Milan Fashion Week: D&G
Hilary Alexander reviews the D&G summer 2010 collection inspired by the British woman, from Milan Fashion Week.
'Cowgirls in the Sand' was the theme at Dolce & Gabbana's young, diffusion line, D&G, shown at Milan Fashion Week today (Thursday). The designers took as their muse a hybrid of Kate Moss (as photographed by Juergen Teller) and Brigitte Bardot in the wacky western movie, 'Viva Maria'.
Cue tight denim cowboy-shirts, denim mini-dresses with saloon-girl flounces, denim bustiers, and the best take on Western boots since John Wayne saddled-up. The mood was fresh, youthful, saucy and full of fun. Bleached amnd distressed denim was mixed with enough frilled lace, tulle and broderie anglaise to cover Montana. Lace-cut and perforated beige suede fashioned corsets, frilled hot-pants and bra-tops worn with matching ra-ra skirts.
Skinny jeans were done in white, lacey pantaloons peeked out beneath Wyatt Earp-style trench-coats. Even Clint Eastwood got a look-in, via pin-striped, gambler's jackets, worn with matching cropped trousers. For evening, the D&G look was a multi-tiered skirt in beige tulle which came in every length from micro to maxi, worn with a studded, leather-patched western shirt.
The cowboy boots are sure to spark a major trend. They came stack-heeled, Cuban-heeled and flat, with lashings of fringes and studs. But forget the cowboy hats. That was one look the boys were happy to leave to the cowboys. Santa Fe and Tuscon, Arizona should brace themselves for a thousand and one fashion location shoots.
-----------------------------------
Just two photographs, JUST two and I'm already in love. D&G always come up with something new but quirky and fit to their style. It does, however, almost look like Gucci's style, but the denim and lace with leather and tassels will easily trickle down to the high street and next year's festivals.
------------------------------------
Milan Fashion Week: Giorgio Armani
Hilary Alexander reviews the Giorgio Armani spring/summer 2010 collection from Milan Fashion Week.
By Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director at Milan fashion Week
Published: 3:02PM BST 24 Sep 2009
Glowing tyre tracks in cobalt and yellow on an asphalt-black catwalk signalled a change of direction for Giorgio Armani at Milan Fashion Week today.
The designer took skirts to new heights, some so short they came with black sequin cycle shorts.
Micro puff balls, ballerina tutus, and ra-ra skirts, straight from the "Fame" wardrobe, were paired with bustiers and halter tops which were scarcely wider than a pair of braces.
The shimmering colours, iridescent beading and lush tropical florals combined to create a mysterious effect, as of dresses glimpsed in a moonlit jungle.
Jackets were sculpted close to the body with defined shoulders and curved peplums.
Shoes were flat, an ankle strap sandal or a tiny pump with a transparent slingback.
---------------------------------
80's Eighties 80's. Enough already, the eighties have been in fashion since the 2008. It's time we moved on and took things away from the cobalts and fuchsias. The detailling is gorgeous, but not on dresses that look like they've just been torn off a Sindy Doll. Boohoo.com already has dresses like this in their sale.
---------------------------------
Milan Fashion Week: Prada
Hilary Alexander reviews the Prada spring/summer 2010 collection from Milan Fashion Week.
By Hilary Alexander, Fashion Director at Milan Fashion Week
Published: 7:42PM BST 24 Sep 2009
A floor-to-ceiling screen divided the vast concrete Prada headquarters for Miuccia Prada’s spring/summer show at Milan Fashion Week tonight (Thursday), separating the audience in two, and simultaneously serving as a backdrop for the scenes which inspired the collection.
Doorways in an Italian street, palm trees, chandeliers, families sunbathing on beaches which could be anywhere from Ipanema to The Maldives, and shadowy hotel lobbies and corridors opening out onto infinite stretches of white sand.
Against this collage of imagery came the models, in silvery silk/nylon stretch shorts-suits, capes and knickers; in aqua and green palm-print coats and black-and-white, flower-print dresses open at the back, but veiled, bride or nun-like, in a wisp of fabric; in tiny white or black silk French knickers with matching stretch bodies, an edge-to-edge coat, or a swingy short jacket, which billowed out from a gathered yoke.
Hems and edges were raw, unfinished. Crystal belts cinched waists. More crystals were draped on clear Perspex and PVC stack-heel sandals, with extreme pointy toes and often without platforms.
There was a sporty feel to many of the ensembles, echoed in the use of stretch fabrics and in the exercise mood of the sleeveless, little tops and bodies and the skimpy running shorts. When the girls were not in these shorts – Ms Prada admitted backstage she “has a passion for knickers” – they wore clinging cycle shorts.
The collection also harked back to couture of the 50’s, in the use of a silk cloque in a deep bottle green for a yoked, swing coat, which was rocketed into the 21st century with unfinished edges and by adding matching evening-shorts.
The grand chandeliers which had appeared as computerized images on the wall-divider, were likewise re-invented in mini-cloaks, dazzling and iridescent in the stage-lighting, and worn over white, stretch, collared tops and matching running shorts.
Another Prada must-have will be the oversized clear plastic ‘goggles’ worn by many of the models, a device which underscored the concept of transparency and vision.
---------------------------------------
Art. Pure brilliance in the colours and psychedelic patterns in silk applied to sporty shorts and draped cloaks and skirts. Can't wait to see the advertising campaign for this collection, it will be fresh, dazzling and unlike the sophisticated chic we've seen before. Thank you for bringing us something new and different compared to other brands, and compared to Prada's previous collections.
------------------------------------------
Show Report
Dolly Jones
24/09/2009, Vogue.co.uk
The must have dress of Spring Summer 2010
AS a remix of Smells Like Teen Spirit played out the last girls in the Just Cavalli show this afternoon, it was generally agreed that the famously lothario designer couldn't have picked a better sound track.
Stunningly beautiful girls were dishevelled to the point of not belonging in the Milanese sunshine - instead they should have been swaying with half-closed eyes in a mosh pit with Courtney Love in the good old days - or at least that's where they looked like they'd come from: all dark, expertly smudged eye make-up and rough-dried blonde, expertly messed up hair.
The first girl appeared in a long pink chiffon tiered dress that was falling off her to reveal sheer, deliberately ill fitting jersey underclothes. She had "I've just been touched by Cavalli" scrawled across her front and "heal the world, make it a Cavalli place" on her back. Cavalli's known for his humour but the theme of the show combined with the implications of the slogan were pretty dark.
More chiffon dresses of green and sunbleached pink-bleeding-into-black, swung airily around the girls over mis-matching T-shirts with rolled up sleeves or sequinned under layers for added grunge glamour.
Shredded denim and snakeskin jeans were teamed with pointed satin bras that came either under or over matching chiffon vests, while the free-for-all silhouette was drawn tightly in for bodycon mini dresses with studded seams.
Later on, dresses of lace panels featured long fringing and hung open over sexy fitted underwear, as if the young ravers had come into money but couldn't bring themselves to give up the grunge entirely - and for the morning after there were moth-eaten black knits over tight leather trousers.
When Cavalli finds a theme, he takes it all the way and for all its trashy connotations, this show had an arresting nature - these were good girls gone bad and you couldn't help but slightly want to step into their world for a while, just as long as you could step safely out again.
-----------------------------------
Bras on top? Haven't seen that in a while, especially very neat satin bras in black and plum, looking more like crop tops than underwear.
Layers are a key theme from the collection, and considering the British summer it will be done. T-shirts under dresses is something I haven't done since I was 9 or 10, but it's a great way to bring that LBD or evening dress you bought in winter back down to earth for daywear. Intelligent styling for this collection that will definitely shape the trends to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment