Dsquared Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2012

It’s the dream of any teenage girl; going to her prom in a designer dress. A prom dress designed by Dean and Dan from Dsquared might not be her first option, but the duo sure proved they know how to stage a prom show, including disco balls and a live band.

Their high school prom designs were pretty much everyday clothes. Like cropped trousers combined with leather jackets. Or croc leather pencil skirts worn with mohair sweaters. And those camel colored pants mixed with a denim jacket. Or that toggle coat with leopard collar worn with a check shirt and tight jeans.

Like always at Dsquared the styling was playful and casual. Bright shades of green, pink, purple and yellow alternated each other in goofy streetwise looks topped off by eye-catching accessories.

Models had big sixties hair, pointed glasses, chunky necklaces, funky (odd-fitting) hats and big brooches. Some of them even smoked on the runway, as if to emphasize the rebellion/youthful aspect of the show and the collection.

The show was closed by a couple of ballgowns, but even those weren’t all too serious. But never mind if their outfits matched with the dresscode or not; never a dull moment with these Dsquared high school girls

 

 

 

Aquilano & Rimondi Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2012

The Aquilan & Rimondi show had a royal vibe. Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi’s inspiration was a mix  of Marie Antoinette and the holy women  in Italian Baroque paintings. That led to dresses buttoned up to the chin revealing a bare back view, Maltese cross patterns, a minimalist and strict silhouette, lots of dark red, purple, midnight blue and black. The designers were at their most convincing when they gave that Gothic vein free rein.

Dolce & Gabbana Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

It seemed a never ending collection that Dolce & Gabbana sent out this afternoon. A collection that captured Italy’s love for drama and opera. Pavarotti was on the soundtrack singing O sole mio and out came the models dressed in baroque black velvet and gold brocade, covered with dramatic capes, dresses embroidered with images of painted old theater-ceilings. Even the earrings looked like little cherubs and shoes reminded of theater furniture and decorations.

The press release said the starting-point was the tradition of Sicilian Baroque, which evolved in volumes and processes, experimenting in new cuts and decorations: golden embroideries that recall Baroque mirrors and frames or embroideries made of small points inspired by dining room tapestries; prints of cherubs and angels that appear to have come out of a painting.

Emilio Pucci Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

Peter Dundas, the British designer working for Emilio Pucci, surprised the audience with a complete different collection – far from Pucci heritage of paisley swirls and moving prints. He took his own wardrobe as a starting point. So masculine tailoring and fabrics dominated, as did black, and a minimalist hugging silhouette. The focus was at tight dresses with sexy splits and slits revealing slices of sheer, he also used velvet prints at sheer fabrics. Later the same idea got more bejeweled. For evening Dundas suggested beside the sexy dresses classic tuxedos, or tuxedo-elements.

Marni Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2012

Control and precision; grace that is dry, assertive, with a hint of tension. An idea of graphic composition permeates the Marni collection for fall 2012: pure lines, decisive volumes. As if obeying to a precise layering plan, outfits have a constructivist feel with a sleek outlook and a tactile intensity.
The silhouette is neat and precise, to-the-knee, with a dropped waist. There’s an idea of clothing as a soft, architectural element. Exact capes create a firm halo around the body. Decoration turns into construction, playing with the weight of surfaces.  An air of grace and rigor runs through: the neck is always covered. Prints are used as an accent: a single outsized flower, papiro jacquards and brocades.
The palette has notes of butter, crimson red, clear blue with touches of pink, blush, tan and broken with notes of black, tobacco and saffron. Fabrics have a compact hand: silk wool double-face, lurex jacquard, wool crepe. Exaggerated, oversized patent leather and snakeskin add weight and presence.

Emporio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

Today’s Emporio Armani looked like fun. Fun to wear and fun to watch. Outfits were outspoken when it came to silhouette and print. Besides they were finished off in all kinds of playful ways (ethnic, chunky jewelry and eye catching hats).

We saw cut out jersey jackets, combined with striped, structured skirts and berets. Models wore knee high shorts with woolen vests and wide decorated hats. Fringed coats were presented next to tweed and polka dot versions. And there were some peplums in the mix as well.

Along the way Armani, who is always a great fan of the basic shades (black, blue, grey) experimented with busy prints and rainbow colors. He presented some great colored coats and skirts in line with the fun colored trend of the moment and perfect to brighten up a dark day. It might have been slightly out of his comfort zone, but we would love to see that ethnic/bright colored Emporio more often.

 

Versace Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

The models in the Versace show looked dangerous. Or, like many fashion-editors said: like actress Rooney Mara in her performance as the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  The clothes were all gothic drama, dark and underground. There was no sparkle of sunny glamour.
The show opened with two black velvet dresses — one covered up, one bare — both embroidered with leather Byzantine crosses. The crosses appeard small and big, in the middle of a corset or at a breastplate. There wer some colorful prints, letters that spelled V E R S A C E. It looked a bit cheap.
More Versace were the chainmail dresses and open metal mesh – it gave the models an air of savage crusaders.

 

Blumarine Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

The name of today’s Blumarine show was Positively Shining. And shiny it was… Besides Anna’s usual suspects, animal prints and bright shades, metallics were a central theme in the collection.

The glitz and glam theme started off subtly with silver shaded ankle boots, yet soon the full on shiny grey-ish/silver looks (skinny jeans and trench coats) appeared. They were followed by ensembles (snakeskin shorts, skirts and old skool jackets) in other metallic tones like light pink, gold-ish and light blue. And towards the end the shiny was even introduced on a few disco chic biker jackets, with every possible shade reflected in them.

Now you would think the metallic part would be enough of a wow-factor for a winter collection. But hey, it’s Blumarine and with Blumarine girls you can never overdo it. So Anna added some frizzy bright furs, some full op leopard looks, a couple of larger than life (hoola hoop) earrings and a bunch of sexy sequined rainbow party dresses.

Positivity to the max we would say and we sure can use some of that.

 

Etro Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

At Etro a traditional autumn palette set the tone of a collection full of outerwear and gentle country-life clothes plus lots of knits. Jackets and coats were belted and sometimes topped with  astrakhan capelets. Special details were leather peplum belts, men’s-inspired swaggers, sheer underpinnings and a some body-conscious silhouettes.
Of course there was the famous paisley-pattern, modern and sometimes exploding.

Moschino Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

Highly accessorized, lots of black and white and uniform inspired; that’s how you could describe the last couple of Moschino collections and today’s version was no exception.

Models wore double breasted jackets and short playful dresses. Looks came in black, white, red, yellow and blue, some stripes and checks added to the mix.

There was an awful lot of leg at sight for a winter collection.Yet Jardini (sort of) made up for that by placing hats and ostrich feather helmets on the models’ heads. Together with the chunky earrings, huge bows and multi-pocket hip bags they made up for the highly accessorized part of the brand’s signature.

It was a Moschino show like you would expect it to be. Though with the ski / motor pants, dropped waists, quilted coats and shiny capes we spotted some pleasant new season surprises as well.

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