With a stitch and a brush stroke
Milan
ART NOUVEAU botanical prints at Prada, hand-painted brush strokes at Dolce & Gabbana, luminous blocks of color at Jil Sander -- fashion week here was an Italian renaissance, the runways filled with moving artwork.
After so many seasons of producing sexy, salable merchandise and leaving Paris to lead the way, designers launched an art attack that proved Milan is no longer a second city.
And why not? There is no doubt that art and fashion have become inextricably linked (for more evidence, see this month’s retrospective of Japanese artist Takashi Murakami at the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, complete with a pop-up store selling the Louis Vuitton handbags that made him famous).
The marriage of these visual mediums is a natural of course, but there is something else at work too: By incorporating artistic flourishes into their collections, or doing full-on collaborations with artists, designers are suggesting that shoppers think about their clothing as something to be cherished and collected, perhaps even displayed. Which, in this era of cheap chic, would be an added incentive to spend $3,000 on a dress.
Bold color, soft silhouettes, transparent fabrics, longer length jackets and sensual -- not sexy -- boudoir dressing were all trends that came out of the week, one of Milan’s strongest in several seasons.
What a surprise it was to walk into Prada’s fairyland of sinuous shapes, organic colors and flower-shaped heels after last season’s severely linear, toxic-colored collection. From the first look, a green botanical print cheongsam with a teardrop collar and cropped pajama pants, it was clear the designer was onto something different, romancing the late 1960s and early 1970s with a nod to Biba.
Fanciful flowers and nymphs snaked around the shoulders of organdy tunics that had asymmetrical necklines traced in piping. Narrow rib knits were worked into handsome sweater jackets and matching flared leggings. And the all-over geometric patterns on skirts and cropped pants became distorted somewhere around the hems, as if a mouse had gotten ahold of the thread.
It was not an easy collection to wear, but it should be highly collectible. At times Prada seemed to be engaging in the same Surrealist dialogue as Marc Jacobs was in New York. Nothing was what it seemed -- pajamas were daywear, day skirts were made of evening-wear fabrics, boots were shoes and watches weren’t really watches but leather bracelets with hands that could be “set” to any time.
It was modern art that inspired Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana to make canvases out of ball gowns in what was the week’s most spectacular finale. The show started with a video of the designers’ studio, paintbrushes gone wild daubing abstract flowers and carefree strokes on tulle, organza and silk net.
Then, the works came to life on the runway -- instantly covetable, hand-painted dresses caged in sheer netting, making them appear as if they were in soft focus. Venetian brocades in rich rose and gold were fashioned into ladylike dresses with bell-shaped skirts, and flared trousers worn with a paint splattered T-shirt.
This was Dolce & Gabbana at its romantic best, worlds away from last season’s raunchiness. Even the accessories were tame -- brocade lace-ups with reasonably high heels, and what could be the season’s “It” bag, a flat tote in a patchwork of colorful snakeskin tiles.
At Jil Sander, Raf Simons didn’t just reference art, he created it in living color on the runway, playing with transparency, shading and jolts of neon. It was extraordinary to look at, something akin to Dan Flavin’s work. A layer of neon pink organza covered an opaque orange coat, dipping just below the hem to create a color contrast with navy blue pants, while a pair of peach skinny pants radiated a rosy pink glow from under a sheer navy organza tent coat.
Simons also experimented with proportion, cropping a hot pink blazer to bolero length and layering it over a hip-hugging black sweater and wide leg trousers, and chopping the top off a gray jacket entirely so it became a bustier, and encasing the whole thing in a cloud of navy organza.
As interesting as it was, not everything worked; some of the proportions made the models look even more elongated than they already are, and the dresses, poufs of chiffon scarf points, were out of sync with the brand’s signature sophistication.
Karl Lagerfeld took a single shape, the circle, as his starting point at Fendi, folding it into a half moon to create straps on a simple white cotton sundress, or using it as the foundation for a full dolman sleeve on a 1970s white jersey dress worn with the season’s best belt with a pyramid of stones for a buckle. A ‘50s-era dance dress was pretty in a navy blue circle print with a circular capelet on top. And after so many tricked-out bags, the plainness of oversized baguette clutches in soft leather was a breath of fresh air.
Frida Giannini played with a similar 1950s silhouette at Gucci, where full skirts sketched in graphic florals were topped with shrunken jackets. The stark black and taxi cab yellow color palette was unappealing, and so were the new “Frida pants” (droopy through the crotch, tight to the ankle) worn with biker jackets or checked shirts.
Marni’s Consuelo Castiglioni has always had an artist’s touch, but this season fell short of the competition save for a couple of water color-blocked shifts shaped at the waist.
Softness, romance
Several designers explored their softer sides, Roberto Cavalli among them. Set against a photo backdrop of Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, his collection went from Laura Ingalls Wilder to the boudoir, Victoriana to the 1970s. Sound jarring? It was breathtakingly beautiful, beginning with a series of white lace dresses, one falling to the floor, another with a fringed suede trench thrown on top, all worn by models with teased-out bedroom hair.
The romantic theme continued with a dropped waist, baby floral tunic worn over blue silk pajama pants, and a bow-front blouse tucked into high waist pants. A cream coat was stenciled with flowers, and a watercolor chiffon day dress practically luminous when it moved.
Bottega Veneta’s Tomas Meier turned out an understatedly elegant collection with an impeccably tailored, butter-yellow suit, a liquidy peach silk sheath with drawstring waist, crinkly shirtdresses and 1940s bathing suits. At Giorgio Armani, the sarong pants, knotted at the knee, were a metaphor for summer ease. Alberta Ferretti did lots of toga dresses and draped gowns, one in a hauntingly beautiful print of Roman ruins.
In this season of color, Matthew Williamson’s Emilio Pucci was bound to be a hit, and it was with lots of 1970s touches -- caftans, patchwork suede jackets and belts, fringed handbags, even printed stretchy bracelets worn by the dozens -- that should resonate with ladies of the canyon. At Burberry Prorsum, Christopher Bailey had the right idea working in Crayola brights, but his warrior woman didn’t work with the new softness of the spring season -- there was too much ruching, too many concho belts.
Donatella Versace has been on a roll with one confident show after another. This time, she softened her tailoring showing silk shirtdresses and safari jackets, jersey halter tops and fluid pants, even a floral print sack coat or two. But it was her finale, and the finale to the week, that said everything you need to know about the spring season -- a paint box of sensual goddess gowns coming down the runway, artfully arranged by hue.
Colorful characters indeed.
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MORE FROM MILAN
GALLERIES: See highlights from the Spring 2008 shows, and the fabulous footwear on the runways and beyond, at latimes.com/image.
