‘Freudian Fantasy’
For the next month, the most important fashion designers in the world will show their spring collections in Milan, Paris and New York. Miuccia Prada’s always provocative show, held here Tuesday morning, was a fitting way to let the games begin.
Prada hinted at a qualified return to prettiness last season. She continued to indulge her sweet tooth this time, as did Gianni Versace and other designers. Women needn’t heave their khakis and sneakers, but the newest looks next spring will be feminine and frilly.
Love it or hate it, the influence of Prada is enormous. American labels like BCBG, Parallel and DKNY thrive in its wake. In the shop windows of Milan near the massive pinkish-gray cathedral, Italian copies of Prada’s cheesy techno-prints abound. So the sport at a Prada show lies in predicting which looks will filter through the marketplace, courtesy of its eager, shameless imitators.
Given the deliberate bad taste that has characterized Prada’s style the past few years, the guessing game isn’t easy. It’s hard to imagine that anyone would want to clone Prada’s recent exercises in anti-style--uniforms for fast-food workers in nauseating colors, dowdy dresses in tacky synthetics, and clashing patterns reminiscent of trailer-park upholstery. Prada offered fashion reeking of irony, and a surprising number of women, bored with nice ordinary clothes, got the joke.
So much of the industry looks to Prada because Miuccia is the fashion vanguard, that rare, unafraid leader who occasionally plunders the past, but who is, at her best, an original thinker. She billed her current collection “a Freudian fantasy.” What fascinating reveries she must have.
The colors were rich, deep reds, intense blues, purple and jade. A leafy jacquard print with Asian origins, used for long, slit skirts and Mandarin blouses, was easy on the eyes. (Expect to see takeoffs on the Chinoiserie, including flower-etched wooden platform sandals.) Sleeveless and short-sleeved sheer shirts drifted over dresses, a twist on layering that’s sure to be replicated. Floral embroidery on chiffon evening dresses was the soul of delicacy, and pale, embroidered satins had the look of fine damask. Floaty gowns with dipping swallowtail hems evoked a Renaissance mood. With seams showing and loose shapes, they seemed perfect for Ophelia in the latter stages of her madness.
But defiance of conventional standards of beauty wasn’t completely abandoned. A tight Chinese blouse, in a warm crimson print on silk, looked sleek, but it was paired with stiff cotton pants and a rough leather belt sitting awkwardly on the hips. An austere group of poplin shirts and skirts harked to Prada’s love of uniforms; in black, they might suit a warden or evil headmistress.
As much as Prada is willing to reveal the female body, she’s never seemed interested in flattering it. Short chiffon tunics, ruffled baby-doll dresses and long, flowing gowns were transparent enough to reveal big white briefs, the kind of functional underwear a schoolgirl wears before graduating to pretty lingerie. As naked as the dresses were, they offered no glimmer of seduction.
A fitted waist here, a ruffle there, and somewhat similar see-through dresses by Gianni Versace for his lower-priced Istante collection were as sexy as clothes get. How sheer were they? Sheer enough to show model Carolyn Murphy’s nipple ring.
The pinafore was the star at Istante, absent of a T-shirt or blouse. Black aprons with turquoise or pink ruffles might satisfy anyone’s French maid fantasies. In gentle pastels, they were typical of the season’s diaphanous dresses derived from styles of the late 1920s and early ‘30s. (Ken Russell’s mid-’70s film of D.H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love” is a video primer on that romantic look.)
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Versace’s suede ankle-wrapped sandals, with chunky 4-inch heels, were worn with dark ankle socks. To emphasize the message of softness, the edges of a pale gray suede jacket were scalloped; ruffles rimmed a short yellow suede one. The skirts of clingy rayon sweater dresses ended in little ruffles, a sweet substitute for Versace’s favorite lace hems.
Antonio Fusco is a designer who can be favorably compared to Valentino and seems equally dedicated to making unabashedly beautiful clothes. “He’s great for women who like clothes that aren’t over-designed,” said Joan Kaner, fashion director for Neiman Marcus. When a designer who normally draws upon classics like perfectly cut blazers, safari jackets, trench coats, trousers and bermuda shorts includes ruffled georgette wrap dresses printed with orange cabbage roses in a predominantly tailored collection, a trend is afoot.
Fusco excels in the felicitous juxtaposition of opposites, covering an embroidered chiffon dress with a jacket in a muted menswear plaid. Suede and python-printed silk, gauze and leather, pearl-encrusted jersey and filmy gauze were combined to please a woman who appreciates wonderful clothes but doesn’t want to look too put together.
Those unsinkable trends, thrift-shop chic and underwear-masquerading-as-streetwear, lived on at Dolce & Gabbana. The design team has the good sense to put pedal to the metal for looks that wouldn’t be safe at any speed. Instead of trying to make the sort of sheer slip-dresses that everyone’s doing look respectable, they display flowered corsets or leopard-spotted undies underneath. If Madonna made an errant bra strap acceptable, they go a step further, fashioning bustiers that look as much like long-line bras as possible, or exposing the elastic closings of a heavy-duty bra above a flimsy strapless dress.
Although precisely cut gangster pantsuits are Dolce & Gabbana’s bread and butter, the designers’ enthusiasm for ‘50s kitsch is undimmed; true to their roots, they continued to make clothes a luscious Sicilian wife would wear in her prime. Imagine a young Sophia Loren in a tight tube skirt of stretchy jersey, a shrunken cardigan and a telltale gray bustier, teetering on towering platform sandals.
A powder-blue embroidered Chinese print found its way into the wacky mix of crocheted sweaters, fake leopard chiffon skirts and coats splashed with wallpaper florals. As if such finery weren’t girlie and gorgeous enough, each model carried a handbag with the look of a flea-market treasure. They glittered with beads, dripped fringe and, like the rest of the Dolce & Gabbana collection, conveyed cheeky good humor.
