Grace that is dry, assertive, full of tension. The dialogue between forms and materials that translates into a frisson, a deliberate idea of perfect imperfection. With the f/w 12/13 Ter et Bantine pre-collection Manuela Arcari explores the codes of gentle feminity: a nipped waist, a dash of decoration. However, she opts for the conciseness that has always characterized her work: she plays with the weight of fabrics, with their texture, which sometimes is hard, others a bit off-kilter; she uses decisive cuts, hiding frivolity with shy bashfulness. The accent is put on construction, and turns clothes into objects of design, made of a sum of parts but thought to be worn, not just contemplated. Control and abandonment alternate and mix, creating a sense of off-kilter realism.
The collection is a repertoire of possibilities; it is an expression of a modular feeling. Choices are neat: dresses, tops, coats that are adamantine in design. Pure as they were architectonical blueprints, they charge up in the contraposition of different fabrics: matte and shiny, fluid and firm, compact and liquid are arranged in tactile and visual textures with a sense of constructivism. The underlying romanticism becomes dry.
The color palette is sober: black, blue, military green, grey, brown.
Materials are compact: alpaca, leather, patent leather, dry wool, satin.
A vision of femininity that s slightly off balance, with a base note of poetic pragmatism.
