Canali SS2012 Collection

* Material: courtesy of The Valiram Group

SOPHISTICATED, sumptuous and colourful - Canali’s Spring Summer 2012 collection is animated by a new spirit that springs from an increasingly free and uninhibited sense of style and elegance, brimming with references to other cultures, but without losing its deeply Italian personality.

The suit becomes a means of personal expression, a quest for fine detailing and style that venture beyond strict, impersonal rules, no longer de rigeur exclusively for business, but also a point of reference on your own time.

Jackets are shorter and hug the waist, shoulders are even softer and lapels are higher and narrower in the most metropolitan lines. Narrow trousers for suits are softer and wider when worn with separate jackets, especially the Kei. The Kei  is presented for the first time in a double-breasted six-button version, or the new Nawab five-button version with Korean collar.

As always the fabrics are made from the finest natural fibres: silk, the undisputed protagonist of the entire collection, linen, wool; often combined with the previous two, and cotton. Patterns are sophisticated and bold, from geometrical and floral micro patterns to tone-on-tone stripes and large modern checks. Particularly interesting are the impressive Mandala inspired designs, produced exclusively for Canali, and the elaborate embroidery applied by hand to the Nawab evening jackets.

The colour palette is bright and full, particularly for silks - fuchsia, emerald green, turquoise, orange, red and pink - set off against the “all white” and pearl grey of the other natural fibres, particularly linen.

The colours are intermixed in nuances of varying intensity: no longer contrasting colour combinations in a classic style, but a mixture of visually and emotionally striking chiaroscuro shades, like blue, cornflower blue and turquoise.

The colours of the Leisure Collection are more powdery: grey, sky blue and antique rose for overshirts and linen jumpers worn with soft pleated trousers; or smart, comfortable Sahara jackets with Korean or shirt collars and applied pockets; or jackets and blousons made from light fabrics with waistband, cuffs and adjustable hood.

Numerous reversible, quilted and matched designs with special edging, plus deconstructed jackets in the softest leathers, to wear over bare skin or the lightest of jumpers in combed cashmere, silk and linen.

The ties too are reversible, coordinated with mannered pocket squares and worn over micro pattern or vichy check shirts. And for true connoisseurs, Exclusive line shirts made from a super fine cotton as light as silk, and belts and bags in matte crocodile.