What Millennium?
In other creative fields, the idea of a new millennium has been a driving force, but not in Italian fashion for fall 1999 and winter 2000.
The lure of such an obvious universal reference point was shunned by many designers here, who looked elsewhere for inspiration. Into the void came styles that drew from schoolgirls, forest nymphs, snowboarders, religious icons and, more directly, from the fabrics themselves.
In most quarters, it’s back-to-basic fashion design--figuring out what women will want and need to wear. The Italians, never eager to abandon their expert tailoring skills, have proposed a new kind of suit, questioned the boundaries of day and evening wear and even tossed in some new accessories.
Wild imaginations are still the key force driving fashion, if Tom Ford at Gucci is an indication. He described the fall collection as “rich Russian rock star, belle du jour with Brigitte Bardot.”
He explained, “After a few seasons of flat shoes, utility clothes and sportswear influences, I think if I were a woman, what I’d want are some sexy clothes that show off my body.”
The sexy Bardot part came from the fit: decorated pants skin-tight to the knee, where they begin a wide flare; short shaped jackets that hug the waist and skim the hips; luscious velvets and leathers gathered and draped sensuously across the body.
But the Russian rock star? It starts with the knee-high velvet or snake boots teetering on tall spikes and perhaps a fur clutch bag. Add fluffy Mongolian lamb trim and broadtail lamb jackets, or high-collared Cossack-style coats with sweeping hems.
The pants are sure to be the season’s signature, with variations in leather pin tucked like stripes, embroidered lace for evening or rich velvet gathered along the seamlines. Ford showed a new talent with fur, leather and calfskin, even if this collection didn’t quite top last season’s blockbuster.
Miuccia Prada boldly addressed the millennium with a collection that included army, utility and nature themes. Her program called it “future surplus,” but the shaggy fur vests, leaf appliques, rich suedes and cheerful colors portrayed a pleasant forest romp. So many themes were in play that Prada fans may be challenged to settle on one defining look. They could try the shrunken bib vests that were part corset, part armor. The segment of militaristic khaki pants, jackets and halter tops with reinforced knees and elbows would satisfy a fashionable survivalist. A set of skirts with patent-leather appliques, beading and unusual colors and fabrics were so unconventionally pretty, they spanned the daytime-nighttime divide. Prada also refined her experimentation with mirrors and used them like so many oversized rhinestones on sheer tunics and dresses.
The utility look she pioneered was largely contained to the Prada Sport collection that was mixed with pieces from the main line. Shoes, usually a strength, were pointy-toe spikes or clunkers with overly chunky heels. At least the patent-leather and fur mini-bags seem to have a future, and not in surplus.
The Gucci and Prada collections could give women a chance to add a fun, risky item to their wardrobes. John Bartlett’s powerful second collection for Byblos gives women a new approach that’s sexy, sporty and even comfortable and classic. With his dog, Sweetie, watching from the front row, Bartlett sent out models in exaggerated argyle sweaters, fitted cashmere baseball jerseys and shapely leather jackets.
His references to the ongoing utility trend were fresh and original: a drawstring cord inserted diagonally created pretty gathers on a strapless evening gown or an interesting detail at the neck seam of a turtleneck sweater; a strapless dress and full-cut pants borrowed their nylon sheen from snowboarders’ gear. The colors? Navy for night, orange for a punchy peacoat, vivid yellow for a dressy silk parka, soft pink and gray for casual sportswear and olive leather for a haven’t-seen-that-before trench coat. The dangling watch fob (or trucker’s wallet) chain was recast as a hip new accessory to sling from your low-rise trousers or, in rhinestones, to wear at night.
Other designers are more interested in creating a fundamental new wardrobe based on classics. Giorgio Armani has rarely wavered from his dedication to the suit and elegant evening wear. He delivered again, but with so many variations, he diluted the message. Full pants? Dirndl skirts? Pastels or grays?
The celebrity-studded audience applauded the many relaxed pantsuits with asymmetrically cut short jackets. The colors are still neutral blues, grays and beiges, with brighter ruby, emerald and sapphire reserved for geometrically beaded evening gowns. Armani’s many experiments with shape and cut created a new pant (darts at the knee), multiple bib or halter tops and jackets that wrap and fold at the throat.
Narciso Rodriguez has refined his point of view to create a clear identity: He makes simplicity sensual. The corsets that have become his signature were reworked into crew neck gauze tops with seams that mimicked a corset’s boning. That kind of vertical, body-outlining seaming distinguished other core wardrobe pieces: A knee-length sheath dress, a shell (fall’s must-have), a gored short jacket and saddle-seamed slim pants. Rodriguez suggested the easiest way to wear sparkle--in a glittery shell or sweater that hangs just a few inches below a short jacket’s hem. Wear it in an all-black, camel or blush color with high-heeled, mid-calf boots.
Such elegance can be so understated, it’s underwhelming. Antonio Fusco offered the kind of no-risk clothes that incite logic, not lust. He offered some pretty updates to the suit, such as a sheath dress and jacket, or a trim, knee-length coat over wide-leg pants or an A-line skirt.
MaxMara escaped the peril of “bella boring” with a collection strong on coats. They arrived as hooded duffels, maxi frocks and massive shearling. Coats often formed the core of ensembles that included long and full felt skirts, shell tops, short boxy jackets and low-rise trousers.
The hope that Antwerp-educated Josephus Thimister would revive the long-troubled house of Genny suffocated under the weight of too much caution. A sense of having already seen the chiffon pants, the slipdresses and the ladylike coats burdened the collection with the taint of commercialism, not the jolt of creativity Thimister has shown in his own work. Still, he made a strong statement for mixing day and nighttime clothes.
“It’s not about day or evening because most people don’t really dress for evening. It’s the way young people wear things now,” Thimister said.
At Salvatore Ferragamo, a performance by Israeli singer Noa highlighted the international flavor of fashion and this fall collection. Noa’s mix of jazz and ethnic music with Middle Eastern rhythms was an intriguing backdrop to a collection that blended kimono coats with pants as wide as skater kids’ jeans, or put a sporty, puffy parka over velvet pants for evening. The new Ferragamo shoes? An ivory ballet flat, multicolored velvet and a 1950s-style pointy-toe pump.
The secondary and more affordable collections have become the province of the young--sometimes the very young.
“We don’t like to see sad clothes,” said designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. “It’s the idea of playing with clothes.”
They described their D&G; collection as a “sort of game, like when you make paper dolls.” Instead of sewing seams, they attached them with colorful adhesive tape. Like children learning to dress themselves, they combined clashing patterns, turned denim jean skirts upside down and sideways, blouses were purposely backward and pants weren’t quite pulled up, revealing panties appliqued with duckies and horsies.
Alberta Ferretti recalled private-school uniforms with her Philosophy collection’s pink-cheeked models in trim wool felt jumpers, short pleated skirts, proper tweeds and prim capes. Nearly every ensemble featured a saturated color, whether it was a purple lining in an olive coat, a pair of red or yellow pony skin boots, or a traditional plaid redone in brights. Ferretti also updated a look that was once ruled the streets of Los Angeles--the sheer dress over leggings, bike shorts and tank tops. Her nude and mocha net dresses were intricately pleated, darted, or wrapped like aprons.
Her signature collection recalled the silhouettes she showed at Philosophy but redone in richer fabrics with a forest maiden theme. Geometrically etched velvets became airy evening dresses, while thick blanket wools were trimmed with folkloric rick-rack and cut into huge pleated skirts, coats and shells.
For his first Milan show, London’s Antonio Berardi took irreverence over the top. Down a cross-shaped runway dripped with candle wax, he gave religious vestments a punk rock, medieval twist. An oversized priest’s robe lighted up with its own electrified cross; a miniskirt suit was edged in metallic thorns; and, for the punk reference, a pantsuit was striped with functional zippers. He even offered a rhinestone-plaid miniskirt with chastity belt straps.
Only Donatella Versace could trump that kind of stagy drama. She did her own religious-icon tweaking with a dot-print of the Shroud of Turin. After the models showed their pink sequined pants, punched suede skirts, etched felt dresses and odd “chaps” skirts, a scrim lifted to reveal Lenny Kravitz playing live on an elevated stage. The chaps may not find an audience, but Kravitz did. Once again, the house of Versace took the celebrity-fashion connection to a new level, a high-decibel one.
