First View Milan Womenswear SS2014: Living Art

Milan fires up full speed ahead with a number of collections that surprise us with a fresh breath of air and a new found sense of opportunism by taking the route towards modernity and digging deep into the opportunities that striding fabric technology is offering. Without betrayal of heritage, Milan tends to stick to its roots, we witnessed activism and experimentation in silhouettes that where alternately mesmerizing, odd and elegant.
Inspirations range from feminism, arts, folklore and techno crafts, subjects that granted these looks authentic freshness as well as a rich content.
No. 21’s tropical spring outfits, show layered street wear with ornate embroidered gauzes in an edgy arty-crafty spirit. The exceptional work of the couture fur ateliers of Fendi delivered a collection boosting with streamlined modernity inspired by the ‘light and lightness’. Careful bits and pieces of preciously crafted, exceptional materials are artfully clustered. At Just Cavalli one seemed to have bumped into London punks during an inspirational trip to Bhutan. Digital prints, animals spots and handkerchief patterns, all Cavalli icons, where mixed in an iconoclast mix.
The most artistic and storytelling was the viagra pills Prada parade, Miuccia Prada making a feminist statement staging mesmerizing girl gangs dressed in sporty city wear with a strong tribal edge. Energized by mural art inspired graphics and accessorized with rhinestone encrusted brassieres these colourful women spread an air of radicalism. ‘Weirdly beautiful’ as Suzy Menkes mentioned.

Stijlspot is a collaboration with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam