Is it global warming or the fledgling economic
recovery that is driving the trend?
Milan’s creatives seem convinced next summer’s going to be one for
stripping down to the lightest, skimpiest and brightest of outfits … and
having some fun.

The cheerful, optimistic tone set by Gucci’s ‘geek chic’ vision of
femininity on Wednesday, continued into the second day of the Milan fashion
week, which saw Massimo Giorgetti take his eagerly-awaited bow at Emilio
Pucci.
Giorgetti has taken the reins following the departure of Norwegian Peter
Dundas, who jumped ship to Roberto Cavalli following its founder’s decision
to
sell a controlling interest to a private investment group.
When he got the job earlier this year, Giorgetti signalled his intentions
in a press release featuring two models wearing plain white T-shirts with
the
message: “Like blank paper. A new story to tell.”
The new story is a younger and lighter one: this was a collection packed
full of transparent materials alongside metallic pleated skirts and
feather-decorated sandals.

“Like blank paper. A new story to tell”

As in MaxMara and Blugirl’s collections earlier in the day there was
also a
strong aquatic theme with numerous fish, shell and starfish motifs running
through the trademark bold prints and the models sporting sunglasses that
resembled scuba masks.

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One to buck the trend was Karl Lagerfeld, whose latest collection for
Rome’s Fendi was heavy in leather (not just in the latest incarnations of
the
brand’s famously expensive handbags).

Snakeskin trench coats and olive bomber jackets were among Lagerfeld’s
standout pieces.
The initial critical reaction was far from universally favourable but
there
was no disputing the quality of the craftsmanship on display — perhaps most
tellingly illustrated by the creation of a one-piece swimming costume in the
most supple black leather imaginable.

If Costume National designer Ennio Capasa has his way, next summer
will be
a largely black and white affair — and sleeves will be banned.
His collection offered a twist on male tailoring with masculine jackets
shorn to expose shoulders and create a kind of sexy gilet. Sombre suit
fabrics
were illuminated by silver stitching.

Blu girl’s legions of young supporters meanwhile were pointed in the
direction of the beach in microshorts given a half-buttock bikini cut.
They were paired with woven sandals in a collection entitled “Joie de
Vivre” that looked forward to more confident, optimistic times than the
fashion industry has operated in of late.
To the strains of Jacques Brel’s “Amsterdam” and “What Shall We Do with
the
Drunken Sailor,” MaxMara sent out their models in an array of outfits rich
in
bold hoops, maritime-inspired colours and symbols, knotted cord ties and
chunky drawstrings on light fabrics.
Illustrator Brian Grimwood created the show’s ocean liner backdrop and
his
work also features on T-shirts, duffel bags, luggage labels and the brand’s
signature JBag.

Doubled-faced peacoats, rows of polished buttons and star-patterned
semi-chunky sweaters and tank tops continued the nautical theme.
It was, the creative team said, an attempt to fuse naval discipline and
marine romance into a vision of a new, athletic femininity. Or, as they also
put it in a classic piece of fashion-speak: “Naive is the new
sophisticated.”
Blugirl emphasised a more sensual form of femininity with designer Anna
Molinari anticipating a new jazz age and taking her cue from “an idea of
intangible hedonism.”

Black dancing feathers adorned jazzy evening dresses, there are many
touches of white macrame lace, crepe and taffeta, and poplin or denim shirt
dresses were designed to open up easily over swimming costumes or those
revealing shorts.

If it wasn’t very, very short, it was very long. “Lengths have no half
measures: they reach the ankle or entirely bare the legs,” Molinari says in
her notes on the collection, explaining the preponderance of long skirts she
described as “an incontrovertible statement of a new sensuality.” (AFP)