Miaoran Men’s Fall 2018
Former elementary school teacher and art curator Anniva Anzi, 64, smiled backstage as stylists smoothed her hands with creams and adjusted her wool blazer — she was about to make her catwalk debut as a model for White Show Special Project designer Miaoran.
“The idea to have people of our age on the same stage as young models in their teens and twenties is pure genius. These clothes are comfortable and they just make me feel good,” Anzi said, explaining she is the mother of designer Miao Ran’s friend Marta Achini, a freelance stylist.
Wool, cotton and linen were the materials chosen to best convey this genderless collection, which adapted Italian tailoring heritage to the needs of a contemporary urbanite. The fall-winter lineup was marked by whimsical yet rugged silhouettes, with lazy, unfinished hems and shaggy seams.
Ribbons and ties asymmetrically held togther tartain plaid and printed denim ensembles that were envisaged under the aegis of a “hunter and gatherer theme.”
Jovial bow-tie flats for both women and men infused the collection with a sense of levity.
At just 30, his young career has already been promoted by powerful talent platforms like Pitti Discovery and Vogue Italia’s Who’s on Next. Sartorial tailoring is his passion, the designer explained, noting that he does his own pattern work by hand.
Self-starters like Ran are always on WHITE organizer’s radar. Case in point: 2016 guest designer Irakli Rusadze, the Georgian designer behind the Situationist label, who made most of the collection in his apartment by hand and never studied at a fashion school.
Born in Shanxi, China, Ran earned a degree in fashion design at the Politecnico di Milano and a master’s from NABA, where he teaches. After a stint in the Missoni style department, in 2014 he created Miaoran.
“We need to find the relationship between clothes and people,” said Ran backstage. “My clothes are for people of any age.”
Launch Gallery: Miaoran Men's Fall 2018
Related stories
Milan Men's Fashion Week Fall 2018: Designer Inspirations
Roberto Cavalli to Host One-Shot Coed Show in February
Salvatore Ferragamo to Host Coed Show in February
Get more from WWD: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
