Giorgio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

If someone would have said Armani showed his pre-fall collection today, we would have believed that person. The summer inspiration was hard to find in the Giorgio Armani show. Almost every look existed of a pair of long pants and a jacket. No shorts, no Tees, no airy fabrics.

Besides Giorgio chose to use very dark colors like deep blue and black, only once in a while alternated by a hint of light gray, green or yellow. No summery prints or colorful excesses, just one or two stripes and checks. Many of the models did wear sunglasses (with circular and yellow glasses) but that was not enough to give us a feeling of summer.

Jackets really were the hot item of the collection, double breasted, waisted, more sportive, leather and linen. They had striking buttons and sometimes a handkerchief popped out of the front pocket.

Another item Giorgio introduced was the waistcoat. Maybe that was the reason he invited Ricky Martin to the show. Waistcoats and tight Tees have become this singer’s signature throughout the years.

The Armani models all walked with their hands in their casual trousers. The loose pleated trousers didn’t look spectacular, yet seemed very comfy.

And that’s exactly how we would describe this Giorgio Armani collection. As a good mix of comfortable, wearable clothes with some amazing well-tailored jackets. It’s just that for summer we would have loved to see a little bit more light colors.

Roberto Cavalli Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Three ninjas dressed in black dramatically lit a big Olympic Flame at the courtyard of the Palazzo del Senato’s courtyard – it marked the start of the Roberto Cavalli show but also the celebration of his 40th anniversary.

Instead of digging into his heritage of rich hippie westcoast rock-dandy dressing a la Lenny Kravitz (those were the most interesting and exciting collections of Cavalli) the designer got stuck in black/white/blue suits mixed with animalprints at shirts and kerchiefs. Wild were the pants and shirts with big flowerprints Cavalli saw in Indonesia – but somehow it all looked too uninspired and a bit hurried. It’s a pity, because men’s fashion can use some spicy stuff.

Streetfashion Milan Menswear SS2011 Day 3

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Givenchy-slippers, your latest Comme des Garcons-bermuda or that vintage Prada? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: menswear fashionweek in Milan.

D&G Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

It was a hypnotizing soundtrack at D&G’s ss2011-show. N.E.R.D.’s Hot ‘n Fun played in a loop while the models strolled along the field of fresh green grass all dressed up for a country picnic. It felt  like one of those hazy, lazy days.

The vibe reminded of the innocent fifties as seen in movies, with happy people, days full of sunshine and the picnic as the ultimate day-trip. Well, with the D&G-boys keeping you company it will definitely be an unforgettable experience!

Loose fitted khaki’s and Vichy-checks for shirts, polo’s, pants and espadrilles formed the most important part of the collection. Sleeves and legs were rolled up, bare feet were stuck in sandals or vintage sneakers. Some faded flowerprints popped up at jackets and polo’s. Colors looked like they were faded by the sunlight, there was just a hint of green, gray, red, blue and brown. The light colored tuxedo’s were simply striking, never knew yellow, blue and green could be so near white. It matched beautifully with the white shirts and pants.

The season’s T-shirt was decorated with a portrait of Johnny Depp as seen in Cry Baby and a painting by Edouard Manet, Le dejeuner sur l’erbe.

Moncler Gamme Bleu Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

The Moncler fashion was held at Velodromo Vigorelli in Milan. This sports venue, where the Beatles performed in 1965, is mostly used for American Football events. Yet this afternoon the area was one big catwalk.

Due to the circular shape the models had to walk in circles and while the area was so big all guests were lucky to have a front row seat. The theme of the show, the Tour de France, matched perfectly with Moncler’s sportive heritage.

To the sound of Queen’s ‘I want to ride my bicycle’ the first model appeared on – surprise – a cycle. He wore a coat with a special bike print which we were going to see much more throughout the collection. As a matter of fact this print was visible in almost every look. All models wore a cycling legging with the bike print on it. They wore those leggings under their shorts and normal trousers. It didn’t really make sense, yet it gave the looks a sporty touch (as did the lines, hoods, drawstrings, pockets and the bands on the model’s arms and legs).

To finish the outfits Thom Browne added some cycling gloves and ties with a straight end. Also, every model wore a cap with the French flag on it.

The red, white and blue, pink, gray and black looked al right together, yet the way the clothes were layered was just wrong. Swim trunks over bike shorts?! Still, all individual items would have looked great when combined differently, with more basics.

So the styling was off, but the great show venue, the cycling models and the free drinks and umbrellas made the show worthwhile.

Prada Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

The menswear summer-collection Prada sent out yesterday had a sporty marine-vibe thanks to all the blue & white, the navyblue fishermen-sweaters, the boxy bermudas, wide trousers and lots of keels. It reminded me of the sportsgear sailors wear during a storm or a windy day at the boat. It looked boyish too because of the oversized silhouettes, the multi-colored knitwear and last but not least the shoes with thick soles. You could almost hear them squeeze.

Prada played with proportions too, the slim and tight-fitted 3-buttoned suits contrasted with the boxy outfits and reminded me of early Raf Simons-collections. Not only because of the fit, also the way the models looked with their sharp faces and impeccable haircut and the Bauhaus-music.

This was the second collection that tried to bring bright colors back into menswear, orange, green, yellow, red and blue gave the collection an energetic feel.

In a review at style.com I read Miucca Prada was also inspired by simple uniforms like that of postmen and doctors and that she wanted everything as simple as possible in terms of fabrication, construction and silhouette. That’s why she used cotton (lots of denim too) and that’s why she landed on the idea of working-clothes.

Streetfashion Milan Menswear ss2011 Day 2

What are you wearing during the coming fashionweeks? Your Givenchy-slippers, your latest Comme des Garcons-bermuda or that vintage Prada? Maybe we’ll spot you in Paris, Milan, New York or Amsterdam. During the fashionweeks we refresh our streetwear posts regularly. We don’t judge, we’re not the fashion-police, we just enjoy fashion and your own personal style. Next stop: menswear fashionweek in Milan.

Vivienne Westwood Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Today the Vivienne Westwood show area turned into a circus. There were no elephants or tigers, but we saw quite a lot of clowns. Absolutely everything appearing on the runway was screaming for attention. To start with, there was a huge pile of old TV’s on stage. Then the models came on stage. Dresses in colorful, printed, shiny outfits full of crazy details.

Vivienne presented a crazy kind of streetstyle in which we saw rolled up legs, high-waisted pants, short suit jackets, shiny disco-pants, polos, V-neck sweaters and tight swimwear. As if those items weren’t eye-catching enough, they all had different prints. The suits got a mix of checks and stripes, the tops had a more spacey print on them.

On top of the attention-screaming outfits there were some hysterical accessories, like small feminine scarves, colorful belts, striped braces, small printed ties, bright knee stockings (worn in open shoes) and canvas bags. One model had a sailing boat as a hat.

As an extra the models wore questionable wigs and had tattoos. Besides, some entered the runway on skateboards, while others carried big parasols with a text on the show’s theme – endangered species – on it. Even the model’s poses at the end of the catwalk were exaggerated.

If Vivienne Westwood was to portray any message with this collection we think it was that there are no boundaries in fashion and that you have to make your outfit into your own little party.

Emporio Armani Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

You’ll never know what to expect with Armani. But one thing you know for sure: he does his own thing being it off trend or not. Well all the tough leather he sent out today was on trend, we’ve seen it in more collections this week, but the erotic edge was new and daring for a label like Emporio Armani. The designer  probably got caught by Lady Gaga’s videoclip Alejandro, in which he dressed the police-like posse.

But if you leave all the styling behind, what is left are some good, black leather pieces. Like a skinny pant, a (sleeveless) jacket and a shirt. Perfect items to mix with a pair of jeans, a short or  loose, linen pants. And please, shall we ban the mix of shiny leggings with bermuda’s? That’s something for soccer-players who are afraid of the cold, but not for normal human beings.

Gianfranco Ferré Catwalk Fashion Show SS2011

Like at Versace, the soundtrack used for Gianfranco Ferre’s fashion show was a song by Talking Heads. Their hit from 1977  ‘Psycho Killer’ was on the speakers and surely had a good rhythm for the models to walk on.

For summer 2011 Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi used a soft color palette with hues of beige, light blue and gray. Light stripes and graphic zigzag prints were added to several looks.

According to the show notes Gianfranco Ferré was going oriental with this collection. This was visible through the sober sweaters with standing colors and the tops that closed diagonally. Perhaps the weird hats (that matched with not one of the outfits) belonged to that theme as well.

Most of the blouses, jackets and pants looked comfy. Yet they also resembled men’s pyjama’s and therefore won’t become a huge hit. On the contrary, some of the double breasted jackets, a few trench coats and the final look (a black & white tuxedo) were perfection.

Unfortunately the collection didn’t breath summer. There were precisely three shorts, no tees, all looks had long sleeves and the models wore too much layers for spring/summer.

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