Marni appoints Meryll Rogge as the brand’s new creative director. The Belgian designer, known for her precious yet eclectic feminine aesthetic, ushers in a new beginning by bringing to the stage her contemporary vision of what has defined the brand’s entire history. For Rogge, Marni has always represented a choice for those with true personality. She herself purchased and wore the first collections by Consuelo Castiglioni, embracing the house’s distinctive spirit from the very start. Rogge’s intention is to tell a unique story—one that accompanies us through special occasions as well as everyday moments. The core message is expressed through what feels familiar, known, and reliable. The collection becomes a celebration of the individual, of character. Just like the show’s casting—beautiful, fresh, and compelling faces embodying strong personalities capable of enhancing garments and details, just as in real life—this stands as the central point and message of the first collection of the new Marni. The brand’s history is precise and deeply personal, rich in freedom and identity that cannot be dissolved by change. On the contrary, it must be strengthened and retold through a modern lens. The collection is presented as a moment of awareness of what truly matters—a memory reimagined, generating new ideas and possibilities.
“I’ve been a Marni fan since I was a teenager; it has truly shaped my vision of fashion.”
All the hallmarks of Marni emerge in a rich and vibrant narrative. Across every look—spanning both menswear and womenswear—the brand’s codes and personal memories resurface, reshaped through new interpretations born from the artistic and creative research of Meryll Rogge. Waistlines drop and silhouettes are streamlined: soft for men, reduced and sensual for women. Layering of materials, colors, and patterns reinforces the house’s unmistakable style, as does the use of leather and knitwear, clashing prints and bold color-block pairings, oversized sequins applied to dresses and skirts, studs and zippers punctuating leather pieces. A leopard-print fur coat from 1996 has been reimagined as a knitwear proposal. Marni’s signature mono bijoux has been brought back to life through the designer’s archival research. The collection is rich with details exuberantly charged with personality. Accessories—aside from the Fussbett sandals and the Trunk Bag, true icons of the house—have all been rethought in lighter, more contemporary versions. Womenswear proposals blend seamlessly with menswear in shades of grey, blue, and red, alongside a softer pastel palette of dusty yellow, green, ochre, and orange. The entire défilé is conceived to address the primary act of dressing a body and, on a deeper level, to rediscover the joy of getting dressed—of choosing which role to embody and which narrative to convey. Technical fabrics are juxtaposed with feminine silk organza panels; leather is paired with industrial ciré; irregular stripes, polka dots, and the patchworks so dear to the house reappear as emphatic references to the past.
“The Marni woman is strong and self-directed: someone with a career, a family, friends, and a genuine engagement with art and culture.”
The opportunity for Meryll Rogge to access such a rich and compelling archive, combined with the genuine and profound passion she has nurtured for Marni since her teenage years, allowed her to interpret the collection at its fullest. What unfolded on the runway was a bold and irreverent elegance—disrupted yet refined, offbeat yet perfectly centred. Every element takes on symbolic value, where intention and unpredictability coexist in a contemporary exchange. The brand’s personal memories helped the designer shape her own creative vision of Marni—her chapter in the house’s ongoing story. Her approach was meticulous, marked by a careful attention to detail that, step by step, has enriched the maison’s heritage. For Meryll Rogge, when you see a Marni piece, you must feel a strong emotion and instantly recognise what it is; everything should capture your attention immediately. Today, she has drawn our gaze through a blend of past, present, and future, within an enveloping setting that recreated a sense of abstract yet conscious familiarity.
