Stick to the message, please
Milan
After last season’s melancholy shows, which took place in the days leading up to the war with Iraq, it’s refreshing to see the runways here full of blithe spirit. At Moschino Cheap & Chic, models skipped to “Mary Poppins” songs; at Dsquared2, they vroomed up the catwalk on motorcycles, stopping in front of a neon “Dean and Dan’s Hot Diggity Dogs” diner sign. But catchy tunes and funky sets alone aren’t enough to make a collection worthwhile.
The dirty little secret of the runway shows is that many retail buyers have already placed their orders with designers before a model takes one stilettoed step onto the catwalk. Shows have become a marketing tool, a platform for designers to present their visions to the public, via the media, in a bid to win their shopping dollars. Like the best politicians, the best designers don’t just offer the sun and the moon; they communicate a specific message.
Miuccia Prada understands the importance of a compelling talking point, and hers was the playful souvenir skirt with the kind of broad-stroke sketches of palazzos and cafes that one finds on vintage 1950s scarves and table cloths for sale at the Rose Bowl. Depicting scenes from Venice, the circle skirts were combined with intriguing pieces that could have been collected in a lifetime of travels. Straw hats, woven raffia belts, rainbow leather huaraches, tie-dyed, tea-colored cardigans and the odd brooch or string of beads all had a sweet nostalgia. There were touring clothes too -- rolled-up shorts in a camp green, and belted khaki shirtdresses. And the shoes were charming -- chunky pumps and a kind of high-heeled Teva sandal with Velcro closures.
Though prints are the basic ingredient of any Pucci collection, designer Christian Lacroix also used a circle skirt as his launching pad. His was quilted, with the riotous print pared down to its elements -- abstract shapes floating on a solid background, reminiscent of a Joan Miro canvas. The zany aesthetic culminated in a wonderful print with abstract masks and totems that looked Native American by way of St. Tropez. Lacroix’s chiffon gowns with scarf-point hems and comfortable palazzo pants were all topped off by British milliner Philip Treacy’s madcap saucer-shaped hats or Pucci print golf caps that are sure to make more money than any of the rest of it combined.
Tom Ford’s vision for Gucci felt a bit overwrought. His boudoir sportif aesthetic was enough to chew on already without the snake charmer thrown into the mix. But he should get credit for understanding that now that women have embraced comfort clothes for daytime, they’re never going back. His version of Juicy Couture is a pair of peach silk track pants or leggings with diagonal pleats, paired with snug little white faille jackets that are somewhere between a sporty biker jacket and an Edwardian coat, with a ruffled peplum in the back.
Ford knows that a pair of gold stiletto sandals decorated with jeweled snake heads, or one of his gold snake cuff bracelets with luxe track pants will take you anywhere in L.A., from dinner at Dolce to a movie premiere. So, his real evening wear seemed costumey by comparison. But pile a fuchsia feather chubby on top of a corseted dress, or take a black chiffon dress and wrap a rhinestone snake around the bodice and it’s time to call in the Vegas showgirls.
Years ago, Giorgio Armani hit on the talking point to end all talking points -- the supple suit. But showing that on the runway is pointless, so instead, season after season, he uses his shows to try to persuade the young and streetwise that he is still one of them. This week’s attempt involved the oft-visited seashore theme, but his sheer black and white striped tank tops with navy and red sequin ties criss-crossing the breasts, navy pants with tapered legs, sequin-striped tube dresses, cheap-looking Lucite slides and rapper-style do-rags, left show-goers scratching their heads.
Why, when so many mature women rely on him for their everyday uniforms, does he insist on chasing hot young things? If Armani weren’t about to turn 70, one might chalk it up to a midlife crisis. (He does have a new sports car, a limited-edition matte sand Cabriolet he designed for Mercedes, which was on display outside the show.) If he really wants to get in touch with the younger generation, perhaps he should take a cue from Howard Dean and organize a fashion “meet-up.”
Or he could talk to Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who built their fine collection on about 45 vintage prints from Ratti, the Italian textile mill. Gone were the oversexed corset looks and mannish tailored suits of the past. This collection was ladylike, mixing references to different decades: a colorful comic book print, originally commissioned by Fiorucci in the 1970s, was splashed on a 1950s swing coat with leopard lining, and 1940s cabbage rose fabric was fashioned into a 1960s-era micro-miniskirt, and sexy over-the-knee boots. A series of special-order gowns was a feast for the eyes, and the red carpet. The standout was a flapper-style dress, constructed from ropes of rhinestones draped artfully around the body, with a rhinestone fringe skirt. Beyonce, who was in the front row with Sarah Ferguson of all people, let out an audible “ooh.”
At Moschino Cheap & Chic, blazers made from dressmaker fabrics, a heart-print trench coat and an Olive Oyl pinafore referenced the house’s past designs on its 25th anniversary. Disney tunes kept people humming for a while, but it felt like a rerun.
Burberry Prorsum designer Chris Bailey knows that the past isn’t enough to hang a collection on, so he stopped incorporating references to the famous Burberry plaid long ago. Instead, he riffed on the trench coat, which he splashed with a black raindrop print, and in another look abbreviated to a chic capelet for nighttime. Totally impractical, but oh well. That wasn’t all there was. Light-as-air pleated skirts and racer-back tanks in muted lavenders and greens were crinkled and cozy, perfect for a lazy Saturday. Bailey just keeps getting better and better.
And as proved by Dean and Dan Caten, the Canadian twins behind DSquared2, with runway shows, there’s often no substitute for experience. The designers have been around on the fashion scene for more than a decade, but they achieved international status last season thanks to their first Dsquared2 women’s wear show, a blockbuster at which supermodels emerged from a mock jet airliner wearing baseball hats emblazoned with “247STAR.” Now, rumor has it the twins are being considered for the design job at Celine when Michael Kors exits later this year.
Could be, but this show never got off the ground. The trappings were there, but the clothes were not. Other than a couple of sculpted leather jackets with pleated peplums, this was the stuff of the shops on Melrose. When the designers took their bows, they seemed to be the only ones who were happy to be along for the ride.
