As he always approached his own designs in the past, Arthur Arbesser’s new collection spoke of personal encounters. The designer dedicated his fall outing to an 86-year-old woman he used to be fascinated with as a child. Arbesser enthusiastically recalled rigorously observing Ms. Kaesser outside the windows of her silverware, glasses and custom jewelry shop. “I learned through her what a window could do to a shopper. Everything oozed quality and exquisite taste,” he said during a studio appointment. Exhibiting his work for the last time within the walls of Piazza Sant’Ambrogio 16, his longtime workplace, while going back to his childhood memories felt like coming full circle. Scattered in a luminous room, his clothes bloomed among a few striped chairs he personally designed.
It was last September when Arbesser stumbled upon this legendary lady at a gallery opening in Vienna, where he is originally from, and he took the chance to finally declare his admiration. “She wasn’t that severe, strict lady that I feared. She was fun and funky, and told me about her creativity and how she started the shop. That’s when I decided to shoot part of the lookbook on her and in her apartment,” he explained.
The aim this season was to make clothes that tell a story and don’t necessarily need to look like 2024, but rather feel timeless, with lots of grace, personality and maybe a touch of nostalgia. A recurring print in the collection depicted glasses that Ms. Kaesser stored in her kitchen paired with a few flea market finds, reworked digitally to include a pinch of irony. Thick brushed mohair jacquard knits and shiny metallic quilted jackets found space next to an aquarelle painted take on a classic checkerboard, made alive by layering printed tulle over printed fabric.
On the other hand—as Arbesser felt an urge for elegance and more dressy, formal shapes—big ruches along the hemlines appeared on voluminous taffeta skirts, dresses and on a trench in structured Japanese nylon. “Ms. Kaesser told me about her silk taffeta obsession and what an intelligent material it is. I must say I agree: it stays in shape and it crinkles in an elegant way,” said Arbesser.