Pastels contrast with colourful florals in Quattromani‘s spring/summer 2016 collection. The choice of soft fabrics makes this new line a great choice for the warm season.

Designers Massimo Noli and Nicola Frau have created a wide range of looks: some are perfect for a day at the office, others — for an evening night out. Yet others are so colourful and bright that we can easily see them on editors in the front row at fashion week. For accessory pairings, the designer duo chose the iconic “flat clutch” with embroidery and mini tote bags in pastel shades.

This collection launched at the White Trade Show during Milan Fashion Week. Its central themes include art deco and oriental influences, as well as the dreamy universe of the artist Edina Altara from Sassari, as the designers pay an homage to her original collages.

Neo hippie echoes and inspirations from the 70s are clearly visible too, and they can be traced both in sheath dresses, jersey or denim pants, as well as shirts and stitched T-shirts embellished with pockets and double collars. The colour scheme is wide: think bright yellow, aquamarine, magenta, indigo and champagne. Material use is quite extensive too, and includes silk georgette, crepe de chine, cotton satin, denim and viscose satin.

The silhouette, fluctuating and wispy in the long dresses, becomes more tapered in the knee-length dresses and pencil skirts, emphasized by colourful prints drawn for Quattromani by Berenice La Ruche. She notes that while creating the illustrations for this collection, she was not only influenced by Altara’s work but also by cherry blossoms and swallows.

Noli and Frau did years of individual work prior to deciding to collaborate and create the brand. The word “Quattromani” is a combination of “quattro” (meaning “four”) and “MaNi” (which are the first four letters in designers’ first names). This is their sixth collection.