It’s goodbye to Milan

Three fashionweeks are over, one is still left. Tonight we pack our bags and tomorrow-morning we’ll leave for Paris. Wednesday the fashionweek starts with Rochas, Gareth Pugh and Dries van Noten, and the 7th of october it’ll all end with MiuMiu.

For now it’s goodbye to Milan, the city we enjoy the most. Not only because of those friendly Italians, but also because of the great food. We take two big shoppingbags of foodies back home.

Little celebration

Today we celebrated the fact that Alessandro has been our friend/driver for 10 years now. So we surprised him by dressing up his car with some guirlandes.  It’s always a pleasure to be in the car with Ale. He not only provides us with food and drinks, he is also the fastest driver around and always in for a laugh and a good story.

(And I still think he is the brother of George Clooney, but he keeps denying it)

Giorgio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

Of course it was a madhouse outside the Armani Theatro in Milan before the second Giorgio Armani-show. The rumour was confirmed: George Clooney was coming. So paparazzi and fans gathered outside and fought for the best picture. Clooney smiled all the time.

Luckily the collection stood on his own and drew the attention away from the American moviestar. Indigo-blue was the only color Armani used for this Touareg- inspired collection. The models wore small turbans, their outfits were thin layers of different textures (glossy, matt, glittering, transparant) and items which created a compact silhouette. Short tunics mixed with loose pants and cropped jackets, long skirts with flat shoes, accessories like amulets.

It was a beautiful, restraint and elegant collection. Sensual and relaxed, it made me forget the lack of color. Blue can be so mysterious.

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

With his spring/summer collection for 2010 Roberto Cavalli celebrated 40 years in fashion. The man that brought us sexy, fluid dresses in all kinds of animal-prints,bohemian  rockstar-clothes in python or crocodile and the real Italian style did not opt for a retrospective show. He invited a lot of his favorite models though and some were even walking in the show, like Laetitia Casta and Natalia Vodianova.

The others, Nadege and Heid Klum, watched the show front row together with Taylor Swift, Leona Lewis and Elisabetta Canalis.  They saw a very condensed collection that consisted of four things Cavalli is known for: long fringes, long dresses, catsuits and python(prints). Hip-hugging bellbottoms and long webby skirts were worn with tops that left hips, back and bellies exposed. Underneath the models wore bikini-tops. They looked like tribal hippies with their flat ironed hair.

The collection had nothing to do with color or minimalism, as we’ve seen elsewhere in Milan this week. This was Roberto’s own trip and he used his signature elements well.

D Squared Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

It looked as if the twin-brothers Dean and Dan Caten had plucked all the fancy, chic citygirls from the street and put them on the stage tot show their spring-collection. The show was all about modern streetwear, the mix a young citygirl wears: something she found in her mothers closet, took from her boyfriend and bought herself at vintage store. She picked out oversized cardigans, tight bermudas, loose khaki’s, a suit and even mens-shoes plus old fashioned, printed scarves and golden necklaces.

It made a pretty collection of stuff you already know, it was nice to watch but the ideas were old. The late 60’s/early 70’s vibe (shiftdresses, long wide pants, shorts) gave it a more fashionable touch, since these periods popped up in other shows in Milan. There was hardly any color – beside the bags and some prints – the designers focused at khaki, black & white and blue.

Missoni Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

In a season where color sets the trend you expect a Missoni-collection to be a multicolored festival. In a certain way it was, regarding the hippie-like dresses with zig-zag, geometric patterns and colorful inserts. But on the other hand it looked a bit overdone too: and color, and the Missoni-signature patterns, and an African theme plus a Japanese/ Mexican vibe on top of that. The result was a more or less psychedelic collage of dresses.

Angela Missoni played with layering, pleating, fringing and embellishments like beads and sequins. She presented smocks, tunics, caftans and kimonos and mixed it all together. But the mood was energetic, hopefully Missoni is capable to transfer that to the customer and into the stores.

Dolce & Gabbana Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

First the celebs had to arrive and set themselves before the Dolce & Gabbana show could start. Luckily Kylie Minogue was on time this time, followed by Naomi Campbell and Jada Pinket-Smith with her daugther Willow. During the intro with Cavaleria Rusticana old campaign-images flashed starring Madonna, Dutch model Marpessa Henning and Monica Belluci plus the words bianco, sartoria, siciliana. It set the tone of the collection, which had all the Dolce & Gabbana ingredients.

It was a good show in terms of models, music, pace and atmosphere. But the set up seemed repetitive with collections shown before, not only the theme but also with a parade of models dressed alike at the finale and the clothes. There was no color at all, besides a few flowerprints in blue and green.  Black, white and the leopardprint played a leading role, as did lace, broderie anglaise, cotton and boudoir-like items as babydolls and bloomers. Tube-dresses were followed by skirt-suits, long dresses, mini-dresses and tunics. It was a sweet collection from a commercial point of view, but I hope the designerduo will continue to use their main line as their playing garden and come up with some fresh and intriguing.  One line with a different worked out concept every season- D&G – is enough.

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

Wow, that was a real good Jil Sander-show. The way Raf Simons treats colors, the new minimalism but also the need for strong elegance proofs he is a true craftsman and creative, daring designer. Yes, the silhouette was exaggerated, yes the colors sometimes hurt the eyes and yes the skirts were maybe too long – but fashion can take a whole new direction with his ideas.

Simons focused at shape, volume, proportion and new materials and used couture as his vehicle. Skirts were long and sack shaped, trousers ultra-wide and some tops had a contrasting frill. This sounds very old fashioned haute couture – especially because it reminded of the old YSL and Givenchy – but Simons added a modern touch by mixing it with plain white T-shirts or a tank-top. Jackets had contrasting front edges, the long skirts seemed classic but had sensual high splits and the simple dresses with vertical stripes (in white and navy) looked modern and right on.

Besides shape, color was his most important message; so don’t be afraid of neon yellow, day glo orange, shocking pink, purple, green, electric blue or the exaggerated floral prints.

Blumarine Catwalk Fashion Show Milan SS2011

Sportmax Catwalk Fashion Show Milan 2011

The Sportmax fashion show on the second day of Milan Fashion Week had something in it for every woman. The many outfits represented looks that were chic, sharp and sexy. Or like the show notes said ‘A new elegance inspired by the petite parisienne of ‘Les demoiselles de Rochefort’.

The bright colors and playful dresses from that specific sixties movie were indeed visible throughout the whole collection. Lemon yellow, red, magenta and white being the main shades, alternated by several denim looks.

There was a lot of variation in fabric and shape. Patent leather coats and blouse collars were mixed with romantic lace-like fabrics, organza and crepe de chine. The dresses were A-line shaped as well as body-tight (with cutouts) and always ended above the knee.

On several transparent dresses and tops small butterflies were attached. They looked graceful and perfect for summer, yet also reminded us of the Claes Iversen collection we saw three weeks ago in Holland. The Dutch designer had butterflies all over his dresses as well. So that might just be the next big fashion trend…

The show ended with some sequined looks and a few designs with colorful graphic prints. It was not the most cohesive Sportmax collection we’ve seen, but there’s no doubt the modern woman won’t find anything she likes for upcoming summer.

« Previous Page — Next Page »