Marni's New Era Begins in Meryll Rogge's FW26 Debut
Featuring nods to Marni founder Consuelo Castiglioni’s signatures like oversized sequins, playful plaids, and chunky knits.
Summary
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Meryll Rogge debuts as Marni’s first female creative director since its founder, shifting from Francesco Risso’s maximalism toward a pared-back, quirky eccentricity that honors the brand’s early roots.
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The co-ed collection reinterprets signature silhouettes like pencil skirts and sequins, balancing everyday basics with distinctive details like chunky knits and bold silver buttons.
Meryll Rogge is the first female creative director of Marni to follow up on Consuelo Castiglioni’s founding tenure. The Italian designer, who started Marni in 1994, was followed by Francesco Risso in 2017, an almost decade-long run that introduced the brand to a new generation. However, while Risso took Marni in an avant-garde direction, it appears that Rogge wants to reconnect with its roots.
It doesn’t take long to see how Castiglioni’s earlier vision is reinterpreted. The show opened with a pencil skirt covered in giant sequins worn with a knee-length coat, one of the founder’s signature silhouettes in Marni’s early years. Later, translucent skirts, polka-dot tops, and fur trims echo Marni’s early 2000s era.
Castiglioni introduced Marni menswear in 2002 and continues to be co-ed in Rogge’s debut. Tailored basics are worn with more eccentric pieces like multi-directional plaid pullovers, dress-length shirts, chunky knitted sweaters, and striped sets. It’s somewhat pared-back compared to Risso’s sometimes maximalist, postmodern touch. Yet, it’s in no way discreet: a cavalry-esque coat featuring contrast taping and quarter-sized silver buttons, which also appear on trousers in another look.
Amidst the flurry of creative director switch-ups announced in 2025, one could’ve easily forgot that Rogge was taking her post as creative director at Marni. In what seemed like endless new appointments at every fashion house, Rogge at Marni and Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta were among the only female appointments. However, by the end of the year, Grace Wales Bonner was tapped for Hermes menswear, Rachel Scott took up Proenza Schouler, and Maria Grazia Chiuri returned to Fendi. Now, she’s in great company.
In this new chapter of Marni, Rogge reels in Risso’s experimental ambitions to focus on what Marni was largely known for before the viral fur clogs and insanely hairy sweaters — quirky clothing for the everyday with a stroke of eccentricity.
See Marni FW26 in the gallery above and stay tuned to Hypebeast for the latest Milan Fashion Week news.
