IVO MILAN – Radical Fashion Blog

After an incredibly long and demanding day at Comme des Garçons, in the historic show-room on Place Vendôme in Paris, I decide to push through a bit longer and visit Manuelle Guibal at Quai aux Fleurs, inside the Ile de la Cité. I know it’s close, but I am so exhausted that I don’t even have the energy to search for the address on my historic map.

I take a taxi and let it carry me to the destination, without thinking about anything except how foolish I was not to choose the metro in order to avoid Paris rush-hour traffic. Close to my destination, a violent thunderstorm hits, one of those targeted storms, with clear skies on one side and threatening dark clouds, of course on my side. It delivers its final blows: just enough time to get out of the car and cross the streets, I find myself drenched from head to toe.

Weary, cold and slightly disheartened, I step into the lively Guibal’s show-room. My “Bonsoir, IVO MILAN”, cuts through the buzzing chatter, drawing surprised faces and wide eyes toward me, making me feel like a mere shadow of myself. At that very moment, a warm male voice dissolves any hesitation and greets me with a single, simple question: “Champagne?”

I love telling the story of how the collaboration with Manuelle Guibal began, because her world is just like this: joyful and marked by a welcoming rhythm, instantly familiar, full of complicity, professionalism and deep involvement. The Maison is like a family, a gynaeceum of women where Manuelle reassures and uplifts each one, listening with passionate and tender gaze, curiously observing how her clientele responds to each seasonal offering and enjoying getting to know their diverse backgrounds.

The designer works with color, interpreting it across different styles and fabrics, presenting it in a way that is both captivating and desirable. The creative soul – she also is a sculptor and a painter – and her sociable nature allow her to easily connect with local artists. As a result, painter Manon Gignoux’s brushstrokes often appear on the cotton canvases of voluminous dresses and shirts.

It’s a comforting, urban language that strongly embodies a vibrant yet relaxed Parisian esprit, evident in the choice of natural fabrics: cotton, silk, and washed linen, often iridescent, layered and enriched with bright or muted tones, always offered through a distinctly feminine lens. It’s a vision that celebrates freedom of movement, simplified through the use of drawstrings, elastic bands and the joy of mixing and matching pieces freely, not only within Guibal’s collections, but also with what already exists in one’s wardrobe.

Manuelle Guibal’s world evokes friendships, engaging stories, thoughtful research, culture, collaboration and a sense of the contemporary. It’s a generous world, full of the joie de vivre, attention and sentiment, work and sustainability

But it’s in the Maison’s own words that best define its atmosphere:

A spacious and light-filled place, a pot-pourri of sensations. You might hear Japanese, English, French, Portoguese or New Zealand accents, and feel as though you’re traveling the world through a swirl of voices, sounds and overlapping images. You might dream of escaping to wild, sandy beaches with swaying coconut palms… But don’t be fooled, Manuelle Guibal’s world is also a buzzing hive of research, dedication and activity!

Anyone passing through Padua is familiar with the windows of our store. An opportunity where the garment is placed on a sort of stage, set against a backdrop of backlit panels.

These suspended panels, overlooking the portico of Via Altinate—right in front of Padua’s oldest church, Santa Sofia—are replaced periodically. They are abstract canvases, often ‘borrowed’ from contemporary artists. Many times, they have been provided by Mirco Fabio Mariotto, an architect and dear longtime friend, whose computer-generated work often feels more painterly than digital.

Website: https://www.fabiomariotto.it/

Each time, the choice falls on colors that evoke the current season or that best serve as a scenic backdrop for the outfits on display, in a delicate balance of light and the reflections of the glass, illuminated throughout the day.

What’s particularly fascinating is the story behind our most recent selections. This collaboration actually began through a rich exchange of emails with a customer from the United States. While inquiring about some pieces she had seen in our online catalog, she led us to discover her own magnificent artistic world.

The deeply human exchange and shared aesthetic sensibility have led to this extraordinary collaboration between Eliza K. Thomas of Austin, Texas, and our store…

Sito: https://www.elizakthomas.com/

A story of craftmanship, family and excellence – this is Avant Toi, an Italian brand born in Genoa in 1955 with the purchase of its first knitting machine and the determination of Lia Gambetta, the founder.

This journey has unfolded across the various phases of Italy’s economic landscape and, despite significant challenges within the textile industry, the company has grown and gained strenght over time, thanks to generational transitions, a close-knit team of collaborators and other key synergies: innovation, through investment in high-tech machinery, artisanal craftmanship (much of the work is still done by hand), the choice of noble yarns (cashmere, silk, linen and organic cotton) and a unique chromatic experimentation.

Mirko, Lia’s son, brings an artistic sensitivity and passion for painting that defines the brand’s contemporary identity. Inspired by hand-painting techniques, Mirko seeks knitwear as an occasion to explore the infinite potential of color. Starting from neutral or dark bases, different chromatic themes take abstract shapes, often shaded by the use of airbrushing, or more textured, in laminated yarns, almost metallic.

The world of Avant Toi, from essential silhouettes and effortless wearability, offers an endless spectrum of colors that, depending on the selected fiber, develops in exponential variations and, with remarkable versatility, moves from everyday wear to a more expressive need, without formal ostentation, but with a deep sense of personal satisfaction.

Here’s a sneak peek at our Spring/Summer 2025 selection.

Long and flared dress, in laminated and glittery silk and elastan camouflage

Hip-lenght sweater, wide, in cotton and polyamide mouliné knit hand dyed

Hip-lenght sweater, wide, in linen and cotton knit hand dyed

Short and wide cardigan in cotton and polyamide mouliné knit hand dyed

Long and wide sweater in laminated linen knit hand dyed

A futuristic development of the ethics of Miyake Design Studio directs the philosophy of the Japanese brand, now in its ninth season—tenth, if we consider the presentation already held in Paris for the upcoming Fall/Winter.

Yusuke Takahashi, founder and designer of CFCL, born in 1985 and a graduate of the Bunka Fashion Graduate University in Tokyo, joined the exclusive creative team of the Maison Miyake in 2010. By 2013, he became a central figure, signing the ISSEY MIYAKE Men line.

This was a valuable asset to the prestigious Japanese company, which was then still personally led by Issey Miyake, a visionary mentor of talent to be gathered and encouraged to ensure the continuity of the brand that still carries his name today.

In 2020, likely sensing a shift towards a more radical and secure business direction at the Maison Miyake, and with a wealth of experience acquired, Takahashi emancipated himself, launching his own brand, CFCL. A synthesis, once again, of promising Japanese tradition blending experiences and cultures, with an advanced approach to global transformations.

Where is fashion, one of the most polluting industries in the world, headed?

What should be offered after the traumatic experiences of the pandemic, which have made the balance between comfort and social life more fragile?

How to respond to artistic and cultural contexts that still demand expressive differentiation in daily and professional representation?

What can new technologies and social networks offer?

Questions that, connected to his time, also inspired and gave breath to Issey Miyake himself.

Thus, CFCL was born, striving to provide answers and depth to crucial themes such as environmental respect, versatility of use, silhouette, and context.

Takahashi put in place his advanced studies in computer-aided knitwear design, offering the possibility of eliminating textile waste.

The choice of a knit production model, designed in advance on the computer, allows for flexibility in sizing, especially in length, while minimizing fabric leftovers.

He connects networks to recover residual materials, such as polyester, recycling, trimming, and re-dyeing them through sustainable, traceable supply chains, right down to their source, using traditional Japanese dyeing techniques (from ikat to shibori, etc.).

He seeks adaptable forms for both domestic and social contexts.

CFCL is a reality centered around being in the world with respect, comfort, creativity, and common sense, without giving undue importance to the eccentric images of a designer locked in their own small conceptual world.

The significant collaborations with contemporary artists, ranging from music to dance, from interior designers to architects, are no coincidence. This international support reflects a concrete global project.