Milan Fashion Week Gets Fruity

Guardian UK

The Milan catwalks have lost patience with minimalism. Stand by for neon brights, monkey prints – and an assortment of fruit

 

 

When fashion turns its spotlight on one particular look, an opposing one inevitably gets left in the dark. Most will know the feeling: if skirts are your thing and yet the shops are filled with rails of trousers, often there is little else to do but wait for fashion to swing back towards your comfort zone again. For the past couple of seasons, Milan fashion week has suffered a similar fate. Minimalism has been the defining catwalk trend over recent months, but this pared-back look sits unhappily in a city where sex appeal and snakeskin are routinely considered the two pillars of chic. As a result Milanese style had been floundering, the city's influence shaky.

This season Milan clearly decided that sitting it out was not an option. It had lost patience with minimalism: it was time for something else. Two of the city's most lauded designers, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons of Jil Sander, both admitted as much. Backstage at her show Prada explained that she wanted to do something "between minimalism and baroque" and Simons took this a step further saying that he wanted to go "maximal". It may not be an actual word but it was most definitely a look.

It would be a little too neat to say that Milan fashion week killed off minimalism completely. It wasn't as if rows of boring camel coats were being lined up and shot; there was no burning pile of tailored navy trousers. But there was an undercurrent of change as bold colour, exaggerated shapes and bananas (more on those later) became the most memorable symbols of Milan.

The Jil Sander show was the best of the week. It featured the most shockingly bright selection of neon brights: orange, pink, emerald, magenta and Yves Klein blues. It would have been a simple development from modern minimalism had it not been for the extraordinary shapes that recalled 1960s couture dresses. Long silk voluminous skirts were paired with simple white T-shirts, as were elephantine emerald green trousers. A navy parka was worn over a giant teardrop-shaped strapless evening dress, and an intense floral print covered a couture-inspired dress. The audience undoubtedly left as "maximal" converts.

The headline take-home trend was bold colour. At MaxMara, autumn's camel coats were swapped for block colour in sporty shapes – leotards with contrasting block-coloured sleeves were worn with mid thigh tailored shorts. Skinny belts provided an underline of bright. Meanwhile Marni – home of the wonky bold print – went super-bright. Designer Consuelo Castiglioni took colour down a sporty route, using cycling tops, retro swimming caps and Victorian bathing suits. A Mondrian-inspired wetsuit worked on the catwalk but probably won't generate so many hits if something similar finds its way onto the asos website next summer.

At Versus – the younger line from Versace, designed by British star Christopher Kane, block colour was joined by spriggy Liberty-style floral prints and bright tartan. Admittedly this sounds like a hideous cocktail of ideas but Glaswegian Kane made it look upbeat and modern. Meanwhile his boss and mentor Donatella also pushed bold colour in her collection, but being a Versace she simultaneously managed to take the trend firmly into Milanese territory. Dresses in turquoise and tomato red were cut skin tight and featured slithers of PVC panelling which drew attention to either the midriff or the shoulders. The focus on the bare shoulder is a smart move – it is widely regarded an area of the body that defies ageing and so will appeal to an older customer who can realistically afford the designs. Many of the dresses fell below the knee, a style seen in both New York and London, and which can now justifiably tout itself as being "the new length".

There was a lot of talk about fruit in Milan. It was largely Prada's fault for wearing a pair of plasticky banana earrings as she took her bow. Later in the week Anna dello Russo, the editor at large of Vogue Japan and arguably fashion's most street-blogged figurehead, was seen wearing a giant watermelon hat to one show and a cherry hat to the next. Surely a micro trend in the making?

The Prada collection featured bananas and monkeys printed onto boxy shirts, and tight cotton skirts that ended with a tango-style giant frill. Bold (or "brave colour" as the designer herself described it backstage) and giant stripes featured heavily in the show. Snooker-table green skirt-suits and orange, pink and black structured sundresses were worn with striped raffia tango shoes and chunky brothel creepers.

Although Prada pitched her show as falling between the two markers of minimalism and baroque it is likely that the pieces at the more fancy end of the scale – the curlicue sunglasses and the stripes and monkey prints – will prove to be the most influential. Milanese bold colour will be marching fashion away from sleek camel and navy in the months to come. It's a safe bet that Topshop is already knocking out thousands of pairs of brilliant trashy earrings, and if Milan can't kill off minimalism for good then a banana earring surely can.

Bottega's Fashion Fusion

NY Times

MILAN — To say that the menswear season has opened here with a mixed bag is to suggest the best and the worst of the offerings. On one side is an intelligent meld of fabrics and styles, as collections blend formal and casual with purposeful modernity.

On the other hand, the summer 2011 season seems as up-and-down as Italy’s soaking summer weather: heavy leather, more outerwear than beach clothes and an uncertain direction.

A tactile treat of textures and a zigzag puzzle of tailoring made Bottega Veneta’s show on Sunday a beacon of excellence. The fashion fusion served up by the designer Tomas Maier was appetizing because this was a show that mixed things up — beautifully.

That meld included a color palette that embraced, but never forced, spring green, naval blue and rust red. But the shades also played off the range of fabrics, the rough/smooth of perforated suede with wispy silk or just the subtle tonalities of a white silk jacket with ultra-fine cord jeans.

Everything was about mix that matched: Saddle bags piped in two shades of blue, two-tone boots or sandals worn with soft, boxy suits. And these were all unforced, wearable clothes.

Instead of including formal evening styles, Mr. Maier showed swimwear, a category in which he excels. Briefs alternated with shorts as fresh beach silhouettes. The designer called this a show about “performance and possibility.” His own performance was stellar.

With the suicide of Alexander Lee McQueen still an open wound among his admirers and collaborators in the fashion world, was it a wise move for the Gucci group to hold a mini presentation of the Alexander McQueen label to prove that the show should and must go on?

“I didn’t sleep well last night — I understood how Lee must have felt,” said Sarah Burton, the designer’s long-time right hand, who presented well-cut, wearable clothes steeped in the English heritage that Mr. McQueen twisted so perversely.

Trench coats, cut at an angle, jackets with pleated backs and apron fronts, military pants and a dash of decadence in a Chinese robe and exotic slippers all touched on the brand’s imagery. But the original designer’s meld of the raw and the refined was inevitably missing.

Thinking of last season’s extraordinary menswear — Art Nouveau printed suits disappearing into a matching backdrop — was to be reminded that Mr. McQueen was not only deeply creative but an exceptional showman. His skills cannot be replicated. But the essence of his collections can be kept alive.

At Burberry Prorsum, the designer Christopher Bailey is expert at reinterpreting the archives. This season he found some fresh territory: motorbike riders, with their use of spiked studs on black leather vests.

Motocross leather pants ran down narrow legs until they reached either black Birkenstock-style sandals or shoes that morphed at the toes into rubber boots.

The heritage biker idea seemed forced. But given the rain washing the streets of the city, perhaps Mr. Bailey was smart to put front and center what Burberry does best: trenchcoats. The coats looked so shrunken and boyish that they would hardly fit members of the young Brit bands who were invited to sit front row. But here the hardware, as belts and straps, worked well with the theme and seemed authentic to Burberry.

It was unfortunate for Donatella Versace that the new Versace menswear designer Martyn Ball, 34, offered a rockabilly style similar to Bottega Veneta’s show of last season.

The inspiration was Bruce Weber images from the 1980s of Gianni Versace’s work — especially eye-popping black-and-white geometric patterns.

“I wanted it graphic, with optical prints,” said the late designer’s sister, referring to Mr. Ball’s choice of patterns, which were accentuated by a 3-D architectural backdrop.

The new suit cut was deliberately youthful, with its snug, short jacket and skinny pants, while the sportier jackets had inserts of dangling fringe. Reintroducing color meant a pale green shirt, perhaps with inserts of open-work.

The Versace brand is in a delicate position, as it tries to tempt a new generation while still serving the faithful followers. This collection looked like a half-way house.

At Calvin Klein, the designer Italo Zucchelli said: “I’m always inspired by the urban element of street style.”

Really? Who are the downtown New Yorkers who will wear a cut-off, midriff-revealing cape jacket with none of the Superman panache of the Caped Crusader? Will peppermint green jackets and matching shorts be walking the city’s High Line? And who will take a shine to suits that glimmer like asphalt on a wet road?

With this collection, Mr. Zuchelli, who has been doing a fine job at Calvin Klein, had a misstep. His fabric research seemed to be taken to extremes. Or perhaps the stiff, shimmering materials were, as the repeated soundtrack told us, “A Walk on the Wild Side.”

Sometimes the show eased into simplicity, as with graphic patterns inserted vertically on one side of a sporty outfit. But it seems a pity that the designer would abandon the spirit of “Mr. Clean” — especially as the minimalism that defines the Calvin Klein look would be so right for now.

Gianfranco Ferré is yet another house trying to build a modern identity from its late founder’s heritage. But why would Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi ignore Mr. Ferré’s architectural precision and bring to the runway the cliché of the artist – all floppy hats, baggy smocks and a poetic attitude?

The clothes were often appealing in the softness of a wrapped-shirt, the subtlety of an ochre jacket with ginger pants and the chic of a briefcase tucked like a clutch under the arm. But fancy brocade pants and liquid silk jackets neither had the linear style of Mr. Ferré nor a push for youthful modernity.

Giorgio Armani seems to have had a youthquake experience in his collaboration with Lady Gaga on the sex-and-storm-troopers video shot by Steven Klein. For the Emporio Armani show Sunday, the designer focused on heavy metal, not least as chains hitting bared chests and an all-black introduction to what the designer backstage called his “hard man.”

With eyelets perforating shirts and pants, biceps heaving under airy jackets and a print that looked like the earth cracking open, this was a startling new vision of the septuagenarian designer, who showed his humorous side, although some many not find black military uniforms so funny.

Milan: Fashion Week in the Futbol Hub

New Zealand Herald

 

Allow me to state the obvious. I'm more likely to get excited by a good fashion show than an All Blacks victory. More interested in a well-tailored suit than a perfectly executed field goal. More intrigued by the career of a model than that of our greatest sports-stars.

However today I chose the soccer over the sartorial. And witnessing that 1-1 draw in a bar filled with the most aggressive Italian supporters in Milan trumped any fashion show.

There's nothing like leaving your home country to multiply your patriotism rates to new heights. GO THE KIWIS!

Now, back to the matter at hand.

First up was Emporio Armani where inside, paparazzi were crowded down one end of the catwalk flashing furiously. Never one to miss a celebrity spotting, I ran over, camera at the ready, only to discover some Italian man I'd never seen before. Can't win them all.

I've often wondered how Giorgio Armani manages to keep his guests entertained for the duration of his shows whilst presenting 60-plus looks (the typical show has about 30).

Multiple models on the catwalk, that's how. Within 10 seconds of it starting, eight strapping lads were strutting it in full-leather outfits.

The Emporio man was on a techno Matrix trip this season, with leather pants, gothic sleeveless shirts, Neo-esque sunglasses and even a few onesy swimsuits.

Stalwart Armani fan Lady Gaga appeared in the finale - though not in the flesh - projected onto the back wall singing her latest smash hit Alejandro. The floodgates opened and out poured 20 models in the same leather army uniforms as her dancers in the video.

Over at Gianfranco Ferre, a lovely PR lady by the name of Valentina ushered me into the building with welcoming arms despite my lack of formal invitation.

A major difference between shows in our parts of the world and these markedly larger affairs is the designers' choice of venue. Many hold their shows in their own complexes, in special rooms designed for that purpose alone. It's easy to forget we're dealing with multi-national corporations here.

Gianfranco Ferre's is an enormous white marble space with geometric shapes inset in the floor. During the show Talking Heads' rock anthem Psycho Killer blared from the speakers, but the clothing was all Brideshead Revisited.

Foppish linen suits in creams, beige hopsack pants with oversized white crushed-linen shirts and floaty trench coats. The other influence appeared to be Southern gents - ticker stripes showed up on everything from linen suits to silk pyjamas and many outfits were worn with oversized felt hats. Perfect attire to spend a lazy day floating on down the river - Thames or Mississippi, you decide.

Speaking of large bodies of water, the sky outside Vivienne Westwood appeared to be dropping a few of them. The previous show had ended early and we had a lovely 25 minute wait in the chilly rain (Milan's summer is feeling oddly cooler than an Auckland winter).

We did have some fascinating visual entertainment, a number of camo-clad soldiers, semi-automatic rifles pointed firmly at the ground. Inside the venue, a stack of 80s television sets sat near the entrance, a solitary skateboarder tick-tacked his way along the catwalk and each seat came with a Swiss Army flask - to eliminate plastic wastage, according to the label.

There was no shortage of patterns, colours or textures in the collection - chalk stripes clashed with box checks, tartans with mud and paint splattered denim, knee high soccer socks with all manners of wigs.

Westwood's message was clear: get dressed in the dark, then, before you leave the house, throw on another loud garment (or ten).

That done, it was time to go watch some soccer. (I took the rest of the day off to celebrate the draw.)