni decided to blend Italian craftsmanship and style with modern distribution channels, drawing upon heritage makers, artisans and producers across Italy in order to make exceptional, high-quality clothing available throughout the world. “Our pursuit is to deliver superior craftsmanship and create a true ‘Made in Italy’ proposition’, states the brand, which is to say pure cashmere and silk-cashmere from Cariaggi, pique from a mill in Veneto, full-grain leather from Santa Croce, in Tuscany, and a variety of other sources that are also steeped in tradition and whose slow-fashion aesthetics help facilitate Luca Faloni’s sustainable ethos to clothesmaking.
For the brand’s spring-summer campaign, the focus lies firmly on lightweight materials that are suitable for the heat and balmy climes of the sunny months ahead. 100 per cent pure Linen, which is sourced from a third-generation north-Italian mill, is present throughout, notably in the brand’s iconic ‘Portofino’ shirt which is available in summer-friendly shades such as safari green and dusty pink; a pair of tapered tobacco ‘Lipari’ trousers; and the Bergamo-made ‘Ravello’ shirt, which combines the classic features of a conventional shirt (cutaway collar and mother-of-pearl buttons) with the flowing outline of a kaftan.
Not only are such items breathable and lightweight, keeping you cool when you want to dress up in unforgivable heat, but the material will also become silkier and softer over time, too, allowing such garments to become staples for your wardrobe for years to come.
Focus is also given to linen jersey – which is finished with aloe treatment to further ensure a soft, luxurious finish, as seen in the ‘Elba’ polos – and silk-cotton, which is defined by its natural stretch and silky finish and whose lightweight blend is made in Lombardy using techniques that have been used for generations. A selection of T-shirts, ranging from shades in nocciola brown to midnight blue, pay testament to this distinctive material, and their wear-with-anything, effortless aesthetic allows them to pair well with any one of Luca Faloni’s most recent pieces – a notion that carries on the designer’s philosophy of creating garments that work season after season, despite what the trends might say otherwise.
So, even though it is often said that summer is a time to experiment with your wardrobe – from colours to patterns to fits – if you’re after pieces that will last for years to come and can be worn in any destination you’re in, from your home town to the heat of Lecce, Luca Faloni’s latest offerings might be the new-season foundations for you.
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