Those were inspiring shows at Milan Fashion week. It is difficult to make a choice, they were all fantastic.
I picked out a few designers who caught my attention and illustrate them.
Trussardi
“Old is the new young,” said Gaia Trussardi backstage before the show. The designer was referring to her immersion in the company’s archives this season. Channeling a country-chic mood, she updated vintage Trussardi pants and corset jackets, delivering tight riding pants and gathered blazers worked in corduroy and printed velvet. A flowing maxi dress came layered under a double breasted blazer combining suede and Prince of Wales wool, and oversized knits were paied with slipdresses and suede skirts.
Gucci
Gucci designer Alessandro Michele makes clothes you lay eyes on for the first time and instantly feel you have always wanted. Straight silk dresses with 7/8 sleeves cuffed in mink, coiled serpent embroideries, double-breasted brocade coats, knitted ruffled red capes. Alessandro Michele as one of the most exciting designers of the moment.
Missoni
In a season when the ’70s are undergoing yet another revival, Angela Missoni turned around and re-owned the knitwear heritage her family invented in that decade, serving it up with beanie hats, big knitted throws, and the definitive trail-y Lurex scarf: Italian fashion’s souvenir of the season. Multi-coloured sweater dresses with trailing floor-length skinny Nineties scarves.
Moschino
Jeremy Scott’s theme was the Bonfire of the Vanities. Biker leathers and bustiers, crop tops and capes, distressed denim and visual puns (pearl skeletons traced on a black gown;
a T-shirt dress that mimicked a pack of Moschinos, instead of Marlboros), all trussed up in the taffeta and silk charmeuse bows of the prom queen. They wore long black leather gloves, and jeans with Eighties trains.
Giorgio Armani
There were jogging pants, worn with blazers, in a very Armani nod to trends such as athleisure. More garden party than office were a selection of suits and some dresses or coats printed with pastel flowers with the blur of a watercolour. Missteps came in clashing floral prints on a harlequin-ish jacket, but the cropped bootcut velvet trousers were the exact shape currently preferred in the front row.
