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It would have been very easy for Umit Benan to open his AW13 show with a really street look, but he didn’t. Set in a warehouse off via Valenza in Milan, the show was designed like a dark city alley covered in graffiti. There were lampposts along the runway, an old car at the end, transsexual prostitutes strutting their stuff, and a fast food stand where guests could get hotdogs before the show. The show notes prepared you for a collection inspired by graffiti artists who roam the streets at night and yet Benan’s first look was something as contradictory to that idea as an old banker’s favourite: the navy pinstripe suit. “I’ve always been street. I don’t come from the street, but I grew up in Istanbul. Just because I’m now doing my job in a good way doesn’t mean I’m… well, it’s very me. It’s good to show high fashion in a street way, but this is nothing compared to where I grew up,” Umit told i-D backstage. In fusing Benan the tattooed rebel with Benan the suit-making Trussardi designer, his eponymous AW13 show was superb. With every exit, Benan deconstructed the formalwear for which he’s so loved. A maxi-check suit faded into a check jumper, which faded into sportswear jackets before a matching geometrical print jumper and tracksuit bottom combo finally happened. Umit may always have been down with the kids, but this show took his street cred to a different level.
Text: Anders Christian Madsen
Photography: Mitchell Sams
