Missoni- Milan Fashion Week

Max Mara- Milan Fashion Week

"I saw the slim black ski pants and smooth hooded sweaters that appeared early in the show, then the egg-shaped tunic dresses in plush wools with carefully — obsessively — controlled volumes, and I thought of a spa or a chic sanitarium in the Black Forest. I mean, I was off on some trip. The ski looks, but done with exact proportions and vivid primary colors, with the pattern on the sweater collars or hoods vaguely suggesting a tucked-in print scarf. The couture shapes that the designer Raf Simons explored last season — the fixed waists, the loose-back jackets — and now shown in a sport way with black ski pants. He brought the couture shapes forward so that they seemed natural to the Jil Sander imagery."


Cathy Horyn for The New York Times

Jil Sander- Milan Fashion Week

Prada Spring/Summer 2011

Milan Fashion Week Re-cap

Bottega Veneta

Versace's Neon Dream

Preview Dolce & Gabbana Spring/Summer 2010

D&G

The D&G Women's collection for Summer 2010, inspired by the British woman, elaborates the classic cowboy wardrobe in order to dress urban cowgirls. Suede and perforated leather was used with romantic white lace, chiffon and Mickey or Minnie Mouse printed

Dolce & Gabbana's "Hello, Dali!"

By Suzy Menkes

MILAN: The kindest thing to say about Dolce & Gabbana's superficial tribute to the surrealists (by way of Jeff Koon) is that the design duo must have been too busy on their new line of makeup to take a clear look at this show of Mickey Mouse shoulders (as seen last season) and Elsa Schiaparelli references.

Then there was the heavy duty for Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana of dressing the front-row stars: Kate Hudson, Scarlett Johansson, Eva Mendes, the "Slumdog" star Freida Pinto and Naomi Watts; and the three supermodel blondes, Nadia Auermann, Eva Herzigova and Claudia Schiffer. Not to forget the ghost of Marilyn Monroe, who appeared as a print in a show that was almost all in black and white, with explosions of Schiaparelli's shocking pink.

This celebrity-packed show just did not work as presented - although out of the "Hello Dali!" context, suits with elongated skirts and the graphic black and white polka dots and squares might have looked larky.

Mauricio Miranda

Instead, weighed down with the circle sleeves and obvious accessories: a glove hat and lipstick cases on black suede shoes (but also spirited double-layer sunglasses) the clothes looked less than joyous. They evoked just that prewar period when the lights went out all over Europe and Schiaparelli's wacky style became instantly outmoded.

Anything from Dolce & Gabbana is always beautifully realized: the animal patterns as flocked velvet surfaces, the screen prints and the chubby furs that had style and class. But so many designers, not least Yves Saint Laurent, have been in this territory. And to bring out this show at this particular crisis moment seemed - well - surreal.

Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the International Herald Tribune.

Marni: A Chic, Strange, but Intellectual Club

Marni Fall 2009, Giovanni Giannoni
The Marni woman is so confident and cavalier that she walks into a store, sees a $1,000 dress shaped like a burlap sack, and shreiks “I must have that!”

It is this sort of attitude that sets the Milanese brand, known for its use of unconventional materials like polyvinyl chloride, apart from others. The Marni woman is a woman who dresses for herself, not for men, which has the effect of making her even more alluring.

So, at 9:00 am on Sunday, the bleary-eyed fashion crowd made its way to Via Sismondi to see creative director Consuelo Castiglioni’s new collection of laser cut jackets, fur vests and dresses festooned with large plastic gewgaws. The styling is always creative at Marni shows—models this season wore embellished metallic brocade frocks with sunglasses, fur mittens or giant leather garden gloves, and patterned knee-socks with strappy heels. The point, beyond showing that the Marni gal has a sense of humor, is to illustrate that each piece can stand heartily on its own, and actually look quite normal, albeit unconventional.

Fashion editors, art-gallery owners and museum curators have become fierce Marni loyalists, a reality that helped the company’s retail network weather the recession so far. “In our own stores, we haven’t seen a drop in sales,” said Gianni Castiglioni, Marni’s chief executive—and husband of its creative director—backstage after the show. Mr. Castiglioni, who was deeply upset when U.S. department stores reduced prices on Marni products over the holiday season, said that he’s not adjusting the brand’s pricing strategy going forward.

“We do not change our vision,” he said. “We think our positioning is fine. We think our pricing is fine.” He did acknowledge, however, that production will “of course” be ratcheted down to accommodate reduced demand for luxury products.

Marni Fall 2009, Giovanni Giannoni
Inspired by the fashion show, Heard on the Runway headed straight to Via Tajani, where, in the middle of a working-class residential neighborhood Marni has a gigantic outlet store. We tried on dozens of dresses, which lack what retailers call “hanger appeal.” This led to a lengthy and admittedly demoralizing trial-and-error process of determining what looks good (fitted dresses with exposed zippers) and what looks plain weird (voluminous lab coats and most other things). A resin plated knit dress with laser-sharp edges was nearly lethal, and I imagine, a dry-cleaner’s worst nightmare.

Two hours later, we walked out of the store with a polyester dress, a belt, comfortable shoes and a jacket—and felt as though we had joined a chic, strange but intellectual club. We’ll still pass on the gardening gloves, though.

– Rachel Dodes for The Wall Street Journal

Emporio Armani

Prada's garden of earthy delight

Chris Moore/Karl Prouse
By Suzy Menkes

Published: March 1, 2009

MILAN:With rubber waders rising thigh high and scarlet riding coats split at the side, Miuccia Prada's wickedly witty show on Sunday confirmed her place in Italian fashion's counterculture.

Prada's garden of earthy delight included the best coats and suits of this Milan season - precisely cut out of felt or leather and spreading from a small waist. They were topped with hairstyles that looked like the models had been up to something in the hay - even if the rings of sparkling red around the eyes suggested pure glamour.

"The collection was a take on the country," said Prada, as if we would believe that the scarlet tailoring or a slim dress with carwash strips of fabric would not be snapped up as city cool.

The way that Prada distanced herself from the punk-style power woman of this Milan season showed her absolute independence. In the enclosed space, with layers of seating around a small arena, which Rem Koolhaas, the set's architect, called "a retreat," the collection had a powerful sexual charge. That came not least from shoes that looked like a cockscomb had been hit by a scattershot of studs; or from the rubber boots climbing bare thighs to reach hefty shorts.

The show swayed subtly from garden to salon, as the autumnal russet of a sculpted coat switched to a plush brocade velvet while keeping the same silhouette: voluminous, with a bared portrait neckline, deep sleeves and a belted waist.

There was plenty of black to set off the bright colors and taken individually, the dresses and suits were spot on for a wintry financial climate.

"You need to uplift yourself, because it is difficult trying to be positive," said Prada. "But I am in a good mood."

Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the International Herald Tribune.

Missoni & Ballantyne

Missoni Fall 2009, Photo by Giovanni Giannoni
By Suzy Menkes

MILAN: With soft shades of peach, apricot or powder pink, touched with blue, there was something sweetly appealing about Angela Missoni's exploration of the family heritage: knitting.

The snoods that draped like a nun's wimple around the face, the layer-on-layer of comfort clothing and the ultra-long scarves, their fringed ends sweeping the floor, made perfect outfits for global freezing.

There even seemed something Antarctic in those colors, suggesting streaks of sunset over the glacial ice. But Missoni's warm-up of fashionable knits was unmistakable. The point of the show was the weaving techniques that were projected on the backdrop. Geometric patterns on the woolly leg warmers, less abstract florals on dresses and tweedy mini-coats were faced off with plain surfaces, where texture was the message. Even the mule shoes had a nubby brocade finish.

Being a family company, there is yet another generation of Missonis to inspire and to make sure that a glitter of Lurex worked into mini dresses could take the clothes from an adult comfort zone to the party scene. Angela Missoni said backstage that her daughter Teresa had been the source of the draped headwear while Teresa's sister Margherita sat front row in a sophisticated version of the pink-tinged layers.

Ballantyne Fall 2009, Photo by Giovanni Giannoni

Ballantyne also went back to its roots, focusing on knitting rather than developing an all-embracing clothing line. But in an unexpected marriage of two cultures, the company's Scottish heritage and its distinctive diamond pattern was linked to 1920s artistic streamlining.

"Working with shapes and colors like a futurist artist," said the designer Dawidh di Firmo to explain the way that graphics lines were woven into geometric shapes.

Nature was the counterpoint to geometry, with butterflies and water lily petals worked in Ballantyne's exceptional intarsia techniques. But colors throughout were strong: purples brighter than in any Scottish hillside heather and dashes of orange and blue for a more urban take on the collection.

Suzy Menkes is fashion editor at the International Herald Tribune.