Sportmax A more rustic layered look from Sportmax, where, as you would expect, we were offered some great outerwear and knits combined with the contrast of lush embroidered evening separates and sportif furs, all inspired by the colours and landscapes of a cold Northern Europe.
The look: Love in a cold climate
Silhouette: Tailored and casual layers
Key items: Outerwear is the mainstay of this label - and it was here in spades - from the caped parka to the long, lean blue coat with patent trims and the mixed furs that also appeared as a cosy sweater dress. Two of the most covetable outerwear pieces were a rugged canvas jacket with astrakhan detailing and the long, lean trench in gleaming toffee-apple patent. And to layer under those protective looks - wide silk crepe de chine pants in the palette’s rich colourways, overdyed fur gilets (best in a black mink hooded silhouette), quilted skirts with slashed hemlines and a raft of rustic knits with fur panels, reworked Fair Isle pattern and deep cowl necklines etched with a plaited knitted edge
Colour: A cool palette of black, white and grey undercut with vivid cornflower blue, chestnut, cognac, teal, pumpkin and rich damson
Fabric & knit: An incongruous melange of fabrics that gelled into a tactile urban look. Cashmere and Donegals were offset with the contrast of gleaming patent, and there was plush fur including glossy black mink and curly lamb, crepe de chine, lace appliquéd sheers, embroidered sheers, jersey and a slew of gilded paillettes for a neat tank top
Print & pattern: A soft winter floral in grey and white, with twinkly coloured paillettes; richly coloured floral embroideries on sheers
Details & trims: Contrast piping, patent rims, leather rouleaux ties
Footwear: High laced chunky boots in a move on of this winter’s trend for heeled walking boots, high chunky sandals
Accessories: Gauntlets, socks, patent belts, fur tippets, drawstring pouch bags, clutch bags, boxy clutch purses
Emporio ArmaniMaybe it was the upcoming Oscars that turned Giorgio Armani’s thoughts to the world of cinematic references, in particular the genre of film noir, but it was a brave move in a season full of technicolour to send out a collection based almost entirely on a chiaroscuro of blacks.
The look: film noir
Silhouette: Elongated and layered
Key items: The collection played with layering concepts, teaming elongated tunics or slashed skirts over a variety of pant shapes, topped with a series of neat jackets. The look created an offbeat play on proportion, not least a semi-sheer below-knee tunic over deep cuffed jogger-style pants and a curvy tailored waisted jacket. There were velvet culottes, mannish cigarette pants, track pants and a ruffled peplum all-in-one or alternatively, simple skirt shapes, all worked with hip-grazing jacket shapes and saddlebag-style pocket belts. A series of wafting LBDs had a refreshing lightness of hand and for a finale, two vividly coloured Mongolian lamb chubbies
Colour: Black on black, maybe veering towards anthracite occasionally, with highlights of cornflower and hyacinth blues
Fabric & knit: A chiaroscuro of layered blacks worked in matt-sheen combination, with sooty velvet and fur, Mongolian lamb, brushed wool, leather and wet-look sequins, satin and breezy sheers
Print & pattern: A black Scottie dog motif on a black sweater, a black-on-black floral pattern
Details & trims: Sequin detailing, covered buttons, velvet cutout appliqué
Footwear: Knee-high gaiter-style boots, flat slip-ons with a deep sole, T-strap sandals with leopard trims
Accessories: Alligator, Mongolian lamb and patent bags, long gloves, forager caps, I-spy black eyewear
Bottega Veneta With bouffant beehives, opaque white hosiery and a plethora of swing coats and shifts, it was hard to ignore the 60s mood at Bottega Veneta yesterday – an era that has been influencing many of the key players in Milan this week.“I wanted to experiment with technique and craftsmanship to an extreme degree. I felt the right canvas for this kind of innovative workmanship was a silhouette that was clean and uncomplicated,” explained Tomas Maier.
The look: The prim and ever-polished Betty Draper
Silhouette: Soft shouldered A-lineKey items: The show opened with a 60s-infused daywear section – collarless A-line swing coats, boxy skirt suits with trimmed cardigan-jackets, and polo-neck sweaters layered under almost sporty jersey tunics. Swiftly the collection moved into cocktailwear, with a series of sleeveless shifts in silk and lace worn with short necklaces of coloured stones that made up the bulk of the show. There were also slim pencil skirts overlaid with a long swinging fringe and softly shaped fit-and-flare dresses before the arrival of four corseted gowns in folded duchesse satin. Notably, there were no trousers/pants in the collection
Colour: An opening passage of sherbet pink and orange with ochre, coral and shell pink set against Canova plaster white; these shades together with flashes of peridot green were later tempered with backFabric & knit: Shaggy mohair teddy-bear fur, fuzzy pilled wool, dimensional bouclé wools, mohair jacquard, cashmere, crochet knits interwoven with strips of suede, jersey, silk, chiffon, tulle, silk lace and tinted wool lace, silk duchesse, lightweight nylon, waxed leather
Print & pattern: Crackled or scratch prints, overprinting, a spray-painted trompe l’oeil lace
Details & trims: Superfine lace overlays, raw edges millefeuille ruffles running vertically
Footwear: T-bar courts with skinny straps and skinny heels, either with lace-covered pointed toes or printed cage-straps worn with opaque white hosiery
Accessories: Patchwork woven leather bags with short leather fringes, a clutch bag decorated with spiky leather leaves, a satchel in acid-rinsed silk velvet, hand-painted python and washed ostrich; costume jewellery was made in blackened silver with black and champagne-coloured stones, silver lace cuffs and necklaces; fine jewellery arrived in yellow gold with a black finish and featured faceted stones including morganite, Madeira citrine, fire opal, gold citrine, and Palmeira citrine – this notes the first time Bottega Veneta has used coloured stones other than diamonds in its fine jewellery range
Jil Sander Raf Simons’ winter collection continued with the references to maximalist mid-century couture he first touched upon for Jil Sander last season, but this time he added a wintry skiwear influence that brought graphic lines to his oversized silhouettes.
The look: Winter sports
Silhouette: Overblown volume accentuated with padding, slim graphic pants shapes
Key items: Ski pants – with stirrups threaded through wedge-heeled shoes – were the leitmotif, underpinning the overscaled upper proportions. In line, there were tight-fitting hooded knits and padded, skiwear-influenced pieces – including wide-cut jackets, tees, tulip skirts and ovoid-shaped maxiskirts, with shapes referencing the mid-century couture themes Simons has explored before. Coats, jackets and simple tops were cut broad across the back, with shoulders and sleeveheads pushed outward – volume was then loosely controlled with martingales that were anchored at the front or back. The season’s drop-waisted silhouette also made an appearance as a midi-sleeved egg-yolk yellow dress with low, softly tied belt
Colour: Graphic black enhances primary red, yellow and blue, which formed the core palette, occasional highlights include chartreuse, kelly green, mallard, brown and pale silver-grey
Fabric & knit: Experimental surface textures including three-dimensional micro-quilting, embossed treatments, a heavily crystallised surface, fuzzy velour, pebbly bouclé and chunky knit stitches; lightweight down-filled nylon, felted wool, dense tight knits in stretch techno fibres, duchesse
Print & pattern: Warp printed floral duchesse satin, sporty geometric zigzag intarsia
Details & trims: Stirrups or zipped ankles on pants, short turtlenecks, backward-facing one-button collars, silk astrakhan and looped bead embroideries
Footwear: Leather or floral-printed satin wedge-heeled ankle boots with a slot in the heel to thread the stirrups of ski pants through, either lace-up, pull-on or buckled with a mechanical ski-clip
Accessories: Formal ladylike handbags with two top-handles, slim brightly-coloured clutch bags, a through-handled shopper and a hard-box briefcase-style bag with handbag strap; bags and shoes were inspired by Jacques Adnet
Roberto Cavalli Although the show notes touted a woman who could travel towards new worlds in a space shuttle, when the parade of familiarly rock ‘n’ roll bohemians stepped out into the light it was obvious Roberto Cavalli had not stepped into a new frontier entirely. Instead, his futuristic inspirations arrived via metallic embroideries and gilded fabrics that refracted rays of light all the way to outer space.“I want women to become designers of their own look. I created clothes made up of many layers – soft and structured,” said Roberto Cavalli.
The look: Darkly bohemian with a hint of burnished sparkle
Silhouette: Long and layered
Key items: There was a mix ‘n’ match quality to the pieces in the collection – straight-leg cuffed pants decorated with intricate embroideries or vertically-placed fringing, low-slung pants with a draped pocket , printed sheer blouses topped with sharp-shouldered blazers or ornately embellished wide-cut jackets; devoré maxidresses paired with tailored waistcoats or long-length fur gilets with elongated armholes and shorter drop-waisted dress options topped with feather or fur chubbies
Colour: The collection was laden with gilded metallics of burnished gold, copper and bronze with touches of black and pewter, while rich aubergine, merlot red, midnight blue and a pale vapour grey rounded out the palette
Fabric & knit: Wafting mousseline sheers, devoré, velvet, silk, tone-on-tone baroque floral jacquards; feathers, glossy calfskin, fox, wet-look or metallic leathers and snakeskin
Print & pattern: Degradé animalia including signature snakeskin, creeping Art Nouveau florals
Details & trims: Lashing of metallic embroideries, flyaway feather trims, pieced furs, copper sequins, plissé sheers, short fringing, gold bullion embroidery
Footwear: Heeled loafers with kiltie fringing and tassels and lace-up ankle boots both featuring a 14cm horn-shaped heel and a forepart platform handmade from leather and metal worked with stitching to simulate the bezels of crocodile skin
Accessories: Long flyaway scarves accessorised every exit – strips of georgette and lurex-shot sheers can be custom-arranged via 300 tiny covered buttons for a modular effect; the long-strapped Diva bag launched last season reappears decorated in collection-coordinated metallic embroideries
Pucci Citing Tyrolean hunters, Grimm’s fairytales and Robert Polidori’s restoration of Versailles as points of departure for winter, it was clear Peter Dundas had moved on from the boho-luxe look he has successfully carved out at Pucci over the past few seasons. Instead there was more structure and less billow, fewer thigh-high splits, and those sharp-shoulders were replaced with historical puffs.
The look: Tyrolean Heidi gets glammed up
Silhouette: Body-conscious, with no lengths shorter than the knee
Key items: Referencing traditional Austrian costume, Dundas offered sexy corseted dresses with ultra-low scooping portrait necklines, dirndl skirts with wide waistbands, a loden riding coat and puff-shouldered leg-of-mutton sleeved jackets. However, cropped lederhosen pants perhaps edged too closely to the costumic side of the Austrian inspirations. More successful were the button-cuffed pants featuring contrast inner-leg patches and signature tailored and cropped options. These were teamed with pussy-bow blouses – ruffle-fronted or neatly pin-tucked - and those puff-shouldered jackets and shorter smoking styles with wide revers and bow-tied. Despite his new direction, Dundas didn’t ignore his red-carpet clients with a series of mallard green jersey gowns featuring sexy slashes and beaded or sequinned sleeves
Colours: Green was the central colour with shades including dense loden and pine, with mallard hues for evening; elsewhere there were shots of ochre, magenta and turquoise, with lashing of gothic black
Fabric & knit: Embellished loden wools, flannel, signature printed jersey, suede, overprinted jacquards, velvet and devoré, taffeta, fine gilded lace, silk and chiffon; astrakhan, Mongolian lamb, fox and marabou
Print & pattern: Pucci prints in a peacock feather-like formation, all-over swirling prints, hand-painted renderings of signature prints
Details & trims: Ornate jewelled embellishments inspired by Victoire de Castellane, taffeta bows, pussy bows, pin-tucking, puffed sleeveheads, low-scooping portrait necklines revealing fine Chantilly lace lingerie details, tone-on-tone embroideries, goldwork and bullion embroideries, overprinted silk fringing
Footwear: Low-cut heeled pumps with three skinny ankle straps, string strapped sandals, multi-strapped suede knee-high boots
Accessories: Feathered alpine hats, jewel-buckled belts
Moschino Cheap & Chic After 3 weeks of back-to-back shows and hectic travel schedules, everyone in the audience at Moschino Cheap & Chic’s showing was more than aware of the Big Four fashion capitals, the locales which provided the inspiration for a witty collection of gamine looks that should have an international appeal.
The look: Fashion well travelled
Silhouette: Short and feminine
Key items: A series of four separate mini collections from each of the four fashion capitals of Milan, London, Paris and New York, were given their own fashion flavour; all spelt out the same message - that fashion is universal in any language. For outerwear, that meant a sweet tailored coat with a bow trim, a cropped duffel and parka, a knit-sleeve biker and black-and-white baseball jacket, capes and ponchos. Cropped pants, flirty skirts, floor-sweeping maxis and chic lace empire dresses were offset by four shift dresses, each depicting a famous landmark from each of the four cities. Fine-gauge knits with a flower intarsia and an Argyle hybrid
Colour: Camel, black and winter white, flannel grey, guardsman red and purple
Fabric & knit: Luxe wool and cashmere, nubbly tweed, leather, fur, brushed plaids, lacePrint & pattern: Four landmark photoreal motifs – the Duomo, a London telephone box, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty - a pretty floral in black and white or a lilac colourway
Footwear: High-heeled loafers in vivid patent or metallic leather, fur ankle boots, flat Mongolian lamb moccasin boots, heeled patent ankle bots
Accessories: A chain handle shoulder bag with an Eiffel Tower print, feathered bags, knitted gloves, fur hats and hoods
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