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SHORT REVIEW: Sleek daywear and sculptural evening wear add up to a great looking collection
LONG REVIEW:
The house of Versace is well known for it’s eveningwear but Donatella put a new focus on daywear with a parade of short, sassy well-cut coats, and sleek dresses. For evening, there were sculptural gowns which oozed modern sophistication. This great-looking collection was pared down and controlled but not contrived. And even though she has embraced a sculpted silhouette, Donatella still knows how to have fun. She threw a hot pink fur coat into the mix to provide a seasoning of bad taste and a passage of dresses featuring garish collage prints done in collaboration with the artist he Dutch artist Tim Roeloffs served as an alternative to the traditional Versace bling. CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: GLOSSY TRENDS BUT ARE THEY TOO EASY TO FOLLOW?
LONG REVIEW:
Gucci is becoming a weather vane for the most commercial of trends and this season Russsian peasant meets Jimmy Hendrix looks will probably fly and not just at Gucci stores. Frida Giannini’s work has plenty of glossy appeal and it can be easily understood beyond the realms of luxury fashion but it can be, and is, all too easily replicated. Thanks to Giannini, you can bet the UK high street will be full of little embroidered Cossack jackets and winter party dresses in those prints. Nobody could doubt the luxury and the finish at Gucci, but other design houses have responded to the problem of copyists by making things the high street could never rip off. CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: Dignified, feminine, luxurious. What’s not to like?
LONG REVIEW: Some designers think it’s all about sobriety, others think a frumpy hemline best reflects the times. Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Maier, however, gave such a strong endorsement of the womanly silhouette that it was hard to critique. These were clothes that kissed the body in an adoring, sensual way. Maier never strayed into fetish or played on cliché. He is a confident designer making clothes for confident women. CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: Where has the famous Cavalli mojo gone?
LONG REVIEW:
1950’S prom dresses and a finale full of pretty girls in tiaras? What’s happened at Roberto Cavalli? The man for whom raunch and luxury always went hand in hand has put away his famous mojo and turned to the Doris Day decade for inspiration. The results were a little deflating. The show opened with a series of dresses which lightly referenced Dior’s New Look and then moved on to some highly worked peasant chic coats and beaded evening dresses which showed off the signature Cavalli luxury. But the confident sexuality usually associated with the brand was missing. Afterwards the designer called for women to cover up and hunker down in something warm and sensible, to which one attractive thirty something buyer said; “I’m a single woman. There’s no way I’m covering up.” Women don’t look to Cavalli to reflect harsh economic times. They don’t expect him to be sensitive to the zeitgeist. They go to Cavalli to feel sexy, gorgeous and irresistible. Not his season though. CLAUDIA CROFT.
SHORT REVIEW: Strict, powerful, beautiful. If this is austerity dressing I’ll take every piece. LONG REVIEW: Designer’s are grappling and aesthetic response to gloomy economic prospects. Many have decided that a version of covered up sensible chic is what’s needed. Hemlines have dropped and sex has fallen off the agenda. But if we are in for a period of austerity chic, then you can trust Miuccia Prada to turn the whole concept on its head. For autumn/winter 08 her silhouettes were long and lean and the key item was a fitted black lace shift. It was sometimes worn with a crisp blue man’s shirt underneath, or sometimes accessorised with strange modular pieces like with a clip-on nylon peplum or nude, bandage like neck cuff. The models looked as strict as Mrs Danvers with their hair pulled back from pale faces into leaser cut leather snoods. There was nothing frivolous about the collection, which had an air of sombre grandeur – watching the models process, was as Marigay McKee, the flamboyant Harrods buyer said “like being at a mafia boss’s funeral in Sicily”. The only flare was in the winged shoes, which looked like they stepped straight out of a futurist manifesto. So Prada presented an austere restrained collection to suit the times, but here’s the twist. That lace is hand made in Switzerland and costs E 600 a metre, which makes Prada’s version of austerity chic a very expensive indeed. And all those sensual womanly shapes will serve to drive customers into the shops to buy, buy, buy. Who needs recession dressing when you have Prada? CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: It looked more like an ode to Ricardo Tisci’s gothic inclined Givenchy than Gianfranco Ferré
LONG REVIEW: The house of Ferré is in disarray. Lars Nilsson, The designer appointed to take over after the death of founder Gianfranco Ferré, was dramatically sacked just two weeks before the A/W 08 show – apparently for straying too far from the Ferre legacy. According to insiders, a large part of his collection was scrapped and the remaining design team were ordered to whip up something new from scratch. They came up with a edgy monochromatic look full of and sculpted cuts which referenced Ferré, but it looked very akin to Ricardo Tisci’s gothic inclined work at Givenchy than anything Ferré might have done (I’m blaming the bone white tights for that). Given the turmoil, it could have looked a whole lot worse than it did, but the decision makers at Ferré had better get their house in order next season CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: Full of “I want it” pieces.
LONG REVIEW: As the first outfit came out a little voice in my head said “I want it! I want an oversized mannish coat!” The little voice didn't shut up. This season Christopher Bailey excelled at making the kind of clothes that inspire lust. I wanted those bell bottom flares (well I wanted to be skinny enough to wear them). I wanted the quilted version of the iconic mac. I wanted the slouchy, metal studded shopper and the even wanted the funny, grungy beanie hats that accompanied every look. Best of all were the coats. It wouldn’t be a Burberry show without a restyled mac. This time they came in quilt, gabardine and chinchilla and for evening Bailey provided macs made from ruched chiffon and petals of silk. It was all clever enough to make the heart beat a little faster but straightforward enough to slip into any modern wardrobe.CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: Forget sex and sass. The Queen is the surprising new muse for D&G’S homage to HRH chic.
LONG REVIEW:
You imagine the D&G girl to be the first one to start the dancing and the last one to go home. The brand excels at making sassy, sexy youthful clothes. Well, for autumn winter 08 the D&G girl had a conversion of sorts. Gone are the short hemlines and bosomy tops of the good time girl. In are the midi-length kilts, corduroy skirts, twin sets and headscarves of Queen Elisabeth II. The D&G collection was based on the off duty, dog walking uniform of HRH. The Italian designer’s had enough respect for our head of state not to sex her up and put her in a tartan version of their signature bustier although they did send her on a psychedelic odyssey, fusing her traditional tartans with brightly coloured paisley prints for full skirts and must-have bell bottoms. The collection was all very tongue in cheek, but a midi length tartan kilt is still a midi-length tartan kilt whether it’s done by D&G or the Edinburgh Woollen Mill. You can’t be sexy every season and for Autumn/Winter 08, the legendary D&G sass has been replaced with humour. The question is, will the brand's young, gregarious fans get the joke? CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: Gives his customers what they crave, but adds a little surprise. LONG REVIEW: ‘The thing about the Armani woman, is that she loves a jacket,” said an American buyer to a TV crew, right after the Giorgio Armani show. The thing about Armani, the man, is that he is always more attentive to his customers needs than prevailing fashion trends (it’s what has helped build his brand into the biggest in fashion). So if the Armani woman wants a jacket that’s what she gets. Out they came in huge variety - nipped in and short, longer and more mannish, in quilt tweed, velvet and matt wool. They were worn with bubble-hemmed skirts or Armani’s take on harem pants. For evening the mood changed. Jackets were replaced by fringed, floral shawls and fringed evening gowns which had a haute gypsy feel. The surprise here is that the gypsy look is set to be a big trend (Armani usually rises serenely above the trends). Other Italian houses including Roberto Cavalli and the much-copied Gucci have done versions of the look. CLAUDIA CROFT
SHORT REVIEW: Full of fine woman-friendly dresses but where was the tailoring?
LONG REVIEW:
Alberta Ferreetti was in the mood for dresses. From the swirl printed loose silk smocks, to the sack-back satin shifts, soft velvet dresses gently gathered at the waist and the delicate ruched chiffon frocks that Ferretti excels at, it was a frock fest from start to finish. Ferretti can’t be faulted for focusing on what she does best. She stayed within her comfort zone but in doing so one couldn’t help thinking something was missing from this collection. Tailoring was all but absent which is a shame. In previous seasons Ferretti has shown that her label can be a go-to brand for fantastic winter coats a well as covetable dresses. CLAUDIA CROFT
Fashion week is about a lot more than the frocks. There's always the hobnobbing, the parties, the guestlists and the taxi situation to be grappling with. And then there is the music. And at Burberry, it rocked. Chosen by Christopher Bailey himself, the models stalked down the catwalk to haunting sounds of Billy Bragg's The Man in the Iron Mask, James's Getting Away with it, Just for Tonight from One Night Only and finally The Proclaimers' Act of Rememberance. All of which scored as big a hit as the outfits.
We suggest you get downloading now - you may not be able to afford a Burberry dress, but you can afford a bit of their sound.
SHORT REVIEW: Any trend as long as it’s retro
LONG REVIEW:The seventies are back. The first day of the Milan shows saw several labels cluster around the trend for Seventies inspired shapes and patterns. Missoni had it’s hey day in the seventies, to the point where its signature zig zag knits evokes the decade without even trying, so it was no surprise to see seventies looks on its runway for a/w 2008. A maxi length patterned knit romper suit came in that very Seventies colour combo of cream and brown. Wide wool mustard trousers were worn with polo necks and hooded capes. Large metal pendants and oversized shades completed the retro look for a collection that never really got out of it’s comfort zone.
At Cheap and Chic flared purple check trousers were worn with a matching smock style jacket and for evening there were Night Fever tuxedos. At Just Cavalli it was all flared jeans, floppy hats and printed smock tops for day and leopard print kaftans for evening.
This seventies look is sure to be a commercial trend. Customers are already primed for it if the number of women who have abandoned their skinny jeans for high-wasited flares is anything to go by. They've already got the jeans. Now they can have the smock, the cape, the knit and accessories to go with the them. CLAUDIA CROFT
Versace put on a high impact, high-energy presentation, treating its audience to a display of fierce supermodel strutting the like of which Milan hasn’t seen in years. The clothes themselves were surprisingly restrained for Versace. Gone were the glitzy embellishments associated with the brand. There wasn’t a Medusa head in sight. Instead the focus was on shape, drape and cut, with fluid jersey dresses that that evoked the Halston disco era without looking too retro. Bold summer colours (zinging coral, tropical green and hot pink) completed this confident, sophisticated collection.
Gucci is a brand with its finger on the populist pulse. Its trends are easy to read and for all their luxe, Gucci’s sassy runway silhouettes are straightforward. These approachable qualities have made it one of the most copied brands on the UK high street. If you want to know what Warehouse, Primark and George at Asda be doing next spring, the Guci catwalk is a good place to start. A 1950’s influence coursed through Frida Gianini’s collection For Gucci. The androgynous pieces worked best. Skinny, drop crotch trousers came in a bold monochrome check were worn with tiny, cropped tailored jackets or leather biker jackets. This is what the high street will pick up on. Less successful was the uncompromising bumblebee colour palette of black, white and yellow (never an easy combo to pull off) and the big, stiff ball gowns worn with oversized belts. They looked too heavy, grown-up and formal for a brand that deals in approachable modern glamour.
Dolce and Gabbana took modern art as their inspiration, daubing paint directly onto their designs. It could have looked like a load of Jackson Polloks but instead the effect was one of beautiful, whitewashed serenity. Key shapes like bell-bottoms and the brand’s signature corset dress (this time reinvented with a full skirt) came out in colours as pale as a gallery wall. Shapes were looser and less body-conscious than in previous collections as the designers turned to subtle transparency for impact. One of the best outfits was a long tailored jacket in organza, which was layered like mille-feuille and worn over a transparent dress. The finale was a delight. A cocktail dress made of scrunched, paint daubed fabric was followed by a ballgown of similar designs then another even bigger dress and finally a whopper. These dresses were so huge that the models couldn’t pass each other on the runway, yet they were so light they bounced. This lightness shot through the whole collection and made for a very contemporary fashion statement.
Prada
The prevailing mood of the season so far, is for soft, feminine clothes in light airy fabrics. Pretty, flounced dresses and bell bottoms (again) have emerged as the key pieces. So far so unchallenging - until you experience the Prada version of the look. Miuccia Prada always stirs things up and her collection was like a fairytale gone wrong. Prada’s sinister take of pretty included intricate, Beardsley-esque prints of naked nymphs, which appeared on dresses. If you looked closely you could see that some had their legs tied together or were being kissed by beastly shadowy figures. This twisted prettiness continued with feminine, semi-sheer dresses whose covered buttons slid away from the centre line as if the frock were in meltdown. This collection was not about straight lines. Necklines were organic and looped over the décolleté with the same kind of curvy logic a river uses to find the sea. Even the uniformity of graphic check prints, which appeared on midi dresses and bell bottoms was distorted and warped. It was a brilliantly disquieting collection.
The question of taste is never far from the mind at a Bottega Veneta show. The label has remade modern luxury in its own neutral toned image these past few years. Subtlety, understatement and hand crafted detailing are the cornerstones of the brand, which caters to the super rich. Who else but the privacy obsessed billionaire class would want a belted calf length shirt dress in a colour so imperceptible that you cold argue for hours over whether it was pink or putty. Who but the security conscious, kidnap shy moneyed elite would pay £4000 for a simple sun dress because it is hand pleated. Bottega doesn’t do shouty, flashy excess. It does hush-hush excess. It is almost imperceptible (unless you know what to look for) and is therefore far more outrageous than a fur bikini or a gilded evening dress. This collection was an exercise in all that. The apparently simple shirt-waisters, supple safari tailoring and elegant ruched evening gowns gave the impression of a label that doesn’t have to try too hard. And if the show was a little underwhelming, then perhaps that’s the point. For Bottega Veneta teaches that modern luxury should be a little bit boring and hard to read, because if it’s not, it’s just expensive tat.
After a couple of dowdy collections in a row, it was about time Missoni attempted something more youthful. Certainly the abbreviated hemlines, strapless mini dresses and tailored shorts were the kind of things that only the young could wear. The question is will they want to? The muted colours (mid-gray, sludgy yellow, moss green) looked downbeat not fresh. Things livened up when dresses and skirts came heavily embellished with gold embroidery and semi-precious stones (in homage to Gustav Klimt) but this intense detailing went against the season's prevailing trend for lightness and fluidity. In that respect, a section of maxi dresses which hinted at the Marie Helvin exotic, disco diva look fared better, but all in all it looked like a label trying to be young and not quite succeeding.
First there were military inspired coats, cinched with gold belts. Next there were volume dresses, draped and gathered about the body. Then came twenties drop-waist flapper dresses. The Sportmax collection was all over the place. In the end it was best to stop trying to find a link between these disparate pieces and just look at each outfit individually. There were some great pieces - this is still a great brand for coats - but no strong over all message from the show.
Sometimes even committed minimalists like to dress things up a bit. At Jil Sander, which is designed by Raf Simons, there was a lot going on. The show opened with an organide cape, which functioned as a sheer pod and was worn over lean separates. This idea of structured lightness carried through the collection with dressed made from squares of organdie layered like tissue paper and clouds of the stuff obscuring the finale outfits. The fussiness was surprising for a brand that trades on a strict minimalist aesthetic but there were some very clever pieces. Sheer jackets which were cut away from the body but had a fitted inner structure. Simons also showed his fashion intelligence when it came to the issue of proportion. He deftly demonstrated how long wide trousers should be worn – with a form fitting top and a tiny cropped jacket. Colour too was a big issue. Simons used strong sherbet pink and orange neons. It all added up to a collection full of big ideas.
The Milan traffic got the better of me at Burberry. After abandoning the car and sprinting to the venue in Alaia wedges (I can clock up a surprising speed on those things) I had to watch the Buberry Prorsum show from the back near photographers pit. From this distance it looked like a slick reworking of the body-con looks of the eighties. Sex-bot models wore form-fitting mini dresses in ruched chiffon and silk jersey. There was also a vamped up version of the obligatory trench in blue neopre
n with laced up seams. I went for another look in the showroom the next day and up close the workmanship that went into the collection was impressive. These are not a simple, understated clothes. The skin tight dresses were made from intricately twisted and gathered chiffon or jersey. There were skirts, jackets and a dresses fashioned from luscious, strokeable fringes of silk thread that felt as soft as chinchilla - a good alternative to fur for animal lovers. Trenches came in supple, white perforated leather and party dresses were covered in ribbons stitched into rosettes or encrusted with beads. It certainly injected an ambitious level of luxury into the Burberry brand although some of the highly worked pieces felt too heavy for a summer collection.
When Giorgio Armani hooks onto a silhouette he likes, he makes sure everybody knows about it. The majority of his mainline show focused on one item. It was a re-imagining of the hareem pant, shrunk to a pair of shorts cut just above the knee. Out they came in plain silk and knotted at the knees, or in a floral print and cuffed. There was even an office worthy pair cut like conventional trousers at the top but ruched at the knees. Armani was emphatic. For Spring/Summer 2008 it is all about this fashion emperor’s new shorts. Whilst they worked in some incarnations (the softer and more simple the fabric and more casual the treatment the better the effect) in others they looked forced and awkward. Perhaps the eyes just need time to adjust to this new silhouette. That said, at times, it looked like a brand attempting newness but coming out with novelty instead. The collection was on surer ground with its fringed evening dresses. Shimmering with bugle beads and crystals they had a folksy glamour. Again not a look you expect from Armani but this time it worked.
The D&G confirmed that Glastonbury is now as powerful a catwalk as any in Milan. Model agents scout there, magazines shoot fashion editorials at the event, whilst celebrities and regular girls alike obsess about their festival looks. Everyone is vying for just the right mix of countercultural cool, rock and roll sex appeal and fashion currency. The D&G collection hand plenty of dream outfits for next year’s Glasto girl. Patchwork denim flares and flounced chiffon maxi dresses, would appeal to trippy festival traditionalists. For more flamboyant types, the gold, fringed jackets and mini shifts will be the pieces to covet. In amongst all this festival finery, D&G also inserted some preppy tailoring. These neat blazers or shorts, worn with over v-neck knits and shirts, looked great in isolation but seemed to be at odds with the message of the show. D&G WAS young and fresh, pretty and up for a party.
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