Marco Rambaldi Fall 2025: Memories of a Messy Ladylike Look

Martino Carrera

26 February 2025 at 3:15 pm·2-min read

The Italian vanguard of indie fashion brands — refreshingly rooted in reality rather than digital life — has a knack for re-envisioning local traditions and cultural references into a contemporary vocabulary.

Marco Rambaldi is one of those designers who uses fashion to turn personal memories — of his and his friends’ older relatives hand-crocheting, the conviviality around the Sunday lunch table, family heirlooms and tales — into a universal language, albeit one that can still be elusive to nonlocals.

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In Proustian madeleine-like epiphanies, his shows oftentimes unlock feelings of nostalgia and his fall coed display, held Wednesday afternoon inside a flower market, was no exception.

Sticking to his make-do-and-mend approach, the grown-up showcase toyed with Rambaldi’s personal obsessions — knits, doilies, vintage garb — to conjure a messy, ladylike look intended to pay homage to his creative roots and cultural mentors.

Embedding disparate references — from Lea Vergine, the first female Italian art curator, to “Morgana,” a book on nonconforming motherhood by Michela Murgia, the late progressive writer and thinker, and Chiara Tagliaferri, who walked the show as part of a diverse cast — Rambaldi’s women exuded languid sensuality.

It permeated the signature core knits, in elongated crewnecks with grandma Fair Isle patterns turned into minidresses, layered over petticoats; cardigans with messed argyle jacquards enriched by tinsel-like tassels; knit padded bomber jackets worn over slipdresses and see-through knitted pencil skirts, and midi patchwork frocks of crochet and fuzzy cable knits.

Mannish shirts and jerseys knotted at the waist in lieu of miniskirts worn over fuzzy long johns and leg warmers enhanced the voluptuous vibe, counterpointed by the few worn-in pieces labeled “Rambaldi Out of the Closet,” flea market finds or borrowed from friends or relatives, including a cool ‘70s leather jacket of Rambaldi’s father.

The designer, like many of his peers, is going through the struggles of helming an independent brand amid a global downturn in fashion spending. “Indie brands are the first to be cut off when budgets shrink,” he said during a preview.

His fall collection definitely deserves a retail platform, for it shows how many miles of creativity he has traveled amid dire straits.

Launch Gallery: Marco Rambaldi Fall 2025 Ready-to-Wear Collection

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