For Bari-born, self-professed fashion victim Anna Dello Russo, fashion is not just a job but a way of life which she invites everyone to partake of in her disco-inspired video Fashion Shower.
The 50-piece collection is highly personal to Dello Russo who has even immortalised her beloved dog Cucciolina as a clasp on one of her collection’s turquoise clutch bags
Although she seems to have appeared out of thin air and burst onto the fashion scene in the manner of one of the fantastical creatures she so loves, Dello Russo actually spent 18 years quietly working at Condé Nast Italia before being elevated to her current role of fashion director and editor-at-large at Vogue Nippon.
Many have attributed her sudden fame to the rise of the fashion blogger and the street-style photographers, who love to take photos of the weird and wonderful – and Dello Russo during Fashion Week is most certainly that.
Dello Russo, who has a first degree in Italian Literature and Art History from the University of Bari, moved to Milan to attend the legendary Domus Academy and read for an MA in Fashion Design under the tutelage of Gianfranco Ferré.
She claims that one of her earliest fashion memories is asking her father for a Fendi umbrella to match the rest of the Fendi accessories he had bought her for her birthday.
Her incredulous father despaired at having been asked for an umbrella by his 11-year-old daughter – given it hardly ever rains in Bari. However, she insisted it was part of the “look”.
She reportedly took her brand new umbrella to school with her the very next day even though there wasn’t a drop of rain to be seen.
Although Dello Rosso’s first fashion memory involves an umbrella, her first accessory collaboration with retail giant H&M, which hit the shops last Thursday, unfortunately does not. However, true to her mantra, this treasure trove collection, coveted by fashionistas far and wide, is all about the excess that she so adores.
The 50-piece collection, with prices starting from as little as €19, is “vintage-inspired” and highly personal to Dello Russo, who has even immortalised her beloved dogCucciolina as a clasp on one of her collection’s turquoise clutch bags.
Among other things, this wondrous collection, which is certainly not for the faint-hearted, includes bags,necklaces and earrings that wouldn’t look out of place in a Bulgari show room, as well as the ubiquitous snakebracelets Dello Russo loves so much in hues of turquoise, orange and gold.
Furthermore, the collection also extends todisco-inspired shoes that wouldn’t look out of place in a1970s nightclub, highly decorative sunglasses andturquoise suitcases as opulent and elaborate asFabergé eggs.
H&M seems to be thrilled with the collection – some online items were already sold out within an hour from the launch – and was excited to see whether it would spawn the kind of frenzy earlier this year at the launch of its collaboration with Versace.
In a press release published earlier this year, the brand’s creative adviser Margareta van den Bosh said: “There is something feisty and over- the-top in this collection… Our customers will find it incredibly exciting and extravagant, with a precious vintage feel.
“Mostly gold, it is truly spectacular: these pieces will give a new life to everyone’s wardrobe. The idea is to have luxury you can play with at an affordable price.”
After all, who doesn’t need a fashion shower to make these grey October days pass a bit faster!