Salvatore Ferragamo Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

You don’t have to tell designer Massimiliano Giornetti anything about power dressing, he knows what he is doing at Ferragamo. The fall-collection was powerful in all it’s classic, elegant tailoring:  suits and coats were strong and sharp, the ingredients soft and often velvet-like. Tweeds, bold herringbone  and speckled wools for outerwear, with colored velvet and moiré silks for evening jackets. Footwear stood out, especially the two toned dress shoes.
The colors were a mix of rusts and berry tones often mixing together different shades on looks through to the accessories.

Bottega Veneta Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

Tomas Maier of Bottega Veneta likes experiencing with materials, colors and effects. Well, the lean pristine suits he sent out this morning with optical effects in geometric color blocking were sure new and daring. But the effect was not always working out well. Later on the collection took a more cool and rock ‘n roll turn with knits and outerwear, like biker jackets and coats with graphic black rubber details.

In a season of mixed materials, Tomas Maier lightly applied tonal accents and contrasts, like glistening patches that looked like plastic tape. Fabrics were rich and warm, yet ultra light. Flocked velvet dripped from the V-neck of a black cashmere sweater; black cashmere-velvet pads capped the shoulders of short jackets and rubber details gave wool coats an urban touch.

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

Raf Simons used all kinds of fabric to give his pitch black-collection for Jil Sander the right edge. On a black rubber runway and before a graffiti-stained door he sent out his darkest of dark collections. There was black leather and industrial-age fabrics glistening like wet asphalt to give archetypal male cliches like the businessman, the father, the office nerd an unbelievable and dangerous power.

The collection looked formal with handsome greatcoats, sculpted suits with seamed backs, and pristine shirts and ties. Simons played with proportions, from pencil slim to voluminous and flaring. Longer line coats, either tight or hanging straight, were a major statement.

Accessory of the season will definitely be the Jil Sander lunch-bag shaped leather goods. Sailor-suit flaps with prints of child-like motifs of whales, dinosaurs and fish gave it all a lighter attitude. Simons definitely set the tone for a new fall-season.

An no, no news about Christian Dior yet.

Costume National Catwalk Fashion Show Milan FW2012

Bohemians were the characters Ennio Capasa of Costume National was thinking about, as an antidote to a materialistic direction that he sees society taking. Capasa called his collection a remix of his dark roots and all his experiences over the years.  There were  space-age boots,  punky mohairs, and  teddy-boy proportions, all elements we’ve seen before in Capasa’s collections – which point towards his passion for British youth cults.

Iris van Herpen Couture Collection Paris FW2012

With the presentation of her fall-winter 2012 collection during Paris couture-week Iris van Herpen proved that couture is really a platform for creativity. She keeps testing the limits with her creations, and no one on day one of the three-day-long couture calendar came anywhere near to pushing the envelope as far as Iris van Herpen.

What to think of a halter-dress made from what appeared to be a distended skeleton? Or the shiny black tubes that enveloped another mini-dress? Van Herpen presented old and new work, but it all morphs easily into one collection, the difference lies into the techniques, use of fabrics and themes. But what stays is her impressive dark techno style that’s original, exciting and fresh.

Jan Taminiau Couture Collection Paris FW2012

Dutch designer Jan Taminiau seemed to be the first designer to kick off Haute Couture week in Paris, unofficially that is. While everybody was awaiting the Dior couture-show (is there already a new designer?), Jan prepared his collection quietly. Nature Extends is the name of the collection, that was an unusual mix of cork and rich, flowing materials like chiffon. The fabrics and materials were sculpted into long, dramatic high collared dresses and tight suits. Colors changed from silver sequins into gray, taupe, brown/yellow.

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