Abba glamour meets the kaleidoscopic colours of the Cortina ski slopes. ICE PLAY’s 2021-22 autumn/winter collection is a tribute to 1970s optimism, a time when economic boom meant Italy was the place for the international jet set.
The Gilmar group brand celebrates the success of Made in Italy production with a collection of fearless womenswear. Ski suits are redesigned as colour-block overalls for the urban slopes, complete with sport-inspired touches such as zips, stripes and side panels for the very latest in contemporary chic. Eveningwear is also heavily influenced by the mythical 70s and the unique magic of disco divas Donna Summer and Gloria Gaynor is revived through figure-trimming flares and empire-line silhouettes. A sense of radiance is created with Lurex, coated denim and a sprinkle of shimmer, and classic denim is given a lurex-stitch twist to raise the sparkle bar that bit further.
Knitwear features stripes and is beautifully crafted to include striking mountain landscape embroidery. True to ICE PLAY tradition, bright, shiny colours and pop prints pay homage to the graphics of the time with their 3-dimensional fonts, and prints appear on down jackets, leggings, leotards, sweater dresses and cropped sweaters. Eco sheepskins and eco furs, on the other hand, are the hero pieces when it comes to keeping the chilliest temperatures at bay. Colours range from neon brights (green, turquoise, and pink) to the more traditional white, black and red. Mustard, petrol green and dark brown provide a short shot of autumnal colour.
Menswear for autumn/winter 2021-22 reflects the 1970s revival of the womenswear collection. There’s a sport-inspired feel here too, with details such as draw-strings and plastic toggles reminiscent of classic mountain gear. Distinctive patches have an unmistakeable 70s look and feature the ICE PLAY logo, while knitwear also takes its cue from vintage mountain wear, as sweat top prints illustrate. At the same time, t-shirt prints display fonts taken straight off our supermarket shelves and seen in advertising campaigns for some of the best-known brands. An array of colours includes neutral hues (like powder blue and burgundy) through to shades that pack an energetic punch such as white, blue, bright green and red. Ice blue, grey and navy add a touch of mountain landscape to the palette.
A new collaboration with ACBC tops off the collection and the emerging footwear brand has created a capsule collection of oh-so-70s contrast-trim tennis shoes featuring a rhombus logo. Ice Play bags are crafted using brilliant colour-block nylon and have technical fastenings and technical ball closure and snap hook fasteners, typically found on 70s sports equipment. Cross-body bags are made from gorgeous eco leather, plus there’s a combination of textures including snake print, matt and gloss surfaces, and plain colours and stripes. The consumer-culture pop print of the nylon bags means they go perfectly with the rest of the clothing collection, which also includes jacquard scarves, sparkling yarns, pashminas, visor caps, fleece bucket bags and socks.
ICE PLAY is working hard to be as sustainable as possible and uses cotton-zero fabrics (which come from cellulose fibre not cotton) for its denim wear. To cut down on water consumption, recycled water is used for washing denim and laser technology is chosen over enzyme washing. Some of the down jackets are made from certified artificial eco down.