Marni Spring 2009 Ready-To-Wear Collection

As many of the Spring 2009 collections come out, Marni caught my eye. I'm convinced that it takes a certain kind of aesthetic sense to gravitate to Marni's almost abstract art method of creating clothes and bags. There are some designers to which critics will say "simple is best". But this is not the case with Marni. Her designer, Consuelo Castiglioni, has successfully created in the label a trademark melting pot of colors, shapes, textures, and prints. It seems the only rule is that there are no rules.

She sets a lace apron against the front of a blue-and-white concentric circle dress, or juxtaposes colorful pinstripes against a sheer full-bodied petticoat. Accessories are audacious, wild, primitive in parts, and starkly urban otherwise. What I like most among Marni's cornucopia of contradictions is her simple commitment to color and sarcasm. Is Marni for you?