Italian designer Stefano Ricci unveils his latest collection in flood-hit Venice

VENICE: Italian designer Stefano Ricci’s latest silk tuxedos may be sharply tailored, but they are not ideal wear for the exceptional flood that swept through Venice as they were unveiled.

“For our next collection, remind me to include rain boots,” quipped creative director Filippo Ricci as he presented his father’s Fall/Winter 2021-21 collection as a record high tide left the heart of the UNESCO city underwater last week.

The Florence-based menswear and accessories brand, which has outfitted celebrities from Andrea Bocelli to Morgan Freeman and Tom Cruise, showed off its new look at the prestigious Scuola Grande di San Rocco.

The Scuola’s headquarters boasts the biggest collection of paintings in the world by 16th century master Tintoretto.

As models showed off the collection against a backdrop of tempestuous Old Testament scenes painted in oil, canals outside burst their banks, flooding Saint Mark’s Square and Basilica, and numerous other churches and historic buildings.

The fashion house’s waterproof cashmere coats with mink lining may have kept those in the storm dry, but the wearer would have needed waders in any case — perhaps in the brand’s trademark nubuck crocodile.