Is There a Romeo Gigli Resurgence Happening?

Off the runways, Gigli’s designs are moving in vintage stores. On the RealReal, searches for Romeo Gigli are up 14 percent, and the number of people who favorite pieces by the designer on the site is up 64 percent. On Lauren Sherman’s podcast, Fashion People, she noted in an episode recapping Milan Fashion Week that the city’s vintage stores were full of it. Consumers are searching for a taste of the poignant concepts he sold in the ’80s and ’90s, all a reflection of his unique trajectory.

Designer Romeo Gigli

Gigli was born in 1949 in Castel Bolognese, Italy, to a family of antiquarian-book merchants. His mother, a contessa, dressed in the alluring designs of Dior and Balenciaga, while his father collected art books that piqued his interest. While Gigli was studying architecture in London, his parents died within 10 months of each other. At 18, he paused his studies and embarked on 10 years of aesthetically indulgent travel. The aspiring designer collected references from art, architecture, and history that would go on to define his creative sensibilities throughout his professional life, all the while honing his craft by making outfits from his textile spoils for himself and his friends. He turned his personal style into the bud of a career, consulting for legendary New York tailor Piero Dimitri. Upon returning to Italy, he worked under Gianfranco Ferré, then showed his first collection for Fall 1983, one of clean lines, muted colors, and an almost monastic simplicity. He received a nearly 30-minute standing ovation.

Initially, Gigli was dubbed a minimalist, similar to how one might describe Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo of Comme des Garçons or Issey Miyake. His designs lacked loud embellishments but were rich in texture, shape, and emotion. “I think of him as a real master of texture,” says Emma McClendon, assistant professor of fashion studies at St. John’s University. His celebrated Spring 1990 collection featured one look with a swathed jersey top reminiscent of today’s going-out styles and a bulbous skirt with a gauzy sheer underlay—one more big trend today. “He was creating space around the body but doing it with incredibly luxurious, supple, soft, and innovative textiles,” McClendon explains. Gigli worked with British textile expert Nigel Atkinson to develop fabrics coated in polyurethane on the underside so that he could mold them into unique shapes.

Gigli-esque shapes and textures in the Spring 2025 collection from Loewe, Valentino, and Bally

Today, a similar richness of texture and color is evident in recent collections from Dries Van Noten. In terms of shape, McClendon sees Gigli’s presence in the silhouettes of British designer Roksanda Ilinčić. Freelance fashion writer and consultant Philippe Pourhashemi notes that you can see Gigli references in the early work of Kim Jones and Haider Ackermann. Lee McQueen, another designer who championed the poetry of clothing, worked as an assistant under Gigli in 1990 before launching Alexander McQueen. In today’s fashion landscape, Gigli’s work is more important than ever.

“As we exit the quiet-luxury era of neutral-colored suiting separates and uniform dressing, there’s a newfound desire to be playful with fashion and explore personal style with pieces and specific combinations that feel uniquely you,” posits Pourhashemi. “Instead of marketing his audience to shop full looks, Gigli focused on designing individual pieces with ‘soul’ that his customers could mix and match as they saw fit.” He points to a romantic revival ushered in by Alessandro Michele’s return to the industry as creative director of Valentino and Chemena Kamali’s debut as creative director of Chloé. Both champion a softer approach to fashion, the former through whimsical play, the latter via bohemian femininity.

From left: Romeo Gigli Fall 1994, Fall 1994, Spring 1990

“It’s a woman who can be fragile but strong at the same time,” Pourhashemi explains. “She doesn’t need to dress like a man to prove that she has strength and confidence.” Gigli was never literal in his references to Pre-Raphaelite beauty or Byzantine opulence. Instead, he conveyed power more ephemerally. Then, it was the antidote to overt power dressing. Today, it’s the opposite of archetypes like Demna’s hard-edged, oversize silhouettes at Balenciaga, or “angry womenswear,” as he puts it.

In the early 1990s, a prolonged court battle with previous partners Donato Maino and Carla Sozzani (the founder of Milan’s 10 Corso Como) and poor business decisions left Gigli’s financials fatally thwarted. His label never recovered. Since then, he has consulted, taught, and occasionally designed small collections, like a capsule collaboration with Morocco’s fantastical hotel El Fenn in 2023.

Despite incendiary achievements, Gigli has never received the more visible celebrity status of some of his peers. The Italian designer rose to prominence on the cusp of the marketing era, “when this explosive energy around branding is really first coming into its own,” says McClendon. Whereas some of his contemporaries, like Armani and Versace, worked to build fashion houses that still exist today, Gigli prioritized product over legacy. “He was a real craftsman,” she continues, “a much older form of fashion practice.”