An important moment in the career of Belgian designer Meryll Rogge: After working at the Belgian label Dries van Noten and her own brand of the same name, she now runs the Italian luxury fashion house Marni. Both the fashion house and the designer herself are known for colorful and unexpected combinations, and Rogge’s debut collection is also influenced by this.
“Echoes of the known and familiar,” begins the press release for Marni’s FW26 collection. “It marks the return to values and meaning, as well as the reinforcement of a new vocabulary found in mainstream language.” A poetic way of saying that Rogge has reinterpreted and refreshed Marni’s heritage.
Meryll Rogge’s Marni debut is bursting with prints and color
Rogge’s own style at her eponymous brand combines classic women’s evening wear with tailoring from men’s fashion. She relies on bold and unexpected combinations of colors, patterns and styles. Thanks to this mix, her collections appear full of joy and youthful and fresh.
It was no different with Marni. Horizontal and vertical stripes, floral patterns, checks, polka dots – a Marni classic – as well as leopard prints, hardly a print was missing from the collection. There is an art to combining this variety of patterns without creating a flashy or cluttered vision.
The balance was achieved through a muted color palette with individual bright accents and clever styling. The boldest prints were paired with quieter, carefully crafted pieces.
The show featured both women’s and men’s fashion, a statement that it’s about dressing bodies and not limiting it to a specific gender.
‘The Marni Spirit is back’: Meryll Rogge’s strong debut at the Italian fashion house
Although many of the looks had a clear reference to Marni’s archives, some pieces made a literal comeback. These are the footbed sandals and the trunk bag. “They have been redesigned, incorporating Marni details into new creations,” the show notes say.
Rogge’s first show gives the Marni archive a healthy dose of youthfulness. Marni lovers will find enough familiar elements to make their hearts beat faster. Maximalist styling is attracting a new group of fashion fans. The collection is already receiving a warm reception on social media platform Instagram with words like ‘The Marni Spirit is back’ and ‘clothes women can actually wear’.
The FW26 collection radiates joy and impresses with its wearability. However, one should not underestimate how challenging a debut is at a time when a designer could be replaced immediately afterwards. Is that the expectation for Rogge? Absolutely not. Rather, hope lies in her second collection and in many more creations that will follow.
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