Aniye Records' FW25 show by Alessandra Marchi delivered a bold, technically masterful celebration of grunge glam that fused rebellious spirit with high fashion elegance.
By Jesse Scott
Alessandra Marchi’s Aniye Records show is always an indisputable highlight of Milan Fashion Week. Marchi is something of a unicorn in the fashion industry. Effortlessly combining swaggering rebellion and raw sex appeal with exquisite tailoring and impeccable attention to detail, she consistently delivers some of the most iconic moments of the given season while showcasing one of its most technically sound collections. Equal parts spectacle and substance, all enveloped in the brand’s signature charisma, Aniye’s FW25 offering was no exception.
A celebration of grunge glam, the scintillating collection unapologetically proposed a way of life transcendent of the clothes themselves and emblematic of the industry’s greatest icons. The Aniye Records woman is one who unintentionally becomes mythical: messy yet put together, she makes grunge glam with the magnetic charm that caused the world to fall in love with figures like Kate Moss and Freddie Mercury. Cigarette in hand, lovers at her feet, she leans casually against the wall outside the most exclusive clubs in Europe, painfully bored with a life that most romanticize. Of course, she has tousled hair, distressed clothes, and smudged eyeliner—not in the curated style that so many seek to replicate but instead because she is supremely self-assured and utterly unbothered.
For this editor, Kate Moss casually smoking a cigarette as she strutted down the runway for Louis Vuitton’s FW11 show was one of the most iconic moments in recent fashion history. Marchi wasted no time in building her own brand’s legend as her FW25 show opened. The second model to appear on the runway symbolized several aspects of the signature Aniye aesthetic, but also introduced a new daring element to Marchi’s vision. Dressed in a slinky, lingerie-style slip with statement jewelry and beribboned lace stockings that recalled the ballet, she inhaled from an e-cigarette mid-stride. Stone-faced, with a swagger ranging somewhere between exasperation and boredom, she encapsulated an evolving narrative of forceful femininity that seduced in an oh-so-rock-and-roll way (Look 2). The fourth model, also smoking, followed suit. An intricately crafted lace dress combined with a nostalgic headscarf seemed to be a reinterpreted bridal look. Yet the dramatic leather coat on top added a distinctive urban edge and irreverent smirk (Look 4). Uncontrollable and in control, this is a protagonist who holds all the cards: who likes to toy with the world on a string and laugh at the results.
From London to Milano to Paris, e-cigarettes are intrinsically linked to the young, beautiful, and reckless of the new generation. Symbols of youth and rebellion, just as cigarettes have been for decades, they represent a lifestyle and values most notably expressed and shared through music and nightlife. Fittingly, Aniye’s newest collection opened a nuanced conversation with both spheres. Iconic Iron Maiden, Nirvana, and Blondie motifs appeared on oversized T-shirts and sweaters (Looks 28, 30, 33). Striking leather hats carried a particular techno edge (Look 17), while bold fur coats recalled a golden era of clubbing that immediately predated cell phones (Look 3). These were clothes for those who lose themselves in the soulful rhythm of the night—and those who shape the contours of that rhythm for the rest of the world.
Aside from the e-cigarettes, recurring themes of the collection were lace and fur. Oversized fur coats in ivory, leopard print, and black—proposed with complex layers—united ‘90s glamour with contemporary couture sensibility (Looks 9, 29). Fur was also used for ingenious accents, such as exaggerated epaulettes expanding like the wings of an angel (Look 6), or oversized cuffs adding a playful touch to an elegant pink gown. Finally, black sheer and lace—most memorably paired with a leather corset, snakeskin bag, and flowing tartan skirt (Look 22)—were omnipresent. Epitomizing Aniye’s timeless sex appeal in a nuanced and empowering way, these moments of transparency and sensuality were unmistakably Marchi. In the Aniye universe, grunge and glam are complementary, not paradoxical, while femininity and strength go hand-in-hand.
This season’s collection impressed me as a critic with its creative flair, cohesive vision, and technical refinement. It inspired me as a person with its rockstar soul, empowering celebration of self, and defiant, exquisite refusal to bow to societal pressure. And it was unadulterated fun. Aniye Records FW25—perhaps Marchi’s greatest triumph yet—was an iconic moment that will symbolize this flashpoint in fashion for years to come.