Bright Designs Leaven Shows’ Reflective and Somber Mood
The warmth of familiar faces, the sight of fashion’s major league players in their seats and the rush of hope that comes with each new season’s fresh designs have helped soothe the international fashion corps assembled here for the Spring 2002 collections. Many, having traveled a long way, are still skittish after the recent terrorist attacks in the U.S. In the multilingual cacophony of each show’s audience, it’s clear that the tragedies remain the central topic as the words “World Trade Center” and “Pentagon” echo around the halls.
Anxiety seemed to have gradually subsided as American editors and buyers scanned the audience and found other intrepid souls. They found reassurance in the sight of Kalman Ruttenstein, senior vice president for fashion direction at Bloomingdale’s, who travels despite a disabling stroke. They warmed to the sight of impeccable Vogue editor Anna Wintour boosting fall’s top trend--denim jeans, hers expensively accessorized with pearls, ermine scarf and Yves Saint Laurent jacket. They welcomed the presence of editors who had originally canceled their trips, such as Jane magazine Editor Jane Pratt and Fashion Director Susan Cannon.
Still, a somber mood prevails, and there has been a heightened sense of security. Parties were canceled out of respect for the dead, and buyers from Saks Fifth Avenue, Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman put off overseas trips as a result of the disruption. But many here were eager to get back to work.
“It’s therapy to go forward,” said Cannon, who arrived six days into Milan’s 11-day run of shows. Although dozens had delayed their flights and missed key early shows such as Dolce & Gabbana’s D&G;, by the time Giorgio Armani’s spotlights lit up his new show space on Monday, fashion had shifted into high gear.
At his sprawling new Armani/Teatro, the designer carved his minimalist aesthetic into acres of concrete walls and pillars. But even with so much space, Armani’s fashion show auditorium offered few improvements over the old show location 25 minutes closer to the heart of city. The effort of opening the new building seemed to have drained Armani of focus.
The spring collection opened with lovely cropped, featherweight jackets and loose, drawstring-waist trousers in black and white combinations. His best jackets were leather and studded with grommets and strung through with leather ribbons. Then came the unfortunate asymmetrical palazzo pants that were neither skirt nor pant nor pretty. They belonged in the same “oops” pile with childish kitty-cat-face purses with jiggly bead whiskers, and evening dress trains so long that they must be held by the attached finger loop. At least there were ultra-luxe and beaded versions of his drawstring pants that promised comfort and style for evening. We all need more of that.
“Beauty can be healing,” said Tom Ford following his show Saturday. He said that in response to the Sept. 11 events, he decided to be less aggressive in the styling of his Gucci show. Still, he couldn’t predict fashion’s ultimate reaction. “I think it’s hard to say what the effects are going to be because we are still in the midst of it. I think it is going to take years and years for us to understand.”
For Gucci, Ford emphasized softness, romanticism and a new shape. In his continuing quest to change fashion’s predominant silhouette, Ford featured a wrapped-waist, low-crotch pant much like the dhoti , a garment worn in India. In chamois or silk, the pants held the promise of comfort and distinction in a crowd, but no salve for the soul. Ford, who has never worn a dhoti , struggled to name the new version of his creation, but the fashion flock eagerly whispered some suggestions, including “diaper pants.” It’s easier to appreciate the delicate but complicated wrap-and-tie smock tops with a peasant air. As if to illustrate the versatility of his low-crotch pants, Ford paired a silk version with a whimsical cape featuring a large butterfly cut-out (similar daisies and hearts popped up on pants and other evening pieces).
Aside from its endorsement of soft colors and fuller silhouettes, the collection wasn’t a huge trend maker. A finale of chiffon gowns held the most promise of winning magazine covers. Ford picked up on an Asian flavor in Milan’s air and cinched the long black or white dresses with an obi above the bust and scooped the backs low to reveal the laces of a matching corset.
A year ago, Ford received heaps of criticism for a collection of kinky corsetry. Seems he was right on track after all. More ladylike corsets and boning are key features of several collections, including the continually improving Versus collection by Donatella Versace.
To a packed audience of nearly 1,000 (including a fur-clad Lil’ Kim), Versace acknowledged the attacks, then moved on with business. On large video screens, the designer projected a message that encouraged the fashion community to rally as an example to other industries and to go forward “positively and appropriately.”
The clothes were equally uplifting, seeming to capture the moment when a girl’s daydreams transfer from ballerinas to rock stars. Ultra-sleek jeans decorated with painterly brush strokes or colorful stripes alternated with fluffy things. There were corset tops, ruffle-edged jackets and minis that paid homage to the tutu with tiers of metallic ruffles, rows of scallops or poufy peplums. With a wide range of sportswear pieces that complement each other, Versace has built Versus into a shopper-friendly venture that entices with vivid colors such as lime and hot pink and simple pieces--jeans, cut-out T-shirts and draped jersey dresses spattered with large rhinestones.
After years of practice, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana don’t need to prove their virtuosity with corsets. They did anyway. Out came burlap corset tops, corset dresses and boned jackets. But their trademark wasn’t the strength of this colorful collection. That honor fell to the accessories. Who noticed the perfect three-piece, pinstriped pantsuit when there was a purse edged with foot-long pheasant feathers? Or belts woven of rainbow silk ribbons? Vivid mixes of blues, pinks and greens decorated suede purses and strappy, high-heeled sandals. The colors made it easier to overlook some now well-worn trends that are still prominent in their work, including belly-baring, wide leg trousers, pieced and appliqued denim jeans and a bout of logomania. The world may be a sadder place, but apparently there’s still room for sassy golden earrings and belts that spell out Dolce & Gabbana.
Though her signature collection is frequently dour, Miuccia Prada was practically playful with a trio of golden metallic brocade fabrics. She paired them with dark cashmere cardigans, crocheted alpaca sweaters, or piping-edged men’s pajama tops (just like dad’s BVDs). Working with simple shapes such as the knee-length pleated skirt or the shirtdress, Prada let the rich, glittering fabrics do the heavy lifting. Her minimalist eyes can’t stand too much gilded glare, so she turned the brocades inside out to the dull side to make pleated skirts that aren’t, unfortunately, reversible. Just as perverse, she took fall’s trompe l’oeil trend to the next level and fooled the eye with some three-in-one garments that integrated a tank top, wraparound vest and pleated skirt into one dress. Unlike other trend-setting collections, this one seemed content to refresh some Prada standards and convert an item of the vernacular--the pajama top--into the next season’s status symbol.
A quick spin of the enormous Prada showroom revealed that the runway collection represents only about 20% to 30% of the company’s signature collection. No wonder the huge company can afford to finance the now Jil Sander-less Jil Sander collection. The clothes have been reduced to a few styling tricks, such as scrunched-up sleeves and belts that are in search of something worthy to grasp. The Prada collection, meanwhile, has ideas to spare. The well-edited catwalk selections illustrate that Prada knows when to say when. Gianfranco Ferre can’t say enough.
As usual, his show started out brilliantly and promisingly, here with sophisticated, all-white interpretations of India’s Nehru jackets and that funny skirt/pant again. At the precise moment when one hoped Ferre had suppressed his showman’s theatrics, out comes the now-obligatory topless model, followed shortly after by other all-but-naked exotics tripping in their cruelly engineered high-heeled sandals. We just about forgave him by the finale, a black-lighted parade of glow-in-the-dark pigments on shoes and couture-quality embroidery. Ferre doesn’t need a runway; he needs a burlesque stage, and all of us could use those high-visibility shoes. We’d never be afraid of the dark again.
