Missoni: Let there be light

The younger generation marched in their millions to save the planet all over the world on Friday. To wake up their parents to the mess they have made of the planet. The models in the Missoni show on Saturday evening in Milan marched with sustainable Little Sun solar lights to support the cause.

The handheld solar lamps helped illuminate a beautiful location – a charming post-war swimming pool in south Milan. They also shone light on one of Angela Missoni’s best collections for this north Italian brand in many years.

"Join us in holding hands with the sun, we are at a critical point for our planet and we need to take action," read a note by Angela and master sculptor Olafur Eliasson, tied to each Little Sun.

The house left one lamp on each guest’s seat on the pool’s concrete bleachers, each place made more comfortable by a Missoni knit cushion. Security staff attempts to stop guests leaving with armfuls of these charming cushions were a terrible failure. What did one expect?

On the catwalk, there were lots of very wearable and exotic clothes: appealing beach-stripe knitted silk pants, frilly polka dot blouses, expansive plissé picnic frocks in abstract florals and several divine swirling patchwork dresses that the models wore with enormous pride. On the guys – in the latest coed Milan show – some fantastic broken chalk stripe knit suits and a Grammy-winning rock star series of jacquard tuxedos.

Eventually, the entire cast of some 60 models – the most heterogeneous of the entire Milan season – stood before the pool – the latest example of fashion, at the very least, recognizing the threat of global warming.

Over 1.1 billion people – not far from one sixth of the planet’s population – live in "off-grid" areas with no access to electricity. So Angela’s gesture, albeit just as a present to a thousand pampered fashionistas in wealthy Milan, somehow felt very timely.

Missoni: Let there be light

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