STORY BEHIND THE STYLE: MARNI
ORIGINS
35-year-old Consuelo Castiglioni began a business venture as an offshoot of Ciwifurs: her husband’s fur business. 32 years later, the Italian fashion house has achieved critical acclaim and established itself as one of the most distinguished brands, known for its exuberant use of color and print to create clothes for spirited individuals. Marni was not only founded by a woman, but named after another. Inspired by her sister-in-law Marina, Castiglioni remained at the helm of the house as Creative Director up until 2016 when she passed the title to Francisco Risso.
DESIGN DNA
Castiglioni had no formal fashion design training. Relying on her personal taste and interests as inspiration, she began using fur as a fabric for the “everyday” rather than extravagant, special occasions. With the ethos of crafting wearable art, Marni tapped super photographer Mario Testino for the Fall/Winter 1995 editorial, creating a bright and chic universe for the woman who dresses herself.
Marni’s Spring/Summer 1999 collection further solidified Castiglioni’s dismissive attitude towards commercial trends. Instead of pandering to the 90s obsession with the ultra sexy, Castiglioni swapped skin-tight uniforms for weightless silhouettes doused in metallic turquoises, pastel yellows, and sprinkles of florals against creamy linen. A breath of fresh air, Castiglioni and her team described the house “for a woman who has an individual spirit, not someone who is following trends… We like clothes looking like old friends.”
Just 2 years after the house opened up their first London boutique outside of Milan, the house expanded into a new country and gender. Menswear hit the market in Fall 2002, introducing the fashion industry to the Marni man. An extension of the women's line, chiffon ascots, patchwork prints, and textured layers created a new aesthetic for men that strayed from the traditional structured tailoring of other Italian houses.
NEW ERA OF MARNI
As Marni’s whimsy spread down Sloane street and your boyfriend’s closet, they were also among the first large fashion brands to think digitally. They launched their e-commerce in the mid-2000s, opening up the brand to curious shoppers internationally. Their penchant for the nonconventional and delicate things in life gained them a cult following.Iin 2012, Castiglioni’s calculated growth strategy paid off in a major way. The family business would sell the majority stake to Italian fashion conglomerate Only the Brave, or OTB, who is also home to Diesel, Maison Margiela, and Jil Sander. This acquisition resulted in elevating Marni’s sustainability efforts, product expansion, and brand experiences. With a new era of Marni on the horizon, a new appointment for creative direction was underway as Castiglioni stepped down.
in 2016, Italian designer Francesco Risso was appointed creative director for Marni after Castiglioni’s departure. The Central Saint Martins alumni had spent several years working under Miuccia Prada at Prada for womenswear before beginning a new chapter at the Italian house.
Risso is credited with modernizing Marni’s intellectual style to include even bolder prints and vibrant colors. Vogue’s Sally Singer described his work as “empowering and wild” as he crafted Frankenstein dresses out of mixed fabrics sutured together and mohair cardigans that marry delightful furs and prints like argyle and stripe.
Playing into artistic expression more than ever, Risso introduced the Marnifesto in collaboration with director Babak Radboy for the Spring/Summer 2021 collection. The project featured deconstructed, hand-painted garments personalized by around 50 autonomous creatives around the world to nurture the universe of Marni and simultaneously evoke community and honest individuality.
MARNI GOES ROGGE
June 18th, 2025 Francesco Risso stepped down as creative director after a decade-long reign with Belgian designer Meryll Rogge to take the lead at Marni. After working alongside Marc Jacobs and heading womenswear at Dries Van Noten, Rogge launched her eponymous brand in 2020 before her appointment. Led by women once again, Meryll Rogge sets out on a pursuit of creating a new persona for the house while uploading the Castiglioni's heritage.
fin.