A subtle but unremitting deconstruction of the classic codes characterizes the first accessories collection from Ter et Bantine. The shifting of parameters is both precise and emotional. Once again, as ever in her path of non typical designer, Manuela Arcari chooses to work around the idea of perfect imperfection, exploring the mental and material space that separates rigor from abandonment, reason from primal instinct. The defining elements of her style – essential and raw, concrete and pure – translate into objects of design charged with great evocative power: objects that are mysterious just like something familiar when it us seen through deformig lenses. The essential design is contradicted by details, by textures, by the constant play of masculine vs feminine. Control, the idea of less is more which is typical of Ter et Bantine  morphs into brutalist classicism.

The collection revolves around a bunch of archetypal forms: the mannish lace-up, the well-to-do pump, the tango shoe, the ballerina flat. Proportions or details, however, are off-kilter, bringing the focus on design: elongated round toes, lacquered fussbets, curvy stiletto heels, thin ankle straps securing assertive forms to the foot, unexpectedly gracious raw cuts. Materials as well as colors swing between familiar codes and utter -  punky or dryly demure – surprise: brushed lambskin in dense British hues, long-haired ponyskin in vivid colors, metallic, iridescent technical fabrics, garment-dyed velvet in dusty tapestry tones.

A vision that is precisely out of balance, with a base of concrete pragmatism.