THE Return OF Romance : In an atmosphere of gloom and doom, low-power pantsuits, poet’s shirts and lace trimmings lighten the mood
What is it about Karl Lagerfeld? Everywhere he goes, it turns into a scene.
In Paris, the crowd at his Chanel fashion shows always seems in danger of crushing itself to death. Now Lagerfeld has the Italians after him--but not because they love him.
On Wednesday, he unveiled his fall ’93 collection for Fendi, Italy’s leather goods, fashion and luxury fur label, as part of Italian Fashion Week. Animal rights activists were at the gate. They waved “rich bitch” posters from the sidewalk and, during the show, a protester scrambled onto the runway flashing her “crimes of fashion” sign.
In some ways, the hullabaloo, and the wildly creative collection that caused it, were just what Italy needed. Anything to distract the Italians from a national kickback scandal that has government officials and big business types toppling left and right.
It was obvious that the national crisis has affected the mood of many Italian designers. Runways sagged under the weight of outfits meant for penitential monks, drugged-out hippies and rained-on paraders.
Fortunately, there were some clothes to covet in this week’s shows. Plenty of them appeared in a fanciful frolic by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, Italy’s current fashion pets. In their Sunday morning show, Admiral Perry jackets with big velvet cuffs gave a romantic spin to pantsuits. Menswear-striped jackets, trimmed in marabou feathers, were anything but serious. Velvet granny dresses that skimmed the body to the ankle were paired with boas and floppy, brimmed hats. And blouses with lavish lace collars and cuffs caught the softer mood that is very much where fashion is headed.
The Dolce & Gabbana show highlighted several major trends:
* Graceful, ankle-length skirts.
* Low-power pantsuits.
* Poet’s shirts with drippy lace cuffs that cover the hands.
* Bits of costumery--especially military, dandy and latter-day hippie looks.
At Fendi, Lagerfeld’s Laplander lassies wore capes in fluffy layers, decorated with garlands of leftover fur bits rolled into pompons and fringes. Bulky, oversize, Icelandic knit sweaters, capelets and skirts were other warming tributes to ethnic costumes.
Recycling took on luxurious overtones with knit tunics and matching long skirts trimmed with scraps of fur. Blue jeans and dusters with bright fur patches captured the same spirit.
Of course, what people really came to see were the luxury coats. A fur coat so pliable it rolled into a travel pillow seemed more likely to please customers than anything made from scraps.
Franco Moschino’s patchwork quilt jackets and coats in bright tartans were another nod to recycling. The designer’s wit came across in flag-print jackets embroidered with political statements: “God Save Prince Charles” and “Hillary for President.” He poked fun at the current sack-cloth-and-ashes look when he stitched the words “Holy Chic” across a black tent dress.
Emporio Armani, Giorgio’s lower-priced collection, ranged from cloister to clown looks. Long, unadorned dresses and sarongs over pants for day collided with sequined bustiers and red ringmaster jackets for night. Armani wore a red clown nose to take his bow, and said it was all to encourage a new playful mood.
His signature collection was closer to a Mona Lisa smile than a circus guffaw. For evening, he showed skirts of woven velvet ribbons and floral-beaded pantsuits; for day, icy apricot or celery green tweed suits. One ankle-length coat in moss green had horizontal pleats across the bodice; a similar jacket in lavender went with wide, moss green pants in a collection that virtually eliminated skirts as day wear.
The week was cluttered with secondary lines by Italy’s top designers. Not only Armani’s Emporio collection but Dolce & Gabbana’s Complice collection, and Gianni Versace’s work for the Genny label, plus his Versus collection, proved that even good designers have their limits.
Genny’s strengths were pale shearling coats over sweater-knit tunics and long skirts. After that it was a sea of outdated ‘80s power suits in red or black with bold shoulders, closely covered hips and deeply slit straight skirts.
Complice tried the circus look and it was a sad sight. Clown colors on dresses as wide as tents, tunics with droopy sleeves longer than any arms, and harsh-looking harlequin print suits all but overshadowed some pretty white poet’s blouses.
New Yorker Marc Jacobs was in the audience at this show. His contract as designer for the Perry Ellis collection is up, and Girambelli, which produces Complice, Genny and Byblos, invited Jacobs to Milan for a talk.
Pierfilippo Pieri of Girambelli said possibilities included financing Jacobs under his own name, or making him chief designer for one of the company’s divisions. Asked whether Jacobs would take over Byblos, a label that suffers from too many lackluster collections, Pieri said: “Not true. That’s Milan speculation.”
Versace’s signature collection was more creative than what he did for Genny, but too many of the ideas needed more work. The show started with huge, soft tunic sweaters over graceful long skirts that had a sensual appeal. It ended with the barest slip dresses made of black crochet work and lace that were technical virtuosos. Ankle-length coats in narrow, sculptural shapes had a definite appeal and some sweater-knit tube dresses are bound to set a trend.
But all told, Versace missed the mark. The worst of it was the military jackets over sheer waif-dresses and lace-up comandante boots that looked totally contrived. Tarty black evening dresses worn with tall-spike heel boots were as angry and aggressive.
Most Milanese are in a slump, but not Gianfranco Ferre. All those weeks he spends in Paris, designing the Christian Dior collections, probably helps. His fall line is his best in years.
A gold leather tank top tucked into a long green velvet skirt with an elastic waist, and some berry-colored python jeans paired with a billowing white shirt were among the best of the show.
Three strong names in Italian leather goods recently added or updated their fashion divisions, with various degrees of success. Ferragamo did a fine job capturing classic Italian luxury looks in a collection designed by American Steven Slowick, who earlier worked for Calvin Klein. Pale blue shearling jackets over matching rib-knit tunics, blanket-fringe suits, and suede coats supple as shirts were worn with lace up boots for a modern, moneyed look.
At Prada, Mariuccia Prada fell for the dreary, depressed mood of the moment. Long, dark, suede tops and wide suede skirts with floppy brimmed hats gave the whole show a rained out feeling.
And Gucci’s show was for shoes and bags, not fashion. A huge leather and suede pouch went with, um, something camel color. High-heel lace-up shoes with moccasin stitching in front finished something in gray, no doubt.
The clothes were forgettable--such stylish accessories deserve better.
“There are two things happening in Milan,” said Joan Kaner of Neiman Marcus, toward the end of the week. “Clothes are very classic or very fanciful. Everything in between is a miss.”
One definite hit was the collection of Jil Sander. She held her show at her offices in a converted Medieval monastery. Leonardo da Vinci lived there while he painted “The Last Supper” at Santa Maria della Grazie, the church around the corner.
Sander was clearly influenced by monastic tradition: ankle-length robes in black. But her gracefully curved wool jackets over long riding skirts, her subtle plaid pants in deep blue and green, with navy blue jackets, and her satin evening dresses with a tickle of feather trim, made for one of the strongest shows in town.
Based in Hamburg, Germany, Sander has produced and sold her collections in Milan for 15 years. She ventured to explain Italy’s sad-sack mood of the moent: “The Italians are almost in shock right now,” she said “and designers do represent the time and situation they live in. So do their designs.”
All the more reason to clear up these scandals, fast.
