MFW DAY III/RECAP

The third day of the Milan Fashion Week saw shows by amongst others Emporio Armani, Sportmax, Tod’s, and Versace. These are some of the highlights.

With nearly a hundred look, Emporio Armani showed the so far most extensive collection of Milan Fashion Week. Most of the looks came out on the runway two or three times in different colours, which made it to a coherent, bur rather tiresome show. Wide legged, cropped trousers, flowy suit jackets, and empire waist slip dresses were some of the key looks, coming in colours such as of crispy white, mint green, pale pink, and light blue. The pastel palette in combination with loose silhouettes and subtile floral prints gave the collection a feminine and romantic impression, but the sharp tailoring and crisp materials added an air of sophisticated elegance.

The recurring theme of Sportmax’ spring collection was the polka dot. Either blown up or gathered into all-over prints, the dots could be seen on everything from heavy knitted sweaters to billowing slip dresses to boxy tops. The collection also featured a couple of fantastic double, faced suede coats, strapless, draped dresses, and long pencil skirts. Towards the end of the show, Sportmax also lived up to their name when showing some truly sporty looks in sheer black net.

The Versace show was as expected an eclectic mix of kitschy elegance and trashy chic. High slit skirts, low waist, skin-tight trousers, and short dresses held together by straps and cahins were some of the collection’s key looks. In general, the show was high on metals, with chains, studs, hooks, and heavy belts interspersed in the collection. With black and white as the main colours, the collection also featured splashes of pastel purple and icy blue, as well as multicolour prints.

This week, Gaia Trussardi made her debut as head designer at the fashion house that bears her name, replacing Umit Benan that left the brand earlier this year. With inspiration by a road trip through the endless deserts of the US, Trussardi presented a smart and stylish take on classic menswear, such as suit jackets, cowboy hats, and bombers. With leather as the most prominent material, the collection featured wide leather trousers and shorts, leather suit jackets, and bra tops, matched with sharply tailored suits, sheer snake print skirts, and white cowboy hats. Oozing of effortless coolness and edgy attitude, the collection made a strong start for the new designer.

Leather was also the recurring theme at Tod’s spring show. The fashion house’s creative director Alessandra Facchinetti said that she wanted to treat leather as cotton, and the laser-cut tops, draped one-shouldes dresses, and slim pencil skirts in shiny, papery leather that was sent down the runway proved that she had suceeded. The eclectic, yet coherent collection also featured well-cut suits in icy blue and deep red, flowy shirt dresses, boxy cots, and a wonderful version of the house’s notorious loafer with long fringes.

Photos courtesy of Style.com

By Sonja Nettelbladt