Curriculum vitae: Arbesser graduated from London’s Central Saint Martins in 2005 and spent seven years refining his architectural technique at Giorgio Armani before founding his own collection last year. He says he continues to reap benefits from his time at the Milan empire. “Because of my long years there, I have really nice relationships with fabric suppliers,” says the designer, who layered soft mohair and fine-spun silk in his most recent collection.
London calling: For Arbesser, fall/winter 2014 is all about the dissolute angst of postpunk band Joy Division and the spirit of East London. “I went back to my student days, when I was a little…wilder,” he says, smiling. He channeled the East End’s raw edge to add youthful notes to knee-length shorts, boxy overcoats, and elegant checkered slipdresses—the kind of clothes you wished you had been so cool as to have worn when you cut class. The looks are sculptural—Arbesser is a devotee of 1920s and ’30s design—without being too austere.
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Design within reach: Arbesser showed his tomboyish range in a unique space, the 1920s-era home of Milanese architect Luca Cipelletti. The two met over dinner. “I was asking everyone at the table, ‘Do you have a granny with a chic place?’ ” says Arbesser, after which Cipelletti offered his own digs. What transpired was unusual: Arbesser matched individual looks to objects found in Cipelletti’s house, showing a cocoon coat alongside a curving Ettore Sottsass cabinet, for example, and a transparent ball skirt beside a series of undulating Murano glass ashtrays.
Breakout moment: Until recently, the name Arbesser was virtually unknown. Not anymore. “This season was amazing,” the designer says. “On the first day of our presentation, Suzy Menkes came by and wrote a really nice piece for The New York Times.” The aftermath—visits from major editors and buyers—was “like magic.” People are saying that Arbesser is giving Milan something it hasn’t seen in a long time. “We have all the big established brands who do their shows, but there are very few things to discover,” he says of his adopted city. “Milan really needs fresh blood, and I hope I can deliver.”
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