Jezabelle Cormio is a millennial mum vogue.com

Jezabelle Cormio is a millennial mum. “When my daughter was born I had no references, I was the first parent in my circle of friends. I was confronted with the fear of losing my former self, surrounded by people who cherished their lifestyle and saw parents as boring people. Then, at some point, I found the irony in this new life, balanced between the desire to cultivate my femininity and the calm chaos that is everyday family living.”

Spring is an autobiographical collection. Cormio took guests to a beautiful and traditional house in Milan’s Naviglio Martesana area. Every wall and corner was filled objects she brought from her home. There was a Fisher-Price toy phone, a stroller from Bugaboo (she’s doing a collab with the company), a giant wristwatch hanging on the wall, puppets, and a Barbie house. Yet it was also a political parade, with the spray-painted inscription, “we’ll see how you feel about abortions after I fuck your husband,” on T-shirts. It was a very strong signal on the eve of the Italian general election, with right-wing parties questioning what we would like to take for granted.

In making clothes, Cormio works on instinct. She is the queen of the unexpected, unafraid of the ugly and constantly playing with the idea of cringe (also via the brand’s Instagram account, which is not to be missed). She did so here by good-naturedly poking fun at mums who wear extremely technical sportswear outfits for an afternoon on the playground, giving them bikercore suits with duck embroidery. There were also silk dresses printed with drawings of her daughter’s favorite book, decorated with tulle ruffles reminiscent of children’s disguises.

The theme of dress-up kept coming up—see a yellow skirt inspired by Belle’s from Beauty and the Beast, and a silver one that the designer said is “my version of Cinderella’s dress.” The skimpy Tyrollean jumpers she’s known for were back, only this time the dads wore them, while mums’ looks were finished by studded leather belts. In family chaos, dressing up is often a game, but Cormio is serious about challenging the standards that contemporary society demands of mothers.

COLLECTION

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