MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week closed Sunday after five days of mostly womenswear previews that celebrated diversity and renewal, with more designers of color represented than ever and a host of new talent. debuting in major fashion houses.
The Italian fashion council promoted sustainability with the return of the Green Carpet Awards on Sunday night, recognizing progress in practices that reduce waste in the industry and its carbon footprint.
Even as the fashion world raised awareness about sustainability, this season’s schedule featured unsustainable trajectories between shows, forcing the fashion crowd to travel back and forth, multiple times in one day, in one congested city. Even bicycling proved to be a challenge with few bike lanes on the routes.
Fashion week closed as Italians went to the polls for an out-of-season parliamentary election that could push Italian politics to the right, something on the minds of many in the fashion world who have advocated for women’s rights. immigrants and a law that would criminalize hate crimes against homosexuals. , women and the disabled.
Giorgio Armani voted early, even as he put the finishing touches on his show and to appear at the Green Carpet Awards. Asked about the elections, he replied: “Make it a productive day. Stop.”
Some highlights of Sunday, closing day of Milan Fashion Week:
MATTY BOVAN’S SHAPE CHANGER
“This is a new energy for Milan,” Stefano Gabbana told British designer Matty Bovan backstage. “Bravo”, intervened Domenico Dolce.
Bovan, who had just made his Milan Fashion Week debut on Sunday sponsored by Dolce & Gabbana, was still red hot, having sprinted from one end of the catwalk to the other, in a physical display of his energy. which was captured on a creative level in his new collection.
“I’m exhausted,” Bovan confessed to fashion journalists moments before. “I haven’t run like this in years.”
Bovan said his colourful, definitely energetic and fanciful collection reflects “English surrealism at its finest”.
The collaboration with Dolce & Gabbana gave him access to the designer duo’s workshops, and Bovan was still overwhelmed by the quality of their craftsmanship. “I’ve never seen work like this. I have never had access to a job like this. It’s just one scale,” he said.
Milan stalwarts also offer handbags, denim and corsetry, all of which Bovan has worked on by embroidery, crochet or painting, about 90% of that by hand.
The looks were mostly completed with dead materials from her previous collections, including eye-catching sequined geometric prints and knitwear she constructed into layered skirts and bustles, which were by no means reserved for women only. And she tossed on some Matty Bovan emblazoned gold brocades, like mermaid skirts and ruffled coats.
Dolce & Gabbana jeans were ripped, torn, patched with embroidery, and painted. Their bags were painted and loaded upside down. And corsets reissued in special colors and sizes shaped the looks.
Bovan said that Dolce & Gabbana’s take on femininity meshed well with what he called his own “very twisted feminine”. So, it was a really fun collaboration.”
THE GOLDEN THREADS OF GIORGIO ARMANI
Giorgio Armani’s collection for the coming spring and summer was a study in shimmering elegance.
The collection opened with pearly whites and transitioned to muted blues, greens and greys, all fused around a notion of spiritual tranquility.
That harmony was evident in the soft construction, layers of translucent materials that draped and moved with the form. In a kind of alchemy, the pants looked like skirts and the skirts looked like pants. As a more powerful palette came into focus, some skin began to show: a long linen shirt demurely parted to reveal a torso over chocolate-colored pants. Beaded jackets paired with flowing, mandala-print pants brought to life a series of formal daytime looks with silk pants.
The collection culminated in crystal-accented looks in the brightest whites, each a meditation on what fashion means to the spirit.
“I can’t do a dress without at least a little sparkle,” the 88-year-old designer said after the show.
REMAKING BENETTON FROM THE KNITWEAR
Benetton embarks on yet another iteration, this time under the creative direction of Andrea Incontri, a Milan-based designer with experience at several fashion houses, including Tod’s.
An architect by training, Incontri wants to reshape Benetton’s retail experience and emptied out the flagship store on Corso Buenos Aires for his runway debut as creative director.
Upstairs, her new collection, full of colorful repeating motifs with fruit, pretty knits and tweeds, hung against a bare tiled wall, in well-selected, easy-to-see constellations.
Underlining its desire to start with the consumer, Incontri staged the show on the ground floor, allowing passers-by to take a look.
The modern silhouette includes culottes, a hot trend in Milan for the upcoming spring and summer, and leather Obi belts that shape cool cotton dresses or matching cotton shirt shorts sets for men, in case you feel like it. so daring
The brand’s famous knitwear is pretty in melange, which goes really well together. A bra top puts a modern twist on a ribbed tunic and pants, as cozy as it is stylish. Knit biker shorts transform a tweed skirt and jacket into active daywear. Fruit motifs create a cornucopia of mix-and-match looks: the reds, pinks, and yellows of cherries, pears, and apples playfully line up with green, light blue, and yellow backgrounds.
Incontri has given Benetton’s octopus logo a much-needed graphic update, displaying it sparingly, and created B and E necklaces for Benetton, in the spirit of personalization popular with Gen-Z. Just six months into the job, Incontri promises an even more complete makeover at the 57-year-old brand, which has experienced periods of malaise.
While Benetton’s heyday is strongly associated with Oliviero Toscani’s socially advanced United Colors of Benetton advertising campaigns, Incontri wants to put the product and the consumer first.
“This is a brand that I feel very fond of, as do many Italians, because I grew up with it,” Incontri told reporters.
FERRARI APPAREL GAINING TRACTION
Supercar maker Ferrari’s foray into luxury goods is finding traction among its high-end car buyers, as expected, but also among Formula 1 fans whose garages don’t house the same power.
Rocco Iannone, the creative director of Ferrari’s fashion line, said he saw the effect during the Italian Grand Prix at Monza earlier this month. Many Formula 1 fans would buy expensive custom-made Ferrari gear and show up the next day wearing it on the race track “with badges and all the iconic stuff”.
“This mix is what I’m interested in telling: they exist and we want to give them a wardrobe,” said Ianonne.
Iannone’s third collection focuses on what the creative director called Ferrari’s “primal materials”: leather, denim, cotton and silk.
The new collection combines pieces that Formula 1 fans would covet, including racing suits and pit jackets adorned with iconic patches, as well as stylish statement pieces that embody Ferrari’s technological drive with more subtlety.
Jacquard Cargo Pants are made from recycled nylon, giving them a camo look. The denim is technological, each piece treated with ozone sprays to give a colorful stonewashed effect without the usual environmental damage. And Napa glove leather is used to make supple leather suits in a deep red with orange hues or black.
“The goal is to embrace the soul of Ferrari through a clean, precise and mixed wardrobe”, Iannone.
TRUSSARDI’S TRANSFORMATION
The Berlin-based designers who have taken creative direction at Milan fashion house Trussardi say they are driving a transformation that is “non-linear and chaotic”.
“It is an encounter between magic and realism, past and future, dream and pragmatism, modernity and heritage,” said Serhat Isik and Benjamin A. Huseby of their deep dive to reshape Trussardi.
That’s about as confessional as designers can get when they unveiled their second Trussardi collection on Saturday at Milan’s neoclassical Clerici Palace, in one of the city’s most beautiful and ornate rooms.
The collection combines Trussardi classics with urban looks that embrace both pragmatism and streetwear.
The designers behind the GmbH brand made the polo shirt the workhorse of the Trussardi collection, but by combining it in bold combinations, such as a shiny leather culotte jumper short with a racing front. More demurely, the polo shirt featured a square collar that could be demurely unbuttoned, and paired with shorts and a fanny pack, perfect for a day out on the town.
Jersey-cut dresses draped the body, while voluminous crocodile skin and slim-fit denim provided urban armor.
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