5 Milan shows in 5 sentences

By Katie Wright

5 Milan shows in 5 sentences

Dsquared2 - Trailer trash girls in fifties glasses and trucker caps hightail it from prom night still wearing their frocks and head to the hills for outdoor pursuits in cut-offs and plaid.

Gianfranco Ferre – Beautiful minimalist white petal shapes by day and a gorgeous concoction of metallic pleats, rouches, frills and folds for evening.

Marni – loads of layers of leggings, pencil skirts, buttoned-down shirts, tie belts and loose sweaters came in tiny random spots, blossom print, horizontal stripes and vertical stripes with a gypsy headscarf to boot – as if the main theme wasn’t clear enough already.

Alberta Ferretti – Demure, floaty, chiffon belted dresses in neutral colours enhanced with netting or appliqué and topped off with a sun hat.

Salvatore Ferragamo - Bright white gave way to sunshine yellow, jodhpur curves and tribal-style high necks.

FRIDA GENIUS

By Katie Wright

FRIDA GENIUS

I can’t count the number of shows that started all in white and ended in black. Is this a sign of play it safe recession tactics? Or some kind of religious allegory? I’m guessing the former. And so it was at GUCCI, where Frida Giannini paired bright white with tiny flashes of silver at collar and cuffs, and on accessories, no doubt putting a tick in the ‘space age-inspired’ box. A dozen looks in the colours segued to grey but the metallic detailed continued; chrome belts were reminiscent of horses’ stirrups.-

The only non-monochrome colour came from bright orange, blue and magenta on asymmetrically patterned cocktail dresses. Then it was fade to black slim cut trousers, blazers and ankle-length dresses. Another top notch outing for Giannini.

Raf Simons adopted a similar approach for paragon of minimalism JIL SANDER. The only time the Technicolor was only turned on for a couple of dresses – crinkly wet look numbers in metallic cyan and bottle green, they both had that gorgeous creepy-crawly exoskeleton feel to them. Clever little so and so that he is, this season Simons took a slew ideas that have formed the backbone of numerous of his contemporaries collections of recent years and seemed to perfect them in one exit. I’m talking dual length hems, pyjama-esque tailoring, the baggy shirtdress, 3D cloud-front dresses, cut-outs on sheer fabric, the modern flapper dress, loose origami patches… all delivered, Sander-style, to great effect.

Milan continued...

By Katie Wright

Milan continued...

A touch of the aforementioned D&G cowboy style made its way into their mainline collection, by way of string bowties and a smattering of denim. Other than that it was a noir affair, with lace being the operative word. Apparently last winter Prada helped sustain the ailing lace industry, and it looks like Dolce and Gabbana are on hand to help out this season. Expect the high street to take note. In addition to plenty of the revealing black stuff there was a selection of more demure offerings – a rose-print pencil skirt and tuxedos, for instance.

Black lingerie stylings were also present at Fendi but were preceded by far more modest daywear in ivory and pale coffee tones, that could definitely be filed under ‘effortlessly chic.’ For evening, textures were feathery on dresses with hems either super short, ankle length, or a bit of both, and topped off with a small but perfectly formed clutch bag.

Helsinki calling...

Niko Mitrunen was born in Helsinki, Finland in 1982 and developed a passionate interest in photography around the age of 18 and started assisting photographers in Helsinki.

However he quickly decided the photography market in finland was just too small and moved to London, where he continued to assist and do retouching work for the next 5 years. he has worked with dozens of Londons leading fashion, advertising and music photographers including Julian Broad, Ben Dunbar-Brunton, Kai Z Feng, Rick Guest, Elisabeth Hoff on shoots for publications such as British and Chinese Vogue, Vanity Fair and the Sunday Times.

He has finally found the time to start shooting for himself and got his own studio in east London and is concentrating his work into shooting fashion and music.

2. Milan Fashion Week: Fun, fun, fun with Cavalli and Moschino

By Katie Wright

2. Milan Fashion Week: Fun, fun, fun with Cavalli and Moschino


The major fashion houses of Italy are not renowned for their ability to make fun of themselves, but two diffusion lines on show this week look like they're actually trying to bring smiles to the faces on the front row.

Just Cavalli has always been a bit like the goofy younger sister of the grown-up Cavalli label. Pasting an 'I've just been touched by Cavalli' slogan on the front of the opening look certainly suggested a designer indulging his slightly twisted sense of humour. This kind of self-referential fun will no doubt appeal to JC's clearly defined target audience - carefree affluent young things will love the twenties-via-seventies flapper dresses.


Flower power ruled at Moschino Cheap & Chic, in the form of inverted daisy sun hats, big floral prints and sure to be a sell-out flower-shaped sunglasses. More sixties influence was evident in the slogans (the likes of 'peace,' 'amore' and 'shocking'), but this was no Active Resistance-style rebellion. A goose-emblazoned dress epitomised the overall mood - kooky and fun.

1. Milan Fashion Week

By Katie Wright

1. Milan Fashion Week: Taking a trip with Dolce and Gabbana and Prada

Escapism is always a word bandied around in the fashion press whenever the economy is suffering. Judging by some of the early shows this could be on the mind of designers in Milan too.

After a few seasons where the spotlight has been on gala-worthy gowns, Dolce and Gabbana are on a denim kick once more. The only thing missing from these looks was a Stetson: saloon singer skirt ruffles, brown suede minidresses and denim shirts a-plenty proclaimed that we had entered Marlboro country - D&G style. Can you say 'cowgirl chic'?

Prada

Starting with the first dozen or so sharply-lined looks in somber slate grey, the departure mid-show at Prada was quite literal - far away holiday destinations (desert landscapes, thronging beaches and oases) appeared on silk tunic dresses, skirts and slouchy boxer shorts. Can't afford a mid-recession holiday? Let a piece of Prada transport you away.

Last days of London round-up

By Katie Wright

Last days of London round-up

Here’s a round up of the last couple of days of London: a dozen designers, presented roughly on a scale from amaaaazing to so-so.

MARIOS SCHWAB: Love this idea – 3 pieces per look create vertical triptychs. How much fun would it be to mix and match?

RICHARD NICHOLL: This is what would result if those tasselled Grandma lampshades were transfigured into clothes – and I mean that in a REALLY good way. A very strong collection.

JONATHAN SAUNDERS: The word ‘insouciance’ springs to mind - probably because of the loose fits and just-got-out-of-the-shower hair.

PETER PILOTTO: This dress reminds me of a parrot. In a really good way.

MATTHEW WILLIAMSON: Flouncy dresses, long or short, sharply accessorised = an impeccable formula.

TOPSHOP UNIQUE: I think this is the best raincoat I’ve ever seen, worn by my fave model Tao Okamoto. And quite by chance she looks equally amazing in that clingfilm-tight dress, my other favourite from the show.

ERDEM: A plethora of f-words: floral, flirty, feminine, florid…

NICOLE FARHI: Chances are, you’re gonna look fat in any of these pieces.

TODD LYNN: I’m a bit obsessed with grey. So ensembles of a ton of different shades should make me happy. But all the layers make it a bit wintery.

PAUL SMITH WOMEN: Predictably superb tailoring, but what is up with those hideous piles of pattern that comprise anything that wasn’t a suit?

PRINGLE: Pale and uninteresting sums it up.

TWENTY8TWELVE: Yawn. Seen it all before. And the swimwear is particularly poor.