A lost opera, the past that returns, the roots of Alghero, the Catalan heart. Antonio Marras rewrites fashion at Milan Fashion Week, inspired for the fall winter 2025-2026 collection by "La bella d'Alghero" : a melodrama written by Antonio Boschini and set to music by Giovanni Fara-Musio in 1892, which was staged only once, at the Teatro Rossini in Pesaro on the occasion of the Rossini Centenary, and then remained closed in the Pesaro archives. A passionate love story reconstructed thanks to Massimiliano Fois and Raffaele Sari Bozzolo and recreated for the fashion show.
In the front row Geppi Cucciari , who showed off three dresses by Marras at Sanremo, celebrating her love for the Island and their more than ten-year friendship, and Sharon Stone, sunglasses, skirt suit and cardigan with bright fringes. "A woman who doesn't feel the need to hide the signs of time and also an artist, with whom we exchange drawings every day", says Marras. Among the guests also the Spanish actor Arón Piper, Tedua and Michele Bravi.
The idea is to evoke a group of actors arriving from Barcelona who land in Alghero, contaminating Sardinian traditions with their own style. "A twinning that has always linked the two cities - underlines the designer -. I imagined a large caravan of actors crossing the sea on a steamship to arrive in Alghero and bring the opera to the stage". Here then are the two sisters, the beautiful Eulalia and "the love that blinds" Rosalia, the disputed Efisio and the promised Gavino. The backdrop is Alghero, on September 29: it is during the feast of San Michele that the tangle of tormented loves unravels, which ends up resulting in the dramatic death of the protagonist, who threw himself from the promontory of Capo Caccia. The colors follow the trail of the sentimental whirlwind: first the dark black, then gray hues and undergrowth green, followed by white and passionate red and, amidst yellow and fuchsia notes, darkness again when one sinks into melodrama.
In the minimal and industrial setting chosen for the event, the Fabbrica Orobia, sensual and tight silhouettes immediately emerge. Opening the catwalk, anticipated by the sound of the sea waves, is a series of tulle dresses and bustiers in stretch fabrics, followed by pencil skirts with a flounce at the bottom. Then patchwork skirts accompanied by bustiers or kimono dresses, men's suits with jackets in high-waisted trousers and embroidered coats. "The key word is layering - explains Marras - in each dress there can be up to ten different materials". The workmanship is incredible: embroidery, patch inserts, decorations, scrolls, hand prints, flock and pleats . The fabrics: pinstripe, Prince of Wales, velvets, brocades and damask, but also leather, denim, taffeta, silk twill, georgette, satin, voile and tulle. Grand finale with dresses dedicated to Antoni Tapies i Puig, a painter and sculptor from Barcelona who passed away in 2012, with chiffon peplums and drawings made by Marras himself : «An artist who has always fascinated me». An incredible journey driven by the soundtrack chosen by the designer in homage to his family: «Verde Luna, for example, is a love song that my parents sang. The soundtrack is almost entirely female, with the only exception of Claudio Villa, my father's favorite singer, with his Granada sung in Spanish».
In a perfect fusion between fashion and art, Marras himself, together with a Catalan company, is now working to bring "La bella d'Alghero" back to the theater thanks to the collaboration with the Municipality of Alghero, where the premiere is expected to be held. "Antonio is an excellence for the whole world, for our city he is a source of pride - the words of the mayor Raimondo Cacciotto, also in Milan -. With him we spread beauty".
