Why Carolina Castiglioni's history puts her in the perfect position to challenge Milan's big-name brands

Milan Fashion Week tends to be dominated by a trio of big-name brands: Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci. The Italian houses never fail to deliver on beautifully crafted, truly luxurious collections. You can always rely on them to anchor your new season’s wardrobe but sometimes there’s a thrill of discovery when, amongst the big guns, you find new brands.

Imbued with a belief in offering women something fresh to add to their wardrobes and a new way of thinking about clothes, this Milan Fashion Week was one such occasion.

Plan C is the brainchild of Carolina Castiglioni, who, as the daughter of the famed Consuelo, founder of Marni, was always going to speak the language of style fluently. (Carolina also held the title of director of special projects at Marni.)

Like her mother’s iconic collections for Marni, Plan C offers fantastic clothes with a sense of quirk, personality and ease. The brand is a family affair: Carolina’s brother helps to run the business out of her grandmother’s old fur atelier which she shares with her sister-in-law’s jewellery line Aliita.

"I have internalised a sense of taste in an unconscious way. I’ve always lived surrounded by specific aesthetic references. I guess I’m familiar with a certain taste and it is natural to me to transfer it into my collection," Castiglioni tells me over email the week after her presentation.

"I have certainly inherited how to combine colours together, and the love for high quality and special fabrics. For example, in my first spring/summer collection I’ve selected a lot of different cottons and each one is special, like a coated crispy Japanese cotton or a printed dress. All the fabrics are made in Italy or Japan."

Plan C makes you think about layering like never before. "I like voluminous garments with a masculine feel but every piece can be worn with waistbands to make it more feminine," Castiglioni explains. A khaki slit apron-like skirt is constructed to show off a long transparent floral skirt.

A simple printed floral dress is nipped in at the waist, given shape with a knitted elastic belt. Cotton shirting with a ruffled front is wrapped with a cotton belt that acts like a corset.

Yet these pieces are far from restrictive. Simple to move in yet purposeful, they can be styled with complexity or as simply as you like. "I have designed this collection with the idea to create a wardrobe of statement pieces, designed to be worn season after season, but most important choosing each piece with a simple question: would I wear it or not?"

In a market that can sometimes feel oversaturated and overwhelming, Plan C provides an answer with a strong, confident and powerful vision that feels authentically rooted and at ease with itself.

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