Live From...Milan Fashion Week, Day 3

Alexander McQueen

Without naming any particular names, Sarah Burton drew inspiration from English rock, channelling the rakish charm of iconic frontmen. It was a natural fit for McQueen's signature tailoring and dark flamboyance, but also tapped into the emerging trend for a rock 'n' roll renaissance seen elsewhere in Milan this week.

The look: Rock gods

Silhouette: A mix of lean tailoring and occasional easy volume

Key items: The opening looks are the leanest and meanest –  a pair of elongated straight-cut suit jackets with sharp shoulderlines is paired with straight-leg pants cropped before the break of the boot, their clashing checks and stripes setting the tone for the looks that follow; there are velvet blazers pinched at the waist with single buttons, softer shaped jackets albeit still in that longer length and wide pyjama-style pants. The sometimes foppish flamboyance of the rock god translates into shirts with flyaway neck ties or a long fluid trench coat worn with dusted plum-coloured pants and a printed silk shirt, while the offbeat sartorialism of the English rock star arrives as mix 'n' match three-piece suits; occasionally there is also a hint of early 60s mod styling, with the snug-fitting bomber jackets and nautical striped sweaters

Colour: Optic black and white with shots of red and yellow, tempered with dusty pinks, chalky neutrals and inky midnight blue

Fabric & knit: All the rock 'n' roll favourites are present – velvet, silk, lustrous patterned jacquards, lurex metallics and chest-baring semi sheer knits

Print & pattern: Bicolour humbug stripes (vertical), gingham checks in clashing scales, photoreal flames, diffused stripes

Details & trims: Lurex stripes, a creeping floral embroidery, shell trims

Footwear: Pointed ankle boots some with spectator toe caps, dusty suede Chelsea boots, slippers

Accessories: Foppish floppy hats, structured fedora with velvet ribbon and upward feather trim, round sunglasses with black-tinted lenses and glossy black frames, shell-studded belts

D&G

Print and pattern were at the top of the agenda for Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana's showing for their D&G label. They ploughed a furrow through their scarf drawer, combining traditional silk foulard patterns in clashing combinations and relaxed summery silhouettes.

The look: Summer resort

Silhouette: Unstructured volume

Key items: The relaxed mood of the show permeates the soft drapey pant shapes worked in silk foulard or washed linen, often sporting a denim waistband – a homespun look, which also impacts on pieced and patched denim shirts with mismatched pockets or silk foulard panels and jersey sleeves. Drapey blousons and bombers in richly patterned silks partner soft silk shorts, distressed denim jeans and marled grey or silk foulard tees. Denim effects and washed linen ground the collection for soft unstructured suits, maybe teamed with semi-sheer knits, while a parade of foulard patterned swimwear adds the final flourish

Colour: A multicoloured extravaganza with a grounding of washed denim blues and warm nutmeg browns

Fabric & knit: Silk foulards, washed linen, leather, denim and denim effects, washed drill, jersey

Print & pattern: Extravagent scrolling scarf prints worked in clashing combinations

Details & trims: Cut-off recycled denim waistbands, elastic welt trims, drawstring waists

Footwear: Hand-stitched moccasins in foulard printed or brightly coloured suede

Accessories: Raffia trilbies, foulard printed hats

Gucci

Frida Giannini drew on the sort of  young bohemian aristos-come-rock stars that inhabited Saville Row and private members clubs like Scotch of St James in the 60s and 70s for her spring/summer inspiration. The result was a beautifully crafted collection that played with traditional values and gave them a modern youthful twist.

The look: Gentlemen’s club

Silhouette: Classic with a modern twist

Key items: This collection was built on classic wardrobe pieces, revamped with modern detailing in the snap hems on skinny pants, the collarless necklines on soft jacquard shirts, piped pockets and covered buttons on neat SB tailored blazers, thermoseal details on lean colour-blocked cabans and safari jackets or the micro check lining on a washed nappa coat. Pant shapes veer from easy rise and pleated to ankle-skimming and skinny, teamed with marled or melanged knits and a raft of luxe leathers from quilted bombers to smooth Harringtons and sinuous shirt jackets. And for evening those dashing young dudes are perfectly suited and booted in graphic checked tuxedos, blazers and silk faille pants or rock-star gold brocades and sexy lurex knits

Colour: Sand neutrals, inky blues, steel greys with pops of brick red, aubergine and sky blue for shirtings. Black and white or old gold for evening

Fabric & knit: A twist on the traditionals with pied-de-poule suitings, micro checks, Prince of Wales checks – new in waterproofed nylon – black-and-white checks, suede, washed nappa, velvet and brocade. Textured marled knits, lurex knits

Print & pattern: Woven checks rather than print and pattern

Details & trims: Contrast top collars, piped flapped pockets and covered buttons, thermoseal details creating graphic contrast on casual jackets and outerwear, back vents, buckled tab details

Footwear: Classic crocodile loafers with horsebit buckles, contrast heavy-sole derby lace-ups

Accessories: Maxi travel bags in crocodile or rawhide and canvas. Leather framed sunglasses

Versace

   

There was an experimentation with volume and proportion that felt new for Versace this season, as Donatella played with shrunken uppers and new fuller bottomweights, which, after winter's severe and strict offer, felt better for it.

Add to that Donatella's bold injection of summer colour and several of the house signatures - such as baroque motifs and Greek key prints - and the show steamrollered into a fresh and successful position.

The look: Italian stallion

Silhouette: A new focus on volume

Key items: Jackets including a plethora of bombers and bikers in a variety of fabrications feature narrow waists drawn taut around the torso to create upper volume, while pants and long shorts feature triple-pleats to bring this same sense of volume to the bottom silhouette. Tailoring also feels fresh, with new proportions seeing broad DB suits with low-breaking buttoning or elongated SB suits drawing the eye downward. Elsewhere key pieces include sleeveless tanks in glazed wet-look knits, a suede-panelled Western shirt and a slimmer trouser shape with bondage style buckles running the length of the leg

Colour: Donatella wreaked havoc with summer's colour card, going all out with shocking brights of azure blue, canary yellow, bold Kelly green, coral red with hot pink, and salmon, worked against steel and slate greys, sandy neutrals and rich tan leather; watch also for crisp resort white and lustrous black as key anchors

Fabric & knit: Light summer suitings including Prince of Wales check and dogstooth, crisp neat cottons, printed silks, perforated suede, slicked leather, mesh, open stitch knits, engineered knits, wet-look glazed knits, sheer patterened knits

Print & pattern: Greek key placements, optical Greek key repeat, signature curlicues and baroque leaves

Details & trims: Gold eyelets in placement formation, medusa-head buttons and medallions, multiple buckles

Footwear: Leather sandals decorated with Medusa-head medallions, multi-strap patent gladiator sandals styled with socks, smart suede loafers

Accessories: Smart leather holdalls, hugely oversized totes, squared sunglasses with metal greek key detail across the flat topline, ribbon key chains

Nicole Farhi

Nicole Farhi returned to the men's runways with a sparsely styled collection of clean minimal silhouettes, with an emphasis on functionality, teamed with innovative fabrications. The result was ineffably modern and clinical with a lightweight fiunctional feel.

The look: Modern minimalism

Silhouette: Clean simple unstructured layers and neat tailoring

Key items: This collection emphasises fabric innovation and functional detailing through strong tee-shaped tops and simple half-sleeved shirts overlaid with clear plastic, teamed with straight-cut basic pant shapes. Bonded Aran effects bring a tailored blazer shape up to date, while casual double-zip jackets and trench coats conceal matching mesh inners. Knitwear veers between simple textured ladder stitch tunics to a V-neck cabled tank layered over a ciré tee. This key silhouette is also worked in Neoprene with a contrasting mesh back, while mesh shorts take on an airy summer feel and functional parkas and double-zip casual jackets provide lightweight outerwear options


Colour: White dominates for a clean clinical feel, teamed with sandy neutrals, pale pebble greys, taupe, ink and black with accents of bright yellow and sage

Fabric & knit: Innovate fabrics have dominated the last few seasons at Nicole Farhi – the sort of fabrics you need to touch and feel before their compexity becomes a reality, with papery cotton, Neoprene and bonded effects, clear plastics, cire nylons, airy mesh, smooth flat jacketweights contrasting with canvas

Details & trims: Detailing takes on a new emphasis, with mesh inners, contrast fabric facing, knitted welts, double-ended zips, binding trims

Footwear: Contrast sole derbys with exaggerated rands

Accessories: Plastcic clip harnesses, sou’wester hoods

Etro

Provence and the Mediterranean coast proved fertile ground for Etro's spring/summer collection, providing a landscape of opportunity for different looks, ranging from nautical to bohemian intelligensia and Riviera playboys.

The look: A year in Provence

Silhouette: Louche, layered and unstructured

Key items: Easy oversized trench coats and soft duster coats are the perfect lightweight throw-on coat shapes to offset softly structured SB and DB tailoring layered over paisley shirts and tunics, or even sporty nylon cagoules in an offbeat sporty/formal mix. Textured knits are a key item for next summer and here they are worked with easy plaid shorts and printed paisley pants. There are nautical connotations too in the piped-edge SB blazers and striped knits, while colourful pattern mixes and relaxed separates speak of a more artistic look at play

Colour: The Provencal landscape colours a palette spanning warm earthy neutrals and sand-toned pales through to an ocean of marine and washed sky blues, with vivid accents of mimosa yellow, poppy red and lavender

Fabric & knit: Linen forms the core to the collection, coming in muted micro checks, windowpane plaids and washed plains, along with two-tone suitings, mohair, Madras plaids, cottons, nylon or ciré, silk, suede and textured cotton-blend knits


Print & pattern: Paisley is a signature of this house, and for spring/summer 2012 it is worked in warm muted colours or in bold bicolour combinations in a dark motif on a white ground, which looks new and fresh. Paisley motifs even scroll in faded tatoo-like patterns across fine-gauge knits. Elsehere, simple coin spots proliferate across shirts and even suiting, while multicoloured checks clash in mismatched combinations 


Details & trims: Nautical piping or contrast-bound edges

Footwear: Tasselled or kiltie-fringed loafers, classic loafers


Accessories: Wide-brimmed unstructured straw hats, flowing scarves, woven or plaited leather belts, striped knitted ties, Paisley printed leather totes, leather bags

Iceberg

Achieving the ultimate smart-casual mix was the aim at Iceberg, where cardigan-jackets replaced tailored blazers and traditional wool suitings such herringbone and dogstooth arrived crumpled in thin summer weights.

The look: Smart-casual

Silhouette: Comfortably lean, unstructured

Key items: The knitted 2B blazer is undeniably the star piece, as snug and comfortable as a cardigan but with definite tailored constructions. These are teamed with casual pants – either flat-front or with a double-pleat creating roomy volume at the crotch - both options rolled or cropped above the ankle. Summer styling relies on layering contrast-coloured tees with cutaway or irregular necklines, while a few sporty outerwear options including yacht jackets and flyweight nylon parkas are typical of the brand. Suits are deconstructed to achieve that smart-casual tone – a pair of Prince of Wales checked trousers exited with a snug-fitting Western shirt, its matching DB jacket arriving in the next look

Colour: The palette is built on tonal ranges of blue – from sky and ultramarine through to navy, and grey – from ash to slate – that are punctuated with flashes of bright pillarbox red and sunshine yellow

Fabric & knit: Cotton, silk, marled jersey, fine-weight suitings, pique knits, silky nylon, Prince of Wales check, herringbone and dogstooth wool suitings, thick double-faced wool, knitted Breton stripes, chunky knits, cable stitches, smooth leather

Print & pattern: Overdyed denim-effect treatments in black or blue, dip-dyed jacket edges

Details & trims: Untrimmed edges, cutaway T-shirt necklines, coloured waistbands, coloured knit strips on the inside of jacket and cardigan closures, contrast colour drawcords

Footwear: Casual blue or grey suede lace-ups with rubbed/stained toes, chunky crepe-soled kiltie-fringed suede loafers

Accessories: Bookish optical, faded leather holdall, tricolour leather satchel, a coloured nylon utility bag

Posted in: Alexander McQueen,DandG,Etro,Gucci,Iceberg,Nicole Farhi,Versace