Milan Fashion Week: Emporio Armani autumn/winter 2012
Horsey touches and a nod to Little Lord Fauntleroy at Emporio Armani
Shorts for winter? That was the calf-flashingly (albeit under tights) counter-intuitive suggestion at Emporio Armani this morning. And these weren't just any shorts: a few printed Bermudas apart, all of the looks were built around a Lord Fauntleroy-ready knickerbocker undone at its around-the-knee cuff. Worn with every variety of thin-soled flat you can image - patent, crystal-studded velvet slipper, printed patent slipper, two-tone, three-tone, four... - it was a combo that gave the model cross-dressed Gwyneth in Shakespeare In Love jauntiness.
That knickerbocker story apart, there were horsey touches in the pretty, severely-shouldered top coats bottomed with foliage cut-outs and the riding crop one model wore looped around her neck. There were a zillion different looks here; multi-coloured polka dots, riotously ruffled chiffon blooms, reflective pink and grey velvet jackets with with two-feet's worth of fringing that turned them into coats, grey and lilac leopard print, leather jackets with patch pockets of purple velvet, a floral fitted dress or two - and all of them worn with those shorts.
That knickerbocker story apart, there were horsey touches in the pretty, severely-shouldered top coats bottomed with foliage cut-outs and the riding crop one model wore looped around her neck. There were a zillion different looks here; multi-coloured polka dots, riotously ruffled chiffon blooms, reflective pink and grey velvet jackets with with two-feet's worth of fringing that turned them into coats, grey and lilac leopard print, leather jackets with patch pockets of purple velvet, a floral fitted dress or two - and all of them worn with those shorts.
Milan Fashion Week: Raoul autumn/winter 2012
That means less that strict uniform influence, and more variety and softness. Block-printed, flared shift dresses, with patches of metallic leather are an evolution from block coloured, although there was plenty of that in the guise of more fluid silk dresses in cream, black and either antique rose-pink or mint.
Outerwear is an increasingly big deal at Raoul, too, with black and orange tweed coats, cropped sheepskin jackets or longer sheepskin tunics conceived as a day-to-night, poolside-to-chillier-kerbside layer over the floaty, high-necked floral chiffon maxi dresses.
Milan Fashion Week: Marni autumn/winter 2012
Marni forgoes its signature prints for high-impact block colour and lean, clean lines.
When Phoebe Philo and Raf Simons fever took hold of the cognoscenti, it seemed that Marni would have to step out of the spotlight for a while. It's true that the label no longer commands the fanatical cult following among the front-rowers that it used to - although what's the betting the fash-ed count will be sky-high when the Marni collection launches in H&M in a couple of weeks? How did she bring it in on budget? Or will it be the loss-leader bargain of the century? Consuelo Castiglioni laughed when I asked her backstage. "I can only say H&M is amazing. Their factories, their sourcing... I was really surprised. The only things we couldn't do were jacquards and fur."
When Phoebe Philo and Raf Simons fever took hold of the cognoscenti, it seemed that Marni would have to step out of the spotlight for a while. It's true that the label no longer commands the fanatical cult following among the front-rowers that it used to - although what's the betting the fash-ed count will be sky-high when the Marni collection launches in H&M in a couple of weeks? How did she bring it in on budget? Or will it be the loss-leader bargain of the century? Consuelo Castiglioni laughed when I asked her backstage. "I can only say H&M is amazing. Their factories, their sourcing... I was really surprised. The only things we couldn't do were jacquards and fur."
Milan Fashion Week: Dolce & Gabbana autumn/winter 2012
Dame Helen Mirren generally seems the most serenely imperturbable of women, and most certainly not the sort to let her handbag plummet to the floor.
Yet this was the fate that befell the snakeskin leopard-print tote that had passingly rested in the crook of Dame Helen's elbow as she reeled backstage immediately after a stunning Dolce & Gabbana show in Milan.
Handbag rapidly restored to elbow - the accident occurred as the actress applauded the designers' seething sea of staff - she told The Daily Telegraph : "I have to say that I'm blown away. I loved it. It was immodest and grandiose and wonderful. I loved the theatricality of it."
Handbag rapidly restored to elbow - the accident occurred as the actress applauded the designers' seething sea of staff - she told The Daily Telegraph : "I have to say that I'm blown away. I loved it. It was immodest and grandiose and wonderful. I loved the theatricality of it."
Milan fashion week: Alberta Ferretti autumn/winter 2012
No sooner does national treasure Adele reveal that she prefers dressing demurely to putting it all out there, adding that "expoiting your own sexuality isn't very clever", than Milan steps into line.
Alberta Ferretti took a buttoned up approach to seduction in her show, with high necklines, below the knee hems - and a self-assured, hard-boiled swagger that brought to mind Joan Crawford and Bette Davies in their glory years.
Jackets were belted and collars turned up, trousers were crisp, skirts were of the pencil variety, glamorous white croc clutches with silver straps were clasped like shields. Coats were glossy black leather, purple mink (fur being a default setting for glamour in Milan unfortunately) or snowy white alpaca - the utlimate look-but-don't touch flourish.
Jackets were belted and collars turned up, trousers were crisp, skirts were of the pencil variety, glamorous white croc clutches with silver straps were clasped like shields. Coats were glossy black leather, purple mink (fur being a default setting for glamour in Milan unfortunately) or snowy white alpaca - the utlimate look-but-don't touch flourish.
Milan Fashion Week: Gucci autumn/winter 2012
With specialists predicting Milan's sales are to nosedive this year, Frida Giannini delivers a dark but still glamorous collection for Gucci.
This is set to be a gloomy year for Italian fashion - analysts suggest sales will decline by 5.2 per cent in 2012 - and Gucci's opening show today captured that mood perfectly.
Milan Fashion Week: MaxMara autumn/winter 2012
Warm military-style coats top slim-line tweed shorts and light-weight sweaters at MaxMara autumn/winter 2012.
There was a time - quaint to imagine now - when putting military-inspired clothes on a catwalk might have been viewed as an act of slightly questionable taste, given all the real military uniforms being worn out there. But fashion can't wait for ever, and since there's no sign of our politicians growing tired of staging wars all over the place, what can a trend-lover do but simply get on with accessorising her very own khaki felted wool coat with a peaked cap and leather trimmed gaiters?
nd these coats were great, both in the sense of harking back to the outerwear worn by soldiers in the First World War and being rather fabulous. They were also immensely, reassuringly swaddling, with stiff collars that can be turned up to cocoon the neck and long, sweeping hems, some of them fur or sheepskin trimmed.
Indeed the main message of this collection seemed to be that far from being cumbersome, a huge, serious coat frees you up to wear something cute and slim-line underneath - in this instance, checked tweed shorts, three quarter-length trousers with braces and lots of stripy light-weight sweaters.
nd these coats were great, both in the sense of harking back to the outerwear worn by soldiers in the First World War and being rather fabulous. They were also immensely, reassuringly swaddling, with stiff collars that can be turned up to cocoon the neck and long, sweeping hems, some of them fur or sheepskin trimmed.
Indeed the main message of this collection seemed to be that far from being cumbersome, a huge, serious coat frees you up to wear something cute and slim-line underneath - in this instance, checked tweed shorts, three quarter-length trousers with braces and lots of stripy light-weight sweaters.
Milan Fashion Week: Fendi autumn/winter 2012
It's business as usual in Milan as Karl Lagerfeld produced a collection of fur, fur and more fur at Fendi.
There are three things that mystify most Italians; taxes, feminism, and those who dislike fur.
Fendi is Milan's ultimate animal house, as resolutely skin-hungry as a blunderbuss-happy big game hunter, and this winter collection was no exception.
Fendi is Milan's ultimate animal house, as resolutely skin-hungry as a blunderbuss-happy big game hunter, and this winter collection was no exception.
Milan Fashion Week: Ermanno Scervino autumn/winter 2012
According to his notes, "the worlds of Hampshire, England, and Eighteenth Century Venice" inspired Ermanno Scervino's collection today.
So, entirely ignoring Venice (such a well-used muse after all), working out just which parts of this show were Hampshire-based made for a fascinating fashion exercise.
The pealing bells (Winchester Cathedral) and delicate birdsong (Farnham Birdworld) that announced Scervino's show was starting seemed authentic enough. Also molto Hants were the horse-riding pants, lots of them in leather, that cantered down the catwalk in a series of equestrian-inspired outfits, complete with riding helmets.
However The Pony Club would probably look a mite askance at the ruffle-hipped strapless playsuit teamed with viciously-heeled boots that soared so dizzyingly high (to perhaps a centimetre south of the buttock) they rivalled Portsmouth's Spinnaker tower.
There was a healthy-dose of leopard-print on bias-necked knitwear and coats (Basingstoke), some very fetching fitted skirt-dresses (Farnborough), and some wide-skirted, big-print houndstooth coats (Beaulieu). Scervino seemed to have Hampshire nailed until his final furlong. Then, at the last, he faltered: for the two revealingly sheer dressed worn over blush-saving big underwear and peppered with floral embroidery were unmistakably Herefordshire.
So, entirely ignoring Venice (such a well-used muse after all), working out just which parts of this show were Hampshire-based made for a fascinating fashion exercise.
The pealing bells (Winchester Cathedral) and delicate birdsong (Farnham Birdworld) that announced Scervino's show was starting seemed authentic enough. Also molto Hants were the horse-riding pants, lots of them in leather, that cantered down the catwalk in a series of equestrian-inspired outfits, complete with riding helmets.
However The Pony Club would probably look a mite askance at the ruffle-hipped strapless playsuit teamed with viciously-heeled boots that soared so dizzyingly high (to perhaps a centimetre south of the buttock) they rivalled Portsmouth's Spinnaker tower.
There was a healthy-dose of leopard-print on bias-necked knitwear and coats (Basingstoke), some very fetching fitted skirt-dresses (Farnborough), and some wide-skirted, big-print houndstooth coats (Beaulieu). Scervino seemed to have Hampshire nailed until his final furlong. Then, at the last, he faltered: for the two revealingly sheer dressed worn over blush-saving big underwear and peppered with floral embroidery were unmistakably Herefordshire.
Milan Fashion Week: Jil Sander and Muccia Prada
As Raf Simons announces he is leaving Jil Sander, speculation is rife around Sander returning to the label she founded - and all this whilst Milan's most influential female designer Muccia Prada shows her latest offering.
Could Dior finally be about to announce a replacement for John Galliano? It's a year since the British designer was fired - a long time for such a prominent brand to remain faceless. Then yesterday, suddenly a suprise statement said that Raf Simons was leaving Jil Sander, the label where he has worked for the past seven years.
Milan Fashion Week: Moschino autumn/winter 2012
This is an unusual house in many ways. If you asked fashion savvy consumers to sum up the Sander aesthetic, they might offer up neon colour, voluminous shapes, understated tailoring, flawless shift dresses. Ask them to define Marc Jacobs - a designer who chops and changes each season - and they'd immediately respond with quilted bags and mouse pumps. But Moschino? Whacky shows? Oodles of kitsch styling? There was all that today, beginning with the first leather stetson, cropped quilted leather jackets and leather biker leggings. That's just one outfit, in case you were wondering. Plus white and purple block colour or scarlet versions, also in quilted leather
Milan Fashion Week: Etro autumn/winter 2012
Paisley you expect from Etro: after all, this Milan-based print house has been specialising in the kaleidoscopic Central Asian pattern since the 1080's.
What its womenswear designer Veronica did this morning was to artfully fuse her family's signature swirls with many of this season's emerging trends.
So there were hints of military in the drab khaki jackets with tight brown belts, an (unwitting) echo of Prada's bound-to-be influential matchy-matchy iridescently gridded trousersuits (Etro's trousers were narrower on the leg, slightly longer, and with more of a kick than Prada's), a Proenza Schouler-esque threesome of super-wide, triple-pleat pants.
Then there were the hip-emplacements, via ruffles of paisley punched black leather that ran down fitted jackets from collar to tailbone, wide pilates-friendly belts at the waist with little flying side-fins, and peplumed fitted dresses in panels of.... paisley.
What its womenswear designer Veronica did this morning was to artfully fuse her family's signature swirls with many of this season's emerging trends.
So there were hints of military in the drab khaki jackets with tight brown belts, an (unwitting) echo of Prada's bound-to-be influential matchy-matchy iridescently gridded trousersuits (Etro's trousers were narrower on the leg, slightly longer, and with more of a kick than Prada's), a Proenza Schouler-esque threesome of super-wide, triple-pleat pants.
Then there were the hip-emplacements, via ruffles of paisley punched black leather that ran down fitted jackets from collar to tailbone, wide pilates-friendly belts at the waist with little flying side-fins, and peplumed fitted dresses in panels of.... paisley.
Milan Fashion Week: Just Cavalli autumn/winter 2012
Hot-to-trot raver supervixens - proceed directly to Just Cavalli.
Roberto Cavalli says it would take an "indecent proposal" - something in the region of a billion euros - to make him even contemplate selling his company.
This is fitting enough, because gleeful, borderline indecency is Cavalli's stock-in-trade. Sometimes it segues perfectly with the mood of fashion, and sometimes it doesn't. Right now, perhaps, it doesn't: but Cavalli stuck to his guns in this new collection for his recently-reclaimed-from-licencees Just Cavalli diffusion range.
The backing set was very warehouse rave: a grimy, graffiti splattered, paint-curled stairwell. These ravers though were more Rimini than Park Royal, chicly-kohled party girls in chiffon wisps of zebra print, leopard print, and a magnified, pixellated houndstooth.
Green and rust lurex skintight trousers over tails-still-attached furs, shimmering shift dresses peppered with golden sequins and toothpaste-tube-tight printed dark denims were a few more podium-ready looks.
The shoes were outrageous: pink-soled (eat that Louboutin) gold-or-silver shoe boots with silver panels at the toe and heel. There was a (flat-soled) version for the men too, as well as an only-for-the-brave flared to the ankle suit. Cavalli is the party - and if this is the particular type of party you're after, then dive right in.
Roberto Cavalli says it would take an "indecent proposal" - something in the region of a billion euros - to make him even contemplate selling his company.
This is fitting enough, because gleeful, borderline indecency is Cavalli's stock-in-trade. Sometimes it segues perfectly with the mood of fashion, and sometimes it doesn't. Right now, perhaps, it doesn't: but Cavalli stuck to his guns in this new collection for his recently-reclaimed-from-licencees Just Cavalli diffusion range.
The backing set was very warehouse rave: a grimy, graffiti splattered, paint-curled stairwell. These ravers though were more Rimini than Park Royal, chicly-kohled party girls in chiffon wisps of zebra print, leopard print, and a magnified, pixellated houndstooth.
Green and rust lurex skintight trousers over tails-still-attached furs, shimmering shift dresses peppered with golden sequins and toothpaste-tube-tight printed dark denims were a few more podium-ready looks.
The shoes were outrageous: pink-soled (eat that Louboutin) gold-or-silver shoe boots with silver panels at the toe and heel. There was a (flat-soled) version for the men too, as well as an only-for-the-brave flared to the ankle suit. Cavalli is the party - and if this is the particular type of party you're after, then dive right in.
Milan Fashion Week: Versace autumn/winter 2012
Femme-bot velvet and leather bustier dresses covered in jewelled crucifixes - Donatella Versace revisits Gianni's final couture collection 15 years on.
"It's taken 15 years for me to feel I could revisit that collection," she explained. "I always carried it around in my head as a reference but I didn't feel I could go there, because it was too painful, and it was too private."
Talking in the sun-filled first floor rooms of the courtyard palazzo which serves as offices, showspace and to this day houses the perfectly preserved marbled and gilded apartment where Gianni Versace lived when he was in Milan, she seemed relaxed; her days of all night partying, profligacy and personal problems (divorce, drugs) behind her.
The company has reigned back, self-administered an infusion of fresh blood, in the form of Christopher Kane, one of the stars of British fashion who works with Versace on Versus, her second line. So in some ways the heavy Goth mood of her new main collection might seem counter-intuitive.
But this wasn't the melancholic, death-glamourising version of Goth beloved of teenagers so much as the vampy, body-hugging variety that tends to appeal to the likes of Angelina Jolie when she wants to make a major statement on the red carpet.
That meant femme-bot velvet and leather bustier dresses, dazzling silver metal mesh and chiffon corseted dresses that practically strobed under the spotlights, over the knee mesh leather fetish boots, black round necked, wool shift dresses with metal inserts in the shape of a cross and a lot of embroidered and jewelled crucifixes - which presumably, will come as optional extras in the Middle Eastern markets.
While 68-year-old Jil Sander has put artistic differences behind her and returned to her eponymous company in a surprise move, announced yesterday in Milan, Donatella Versace says she too has finally put her demons behind her.
That collection, shown in Paris, in the Ritz, managed to combine religion, sexual and cutting-edge techniques - three of his abiding interests. Chaste it wasn't."It's taken 15 years for me to feel I could revisit that collection," she explained. "I always carried it around in my head as a reference but I didn't feel I could go there, because it was too painful, and it was too private."
Talking in the sun-filled first floor rooms of the courtyard palazzo which serves as offices, showspace and to this day houses the perfectly preserved marbled and gilded apartment where Gianni Versace lived when he was in Milan, she seemed relaxed; her days of all night partying, profligacy and personal problems (divorce, drugs) behind her.
The company has reigned back, self-administered an infusion of fresh blood, in the form of Christopher Kane, one of the stars of British fashion who works with Versace on Versus, her second line. So in some ways the heavy Goth mood of her new main collection might seem counter-intuitive.
But this wasn't the melancholic, death-glamourising version of Goth beloved of teenagers so much as the vampy, body-hugging variety that tends to appeal to the likes of Angelina Jolie when she wants to make a major statement on the red carpet.
That meant femme-bot velvet and leather bustier dresses, dazzling silver metal mesh and chiffon corseted dresses that practically strobed under the spotlights, over the knee mesh leather fetish boots, black round necked, wool shift dresses with metal inserts in the shape of a cross and a lot of embroidered and jewelled crucifixes - which presumably, will come as optional extras in the Middle Eastern markets.
Milan Fashion Week: Bottega Veneta autumn/winter 2012
Covered-up control at Tomas Maier's Bottega Veneta autumn/winter 2012 collection
Tomas Maier's Bottega Veneta is the most fastidious of Milan fashion houses, rigorous in everything from the perfect symmetry of its trademark thick-knit Intrecciato leather bags, to the edict that its assistants prepare the catwalk wearing socks so as not to sully its perfect whiteness.
Next winter's collection maintained that rigour in the utterly precise tailoring of its dark, masculine wool jackets with matte horizontal swooshes on the hip. An often black or drably-dark collection of dresses with only subtle decorative detailing - a restrained ruffle here, a pearly flash there - undulated precisely around the bodies inside them. Mary-Janes and shoe-boots were worn over calf-socks pulled up to the same half-way point between knee and ankle where trousers ended. When there was ostentation, it was strictly disciplined - a velvet floral dress seemed to have been treated to suck the vibrancy from its palette. The one more playful moment was a joey-pouch front-only peplum. More muted than last season's wonderful riot of a collection, next winter's Bottega woman is one of utterly elegant severity.
Next winter's collection maintained that rigour in the utterly precise tailoring of its dark, masculine wool jackets with matte horizontal swooshes on the hip. An often black or drably-dark collection of dresses with only subtle decorative detailing - a restrained ruffle here, a pearly flash there - undulated precisely around the bodies inside them. Mary-Janes and shoe-boots were worn over calf-socks pulled up to the same half-way point between knee and ankle where trousers ended. When there was ostentation, it was strictly disciplined - a velvet floral dress seemed to have been treated to suck the vibrancy from its palette. The one more playful moment was a joey-pouch front-only peplum. More muted than last season's wonderful riot of a collection, next winter's Bottega woman is one of utterly elegant severity.
