Review: Milan Fashion Week

By Veronica Saroli (ArtSci ‘ 14)

Contributor

Milan echoed the minimalism seen on New York and London runways and transformed it with an Eastern spin—a move that was perhaps inspired by the purveyor of minimalism herself, Jil Sander. Sander, returned to her namesake label, which was previously designed by Raf Simons. The week showcased collections, which boasted characteristically Italian craftsmanship with monochromatic tones.

Dolce and Gabbana

As with all Dolce and Gabbana collections, you can expect 50s and 60s glamour and style applied to the season’s inspiration.

Stefano Gabbana and Dominico Dolce chose to honor Dolce’s native island of Taormina through lively prints, easy stripes and a splash of raffia, a look reminiscent of an exotic beach lifestyle.

Billowy, full shaped dresses and rompers of satin organza and silk came in thick beach stripes and vivacious prints. Standout accessories included silk headbands, street puppet earrings and colourful shoes.

The final looks revealed that simple raw materials like cane and fabric can produce beautiful artistry when utilized creatively.

Prada

Miuccia Prada consistently directs the future of fashion and with her latest collection it’s no different. In this case, the future holds Japanese inspired black, white and red jackets and coats in duchesse satin and luxurious mink.

There was plenty of embroidered and appliqué floral detailing, including some 1960’s Warhol daisies and vibrant cherry blossoms.

Prada took the geisha look and reinvented it so that the collection was a picture of the modern women: dresses had the structural integrity of kimonos while the obi folding created a short, revealing skirt. Overall the collection exuded a tough, strong femininity.

The cropped hairstyle was cleverly created by pinning models’ hair back then flipping the ends onto the forehead, creating the illusion of short hair and bangs (I would leave this to the pro’s though; my attempt at recreating the look didn’t turn out quite as I had hoped).

Marni

Marni showed a small collection of gregarious prints this season, a notable change for the brand. Though the print collection was small, the prints made a big impact. My favourite piece was a dress with a wild floral pattern where the top half was covered in shiny plastic paillettes.

Consuelo Castiglioni paid close attention to shape when designing this collection, which was highlighted by monochromatic colours of black and white.

Round shoulders tumbled into billowy sleeves and loose flowing skirts. A stark white palette with an elongated peplum appeared clean and polished.

Emilio Pucci

Peter Dundas is settling in well at Pucci, updating the brand and featuring new, fresh looks in place of the traditional flamboyant Pucci print. This season’s collection showed plenty of skin, kept tasteful by using transparent organza and chiffon.

He sourced his inspiration from Vietnam, depicted through lace and crystal embroidery on the transparent garments and various pieces, such as pajama sets and bomber jackets.


All photos sourced from: vogue.com, style.com, thesartorialist.com and models.com

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