MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week closed out four days of mostly menswear previews for the upcoming fall and winter season on a quiet note.
Giorgio Armani, a stalwart of the Italian fashion world, took his admirers to the hidden courtyards of Milan, islands of calm hidden from general view within the walls of the city’s austere neoclassical architecture.
Indian designer Dhruv Kapoor, a relative newcomer to Milan, hopes to promote an inward journey with a new collection that seeks to reconcile alter-egos, whether romantic, aggressive or pensive, as a form of healing.
Though they create similar moods, the designs featured couldn’t have been more aesthetically opposed: one a study in tailoring and muted tones, the other an explosion of color in silhouettes that mix the big with the small.
Highlights of Monday’s shows:
DHRUV KAPOOR PROMOTES HEALING
Kapoor has a message of radical self-acceptance in her collection, which combined floral prints that promote stillness, cartoon images of Godzilla that represent aggression, and lace details for romance.
The designer, through his unisex collection called “The Embracer”, advocates embracing all of our parts, even those that are viewed negatively. It’s not that I think the solution is in the locker room.
“It is a very simple process. Look in the mirror and say to yourself, ‘I love you.’ and see how the magic begins to change. You just need to admire yourself as you are,” Kapoor said backstage, adding that he has felt a dramatic change since he adopted the practice. “I don’t know how it comes. I never stop at how”.
The collection includes a fitted ripped denim dress over loose-fitting jeans. Broad-shouldered suit jackets were paired with fitted trousers that flare into a bell bottom. Oversized sweatshirts were teamed with cotton tunics and sheer lace pantaloons. Godzilla raged in the front of a button-down shirt or fitted dress, while a silver pillow jacket had reptilian spikes down the back.
“There’s also something very negative and monstrous about Godzilla,” Kapoor said. But that shouldn’t preclude acceptance, he insisted.
Crystals in knitwear, suits and jackets contain energy that Kapoor says can be activated to have a positive impact on the wearer’s life. Instructions are included with the garments.
ARMANI’S HIDDEN MILAN
Hidden from view in Italy’s frenetic financial and fashion capital are the tranquil courtyard gardens of Milan.
Giorgio Armani suggests these are places to pause and take stock before heading out for business or play, this season in soft, rubber-soled footwear.
The models walked slowly to the soundtrack of Italian pianist and composer Ludovico Einaudi while wearing suits and separates that were deeply textured, projecting self-confidence in the 88-year-old designer’s trademark smooth silhouette.
The color palette consisted of soft earthy tones enhanced by olive and forest green with a surge of crimson in sportswear and a finishing touch of dandy weekend looks. Flannel cargo pants were teamed with soft sweaters. Disciplined double-breasted suits suited a negotiating table. Large fur coats, including one with a tiger print, lightened the calm atmosphere.
The show closed with couples dressed in shimmering black evening gowns and formal suits with silk or velvet details chatting down the runway as if leaving a party.
Armani admitted that flashes of fur on other runways this season had sexiness. But he remained firm in his conviction: “You can wear whatever you want, but when you are at an important table, you must wear an important suit,” he said.
His only transgression: ties that bow under the knot, as if they had come loose, and are worn tucked into waistcoats, “to give room to relax.”
“The rigidity is not good,” added the designer.
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