D&G glitters, seaside chic for Armani, Prada strips dresses back, foulard inspires Versace, Fendi offers disco glam, butterflies at Ferretti
MILAN — Glitter lit up the catwalk at Dolce & Gabbana’s Milan fashion show on Saturday, with the designer duo peppering their spring/summer 2022 women’s collection with sparkling, sequined blouses and rock-studded mini-skirts and trousers.
The #DG Light show, which was held in a disco-like atmosphere with glimmering mirrors as a backdrop, also featured black biker jackets and camouflaged overcoats, cargo pants worn with crystal-encrusted tops, fringed gold and silver dresses.
Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana incorporated elements seen in previous collections, such as embroidery, lace, flowers, animal prints, bras, corsets and tight black dresses. Some jackets had large, butterfly-like shoulders, while accessories included thigh-high denim boots.
The creative pair said on the sidelines of the presentation they had looked back at the early 2000s, when their exuberant designs broke with the dominant minimalist style.
The lights and glitzy glamor of the show were a call to leave behind the darkness of the coronavirus pandemic, they said.
GIORGIO ARMANI
Veteran designer Giorgio Armani, 87, used pastel colors and soft shades of green and blue for a light collection inspired by the sea. The show featured elegant chiffon dresses, embroidered evening gowns, small tailored jackets, fluid trousers and sleeveless tops in an ode to effortless elegance.
The models, at times resembling undulating mermaids, were openly smiling on the runway, and Mr. Armani said the world today needed sweetness, kindness and smiles.
PRADA
Prada deconstructed dresses at Milan Fashion Week on Friday, using elements including trains and corsets in a spring collection that explored seduction through clothes.
Co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, who joined the Milan-based, Hong Kong-listed luxury group last year, added silk trains on miniskirts, put corset lacing on the front of jackets and mimicked brassiere cups on knitwear.
The spring/summer 2022 collection, called “Seduction, stripped down,” also featured long back-baring dresses in pink, lime, and tangerine that were cinched at the waist.
Short dresses were also slit behind and had trains while biker jackets were given a worn look and paired with the brightly colored miniskirts.
“We thought of words like ‘elegant’ — but this feels so old-fashioned. Really, it’s about a language of seduction that always leads back to the body,” Ms. Prada said in a statement.
“Using these ideas, these references to historical pieces, this collection is an investigation of what they mean today, what seduction means.”
For accessories, there were belted arm bands and pointy slingback shoes in bright colors.
Like New York and London, Milan Fashion Week is hosting both in-person shows and digital presentations this season following virtual editions in February due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.
“I strongly disagree with the idea of a return to ‘normal’ — we must draw lessons from this moment. We have learned that we, in fashion, engage with a much wider world,” Ms. Prada said.
Prada held simultaneous shows in Milan and Shanghai, livestreaming both.
“Doing these shows simultaneously demonstrates a new possibility: that a Prada show can happen anywhere,” Mr. Simons said. “It’s about sharing — not just sharing imagery, not just sharing through technology but sharing a physical event.”
VERSACE
Singer Dua Lipa opened and closed the Versace show, which built on the fashion’s house’s printed silk scarf, or foulard.
Designer Donatella Versace transformed the scarf into lining for dress slits and asymmetric hems, jacket sleeves, shirts, trouser flares, and knotted headscarves.
The line featured latex dresses and shiny miniskirts in neon colors. Some designs bore large safety pins.
For men, there was casual wear, loose suits and relaxed printed shirts.
“The foulard is a fundamental component of Versace’s heritage and character,” Ms. Versace said in show notes. “…This season (it) turns everything on its head, it is no longer fluid or dreamy, the scarf is provocative, sexy, wound tight.”
EMPORIO ARMANI
Giorgio Armani presented a light and fluid Emporio Armani collection for women and men at Milan Fashion Week on Thursday, as he marked 40 years of the label.
The spring/summer 2022 catwalk show featured an array of chiffon dresses, jumpsuits, light blazers and pyjama-like suits in soft materials. Emporio Armani is seen as a more youthful brand than the veteran designer’s main Giorgio Armani line.
For women, parka jackets were adorned with zips, trousers were light and at times see-though, while chiffon tops were paired with chiffon skirts or shorts.
Mr. Armani, 87, started the catwalk show in soft hues of camel, grey, beige, pink that turned into bolder blues, greens and reds. Eveningwear consisted of shimmering sequined gowns and sparkling top and skirt outfits. Some designs had floral prints and decorations.
“This season, the journey begins in an imaginary desert, crossing its oasis and ending in vibrant colorways,” show notes said. “Everything blends together, quite freely.”
For men, there were tailored blazers, tunic tops and pajama pants. Trousers also bore prints while Bermuda shorts were matched with silky shirts.
FENDI
Fendi designer Kim Jones took fashionistas to the disco at the opening of Milan Fashion Week on Wednesday, in his first in-person catwalk show since joining the Italian luxury label.
In a nod to the heyday of Studio 54 and 1970s disco glamour, models took to the runway in kaftan tops, silk floaty dresses, and sharp trouser suits for the spring/summer 2022 womenswear presentation.
“This is my first live show for Fendi, and it’s a celebration,” Mr. Jones said in a statement. “Our woman has let loose a bit — she’s going out, dressing up. We’ve all been locked away for so long that I think that’s what we all need right now.”
Mr. Jones, who was named artistic director for Fendi womenswear and couture last September, said he looked to a hand-sketched logo by fashion illustrator Antonio Lopez found in the brand’s archives as the foundation for his collection.
He opened the show with all-white ensembles of slit coats, waistcoat and trouser suits, cape-like gowns and short frocks.
Lopez’ brushstrokes adorned cream kaftan tops and dresses. His artwork also featured on handbags.
Mr. Jones, who succeeded late designer Karl Lagerfeld at Fendi and works alongside the founding family’s scion Silvia Venturini Fendi, also took inspirations from Lopez’s drawings for intarsia leather designs, lace dresses, and shimmering evening frocks.
There were wide-leg trouser suits worn with bralettes, tassel dresses and an array of furry coats, a staple at Fendi, part of luxury conglomerate LVMH.
Mr. Jones chose a color palette of soft grey, pink and blue before moving to chocolate brown and black for evening wear.
“While I’ve been looking at Karl’s legacy at the house, I’ve also been looking around him, at his contemporaries — at who he was interested in,” Mr. Jones said. “Lopez was a friend of Karl’s and has always been someone who inspired me…I wanted to introduce him to a new generation.”
ALBERTA FERRETTI
At the Alberta Ferretti show, models wore fringed crochet tops and floaty shirts in sandy colors with wide-leg trousers as well as macs and colorful short halter-neck dresses.
The designer also put fringes on dresses and trousers, paired cropped jackets with miniskirts, and encrusted large sequins and colorful beads on wispy chiffon evening dresses in turquoise, blue, purple and black.
Butterfly patterns and prints adorned some of the designs.
Milan Fashion Week runs until Monday. — Reuters