First View Milan Womenswear FW2013: Fuzzy & Furry

It was the soft spot that caught our eye. Fashion is serious business nowadays, what makes it exiting to see some items that are slightly out of sinc. It is not in number that these fluffy flounces made impact. It is in proportions. These caused some of the models to look nearly as wide as they were tall. From slightly austere in compact curly astrakhans to fluffy alpaca piles, cosy camel teddy bear looks and chunky boucles. It needs slender, tall models to show these looks with elegance yet many may have found comfort and ease in these soft sheltering styles. Not just in jackets and coats, also in giant knit sweaters with twisted cables, trimmed and sleeved with high pile furs. For the more extreme we spotted wild fluffy Big Bird jackets and feathery hairdos.

Ports played with New Look proportions combining astrakhan jackets and hoodies with full circle, below the knee, skirts.  Max Mara’s cocoons where almost caricatures’, showing bulky layers of fuzzy fur-looks in giant square tops and coats. Blumarine showed boho flair in lean long-loop-knitted cardigans and pastel shaded shearling bikers. Gucci combined sensual curves with cosy egg-shaped astrakhans and pony hair jackets.

Maybe it is time to re-hype cocooning!

Stylespot is a cooperation with Stijlinstituut Amsterdam

Marni Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

It was not only the stage – a sepia-toned forest mural – that set a melancholic tone at Marni this morning. It was also the collection in sturdy black/cement-gray/greenish wools and tweeds, the roomy aviator-blousons, militairy style and the models make up that fed the mood. The designer played with ideas of un-balanced balance: volume and flatness, severity and grace, opacity and shine. Protagonists were the precision of the lines, assertiveness of the cuts, density of the surfaces. They unfolded and interact, creating an intangible narrative.

Apart from a few high heels, shoes were flat (at the end with a gilded toe) and ridingboots played a major role. Long fur stoles, wound around the neck like boas, and snug fur capes added drama to austere daywear: strapless tops ending in peplums and A-line tunics fronted with a corset traced out in felt. Skirts flared gently and fell about the knee. There were not many prints, only a few at the end of the show: wintry drawn landscapes and black-and-white scribbles adorned skirts and tops outlined with leather taping.

Emilio Pucci Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

High boots, shorts dresses did the trick at Pucci’s fall/winter presentation. The over the knee boots were suede and came in a range of colors, from camel to red. The dresses varied from pastel shaded, satin printed to sexy transparent with lace details. Clothes, as designer Peter Dundas described them, “women want to put on and men want to take off”.
Though like many of the in Milan presented collections Pucci breathed forties, yet it were late sixties/seventies muses Anita Pallenberg, Britt Ekland (and their trendy bangs) that inspired Dundas. Their modern look a likes had that same rocky attitude mixed with a boho swing in the form of animal printed waist belts, high collars, capes and fur coats casually tossed on their shoulders. And if this boho rock collection fails to become a success; the Pucci beauty will. Bangs it is! (what the first lady can do, we can too).

Aquilano & Rimondi Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

What better way to portray Alice in Wonderland than by sending out a collection full of hearts and checks? Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi took the literal way of translating their theme for fall/winter 2013/2014. Their ‘Alices’ sporting high buns and bright blue eyeshadow in a series of forties inspired Wonderland pieces. Ultra feminine knee lenght skirts were paired with peplum tops that had cute puffy sleeves and statement shoulders. Heart shapes could be found on any top or bottom as sequined skirts and embroidered dresses were given a sparkly treatment. Even some of the menswear inspired pieces, like tweed jackets and a long woolen coat got the designer’s feminine touch by in the form of stitches, buttons and added waist belts. A color palette of emerald green, navy blue, red, gold black & white and metallics; a fairytale brought back to life.

 

 

Jil Sander Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

Like you’d expect today’s Jil Sander show was a celebration of minimalism today. Yet besides serene, monotone dresses, plain tops and clean cut coats there was room for slight variations too. Like graphic lines on a series of turtle necks, winter checks on thick woolen dresses and coats, extra lines and pleats (oh, we even spotted some pockets). The show ended with simple yet perfect gold shaded bars on a few black looks. They put the “High-carat femininity” into today’s show notes as the overall collection indeed breathed “graceful” and “incorruptible”.

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

It was not only the Just Cavalli show earlier this week that demonstrated a different ‘Cavalli-feeling’; the Roberto Cavalli line took on a new chapter. The designer seemed to have headed into a new direction for fall leaving out his regular animal prints and over the top sexiness. His printed suits and fur coats were still very Cavalli. Yet his short metallic shift dresses, his oriental printed chunky sweaters and his transparent floral printed ensembles could just as well have come out of a different designer’s collection. Besides black and whites Cavalli introduced deep mineral shades and with floral prints, sheerness and statement making jewelry he added a touch of romance to his industrial collection.

Bottega Veneta Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

Tomas Maier’s Bottega collection today wouldn’t strike you as showstopping or mind blowing by taking a quick look. For the show attendees in the sixth row the designs probably just appeared as beautiful creations and we’re sure even the front rowers wouldn’t have been able to see what the clothes were all about. Yes the dresses looked well made and chic, but there was a whole lot more going on. Tomas experimented with fabric construction and chose wool as his main material. “I was into wool, and using it in different ways, washing it, bonding it, or felting it to create print”, he stated backstage. He managed to make wool look sexy and used it to create structured shoulders, 3D peplum details and ruffled skirt pleats. Fabrics were embroidered in order to create several trompe l’oeil prints. In between his see of fully black dresses touches of color (red, beige, yellow) made a good match with the models’ seventies appearances. Lots of attention to detail on designs that definitely deserve a closer look.

Versace Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

Tonight’s Versace show was all about punk, or ‘vunk’ as Donatella calls it. And though the Italian fashion house already has lots of punk history (Liz Hurley’s safety pin dress from ‘94 was only just recently brought back to life by Lady Gaga), Donatella didn’t feel like looking back for fall. She presented a new kind of vunk that consisted of so many wrongs it was almost right. Models sported body suits, patent leather, cut-outs, high slits, spiked boots, oversize bright colored fur coats, animal prints, sheer fabrics and bright shiny embellishments (incl. larger than life spikes) all brought together in one collection. For a major fashion house like Versace this is probably about as sexy and daring as it gets. Donatella put it all out there tonight as one over the top statement and why wouldn’t she.

Etro Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

Veronica Etro built her fw2013 collection around a few themes: Renaissance ceiling murals, Russian ceramics — and, literally, the digital era, using the former as background for cyber-inspired geometric motifs. It made for an interesting collection.
There was a modern side with a sporty sensibility. The outerwear was cut with attitude — and with that rounded-shoulder-of-the-season. The shapes were simple, but the effect was oppositie because of the jacquards, leather, techno-prints, studs and sparkles. Dresses came both loose and waisted, some  turned racy via demonstrative sleeve zippers.

Sportmax Catwalk Fashion Show Milan Womenswear FW2013

The Sportmax-collection was about proportion, transparency and texture. And example was the first outfit that entered the catwalk: a beaver coat, its fur cut grid-like in front, with a black, tuxedo-like lapel and suede back. Other tops had more volume, sometimes with rounded cocoon shoulders and graphic datials like blue eel skin stripes. The big knit sweaters felt cozy.  Often, the pleats of skirts and dresses served as a way to mix fabric and leather. The effect was cool and sophisticated.

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