Milan Couture Dares to Venture Beyond the Fringe

As Italian designers wrap up their shows of warm-weather wears, everyone from Ferre to Krizia and Fendi has gone an individual way, with less of a common thread to the collections than in past seasons.

However, all the leading designers here agree about one item--fringe. Usually long and silky, it appears on shawls and scarves. Often it makes up the hemline of a dress.

For color, the news is that bright shades are definitely back. Possibly, designers are drawing inspiration from the the many fruit flavors of Italian ice cream: mango, banana, papaya, coconut, kiwi, raspberry, apricot, peach, watermelon, orange, lemon, lime and many more.

The trend in hemlines is to hike them up, with mid-thigh the preferred length, especially on petticoated party dresses. For those who prefer to keep their knees to themselves, the Milan runway offers lots of pants, either very loose or skin tight.

But for novelty items, the look is bare above the waist. Models with bare backs, bare midriffs, even bare breasts paraded down the runway this week, in bra tops, bustiers, low-back dresses and see-through blouses.

Footwear for next spring and summer will be mostly flat by day, and sometimes even by night.

The newest shoe is the Krizia ankle strap platform shoe, taken right out of the 1940s.

Gold and beads are back in a big way, appearing in large bracelets, necklaces and earrings.

Some of the best looks of the week were seen in Gianfranco Ferre’s collection. International fame has not changed the Italian master, who showed his own line in Milan this week and will present his first ready-to-wear collection for Christian Dior next week in Paris.

Ferre still cuts a modest, bashful figure with his rotund body and bearded, chubby face as he comes out on the runway for the standing ovation that greets his work.

He seems embarrassed by the lipstick marks left by his models who vie to kiss him on the runway, and inevitably takes out a handkerchief to wipe away his tears of emotion at another successful show. Yet this shy man showed yet another sexy, self-confident and unmistakeably identifiable collection for spring.

Ferre puts the accent on the upper body, with broad shoulders and ornate neckline tapering into a small waist and narrow hips. He favors see-through fabrics, tight contours and bold hemlines.

Bare midriff, chiffon, see-through blouses are worn under slick man-tailored suits with large rhinestone and gold buttons. A huge silk corsages of flowers and feathers and bejeweled cufflinks turn a man-tailored shirts into something very feminine.

Pants are cut straight for day and night, and they are a dandy’s delight, coupled with an oversized white blouse with a spill of panels down the front resembling a huge bouquet of napkins.

As the day goes on, Ferre’s style becomes more elaborate, culminating in a series of chiffon floral and paisley printed gowns richly decorated with gold and crystal sequins.

At Krizia, designer Mariuccia Mandelli showed a young and carefree collection with an accent on the 1940s. To the tune of “In the Mood,” Krizia showed that by day she was in the mood for bright colors, short easy shapes and lots of prim navy blue and white.

Neat daytime navy-blue suits and dresses with crisp white lapels, alternated with T-shirts adorned with the new Krizia animal, the giraffe. These were worn over cheerleader shorts in tropical shades.

At night, Krizia indulged in her favorite fabric--accordian-pleated silk--for beautiful shawled blouses and wafty pastel-colored short party dresses.

For more than an hour, Krizia’s models kept coming down the runway in what proved to be an extremely long show. While reporters simply put down their notebooks, rowdier photographers shouted “Basta!”-- “Enough!”

At Fendi, the look is ‘50s, with short, petticoated party dresses and streaming chiffon scarves at the neckline.