Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are celebrating their 25th year in the business this year – and the collection they debuted in Milan this week was, according to critics, worthy of their milestone. The inspiration for Dolce & Gabbana this season was a “hope chest,” the chest a bride packs before her wedding. Many of the white dresses, which were both ankle-grazing and cut up-to-there, came embroidered with delicate white flowers that seemed reminiscent of an Italian mama’s tablecloth. But things got naughtier as the show developed: pin-up bras under mesh, corset tops, black silk for the boudoir, and, of course, leopard print dresses.
According to Donatella Versace, her focus of this season’s collection was “rigor and sensuality.” And it certainly played out over the course of her Versace collection, which featured several dresses that were both skin-tight but below the knee, and looks that included both sleek solids with layers of vibrant print. A highlight of the collection were bold fringe dresses, which seemed to pop off the runway and invite the crowd to dance. After the show, Versace hosted the fashion set, including January Jones, at Palazzo Versace, where Hercules and Love Affair had the crowd dancing late into the night.
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When crowds filed into the Versace Teatro for the Versus show on Sunday, they were met with a surprise: a school yard. The set was covered in real grass, and featured swings and a slide. And they were taken back to school days with the collection, which introduced plaids, florals, and even backpacks. According to Versus designer Christopher Kane, who works closely with Donatella Versace, the prints for this season came straight from the Versace archives – but were augmented for maximum color. And as the show went on, it was apparent that Versus’ school girl had a dark side -- mesh shirts, fitted tops, and a black minidress peaking out from under a floral layer – lent the collection an edge. As Kane said backstage, “ It’s Village of the Damned… Or Clones.”
When Miuccia Prada peaked out from backstage for her final wave, everyone went bananas – literally. She was wearing resin banana earrings, which street Style photographer Scott Schuman promptly wrote a post about on the Sartorialist. The collection, which featured baroque embellishments next to beach-ball stripes in bright and bold colors, met strong reviews. But after the collection showed, rumors circulated that Prada’s CEO Patrizio Bertelli was unhappy with the clothes – and that the entire collection would be nixed or altered. But Prada denied the rumors on Monday, and has announced that it will bring an “enhanced offering” to New York this fall.
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Neon is still in, according to Raf Simons, who sent a brighter-than-ever collection down the runway at a href="http://www.jilsander.com" target="_blank">Jil Sander . Simons said that his collection was inspired by the maximalism of haute couture – but translated in his own minimalist vocabulary. This meant that the high-drama of many of the designs was countered by more wearable items: many of his bold pieces were shown with white t-shirts, and embellishments, such as a peplum skirt, were detachable. And, in a mood reminiscent of Louis Vuitton’s garbage bags from last season, Simons sent several bags that looked like plastic grocery bags down the runway with his neon clothes. Cathy Horyn gave the collection a stamp of approval for street-readiness: “You could wear many of the skirts with sandals or sneakers,” she wrote.
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Frida Giannini’s collection for Gucci was titled “Sophisticated Seduction,” and brought equal parts of appealing wearability and daring vamp. Silk dresses came in rich, jewel tones, and were embellished with bronze belts and revealing eyelets. A day-time desert feel came in the form of fringed suede, crochet sweaters, and camel tones – a theme which quickly became seductive with black leather corsets. For night, Giannini drew inspiration from Marrakech, and introduced beaded and tasseled fringe dresses in rich hues.
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Well, here’s one way to impose a trend for the spring season: pick one color and stick with it. That’s what Giorgio Armani did when he debuted his collection against a dark blue background, awash with dark blue light, and consisting of, well, only dark blue clothes. The collection -- from mini-skirts to sparkling silk evening dresses -- was inspired by the Tuareg, a nomadic people who wear dark blue veils. And Armani didn’t shy away from it in his program notes. “Totally monotone!” he declared.
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The look may have been silky and seductive at Gucci – but it was just the opposite at Marni, where blocky sportswear reigned supreme. And that’s literal sportswear – as much of Consuelo Castiglioni’s collection seemed inspired by cycling and scuba diving. Bike shorts, rubber sandals, scuba shirts, and even bathing caps were the theme uniting many of the looks – but the collection also offered elegant black dresses webbed with mesh, floral separates, and voluminous skirts. Surf’s up!
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Tomas Maier’s collection for Bottega Veneta had a serious and urban feel. He called this season a study of “sophisticated casualness,” and sent models down the runway with disheveled heads, and loose jersey dresses in muted solids. Explained Maier of his collection: “I’m not inspired by red carpet events or the little starlets who pose in front of those logo-printed walls. I’m inspired to make clothes for women.”
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No surface was left unprinted at Missoni, where Angela Missoni told Style.com of her collection: “It’s a trip!” And trip it was, with the collection drawing influences from everywhere from Mexico to Vietnam. Dresses and separates were adorned with wild colors and a collage of prints – which even incorporated words, like “Shake Your Rump,” in their folds. Wrote Tim Blanks of the collection: “It was tempting to see the show as a watershed moment for Missoni.”
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Massimiliano Giornetti’s collection for Ferragamo was inspired by the 1960s movie La Piscine. Sweeping transparent dresses in muted tones, safari jackets, and peasant dresses blanketed the runway on Sunday, which resulted in a collection marked by both Giornetti’s desired “gypsy attitude” and Ferragamo’s traditional vibe. And after the show, crowds trooped to the Palazzo Mezzanotte (also known as Milan’s Stock Exchange!) for Ferragamo’s “Seize the Moment” party, where Claudia Schiffer, Margherita Missoni, Mischa Barton, and Jada Pinkett Smith danced late into the night.
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Roberto Cavalli delivered high fantasy in his collection, when models trooped out in python, suede belly tops, mesh dresses, and miles and miles of fringe. There was something vaguely cowgirl about it – a vamped-up version of Ralph Lauren’s Spring collection, perhaps. The show unfolded in a massive greenhouse at the foot of Milan’s Arco Della Pace, and featured an all-star lineup of models, from Natalia Vodianova, who opened the show, to Laetitia Casta, who closed it. The collection, according to WWD, seemed tailored to women “for whom life is one long music video.”
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The front row is always filled with little kids – chic toddlers and editor spawn who have the enviable task of sitting in the house’s best seats and looking bored by the show. But that wasn’t the case for Willow Smith, the 9-year-old daughter of Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who took Milan by storm. There she was, sitting next to Naomi Campbell in the front row at Dolce & Gabanna, chilling in the VIP room with Kylie Minogue, and curling up on Giorgio Armani’s shoulder after Emporio Armani. And yet she held her own — with a slew of show-stopping outfits, Smith earned her right in the front row. She wore parachute camouflage one-piece to Versace; a leopard print Dolce & Gabbana structured jacket and studded sneakers to Ferragamo, and a newspaper-print mini-dress with commando boots to Armani.
And after the shows, front-row staples proved they too can get down: the party of the week was at a warehouse in Milan, where Italian Vogue’s Franca Sozzani hosted a “Studio 54 Revisited” bash for Diane von Furstenberg. Around the room, images of von Furstenberg at various stages in her life plastered the walls. “I was 20 and wearing three hairpieces,” she said about one image. Also on hand to fete Von Furstenberg was Anna Wintour, Lapo Elkann, Jada Pinkett Smith, and Mischa Barton.
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George Clooney, Elisabetta Canalis & Giorgio Armani
