BenettOn: that is, the alpha and omega of an iconic brand, a name that has made the history of fashion and entered by right into the collective imagination.
Andrea Incontri, creative director of United Colors of Benetton, has chosen BE ON as the slogan for his new SS24 runway show, which he presented in Milan on 21 September at the Museo della Permanente.
Be On: to shine a light on the nature of the brand, which since 1965 has been synonymous with color, knitwear, identity and cosmopolitanism. Fashion by and for everyone that addresses a modern community made up of families created by bonds of love, affection and solidarity.
Be On: a reawakening, illuminated by the many nuances of the Benetton world, spotlighting a brand that since 1965 has marked a concept of time – and fashion – which is forward-looking, but which revolves around its roots, transferring an empathetic heritage and values from one generation to the next. Generational exchange is the true manifesto of this show. A passage of experiences and sentiments which, like in an old clock, only works if all the gears function in synergy.
Spontaneous, simple, unique, personal. A fashion show hosted in a multi-coloured agora, where color lines bathe the space. On the catwalk, male and female models – and kids, too – represent real identities: mothers, fathers, children, today’s couples, multi-ethnic and multi-generational families who underscore the democratic beauty of Benetton and the search for human sensibility.
Incontri applies his philosophy of practicality to the brand’s aesthetic heritage, fascinated by the interaction between “iconic” and “reproducible”. Iconic like knitwear, the brand’s core business and star of the show, its strong point found in the indispensable new basics. Iconic like the piqué and jersey polo shirts, and the stripes – one of the brand’s hallmarks – reproduced here in a variety of styles, like crochet or embellished with lurex threads. The vanisè technique, with plays of color and punching, represents an evolution of the historic pin-up sweater as it emphasizes the figure, while classic gilets, cardigans and culottes become a new Benetton uniform.
The prints – bananas, blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, as well as daisies and dahlias – are the pop stars of SS 2024. In pastel hues, painted in oil, all over or in 3D, with their almost obsessive reiteration, they trigger that “Recognizability” which represents the synthesis between “Iconic” and “Reproducible”. As can be seen in knitwear with loop stitch, a 3D evolution, appealing to the touch and to the eye. Or in accessories, like the Be Bag – the postbag 3.0 that has become something of a cult – and the new Pillow Bag, a soft shoulder bag that immediately brings to mind the idea of a “nest”.
