It’s a characteristically grey and wet November day in London. However, in Shoreditch’s Protein Studios, where Uniqlo and Marni are presenting their second Technicolor collaboration for the first time, it is like stepping into a minimalist’s Land of Oz. Greeting me is Marni’s creative director, Francesco Risso, who arrived from Milan minutes ago. ‘I have been missing London so much,’ he says. ‘I’ve got many friends here, it’s great to see them. When I’m here, I also love to visit Tate, of course. But one of my favourite places used to be the old Central Saint Martins library on Charing Cross Road — I would spend hours there.’
The 39-year-old Sardinian-born designer studied at the prestigious art college under Louise Wilson, who taught the likes of Phoebe Philo, Christopher Kane and Alexander McQueen on the MA fashion course. After working at Blumarine and then Prada for eight years, Risso took the helm at Marni in 2016, bringing a frenetic use of colour, painterly prints and hand-worked techniques to the brand. Each season it is as though a multimedia artwork has exploded on to the catwalk.
