Shaken by a waltz of designers departing or signing their first show, Milano Fashion Week, which took place from September 19 to 25, had not experienced such excitement for a long time. In this storm, we can always count on the pillars of Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and Armani to provide a little stability.
“We are going through a period of chaos and contradictions, it is important to stay calm and observe. We have been telling our story since 1984, and we want to continue to highlight Italianness, beauty, femininity, and fashion centered on tailoring”, say Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. The duo presented a black and white collection, very oriented towards lingerie. Most of the models are in corsets and garter belts, covered with a veil which serves as a dress, nightie or coat. A silk trench coat, a fur overcoat, a smoking jacket or a cape sometimes complete this sober silhouette which, depending on the degree of transparency, evokes a Sicilian widow or a 1950s pin-up.
The tandem, which hears “celebrate all women”also put models on the catwalk who were older or rounder than average and closed its show with a fifty-year-old, but not just any model: Naomi Campbell, 53 years old (and who looks twenty years younger).
Supermodels are also the signature of Versace, which, this season, brought back to the podium Claudia Schiffer, who we hardly see anymore. The German closed the show in an anise green metallic sheath dress, inspired by the spring-summer 1995 couture collection. All of the looks are rooted in the house’s archives, playing on the checkerboard pattern created in 1981, and opting for a fairly demure look: baby-doll dress, tweed skirt suit and small-check cardigan-shorts are available in pastel colors, baby blue, candy pink and pale yellow.
Fabrics floating like sails
The result ultimately evokes less the offensive glamor of the 1980s than a postcard from the 1950s. “It’s a graphic and light, soft and luminous summer”, explains Donatella Versace, who does not forget to show the extent of the know-how of her workshops by sending a few couture outfits onto the catwalk, such as a minidress in gathered chainmail that fits the body perfectly.
When it comes to consistency, no one beats Giorgio Armani. For his Emporio Armani line, the 89-year-old designer receives as always in the brand’s offices, where he imagines a light summer “like a breeze”, the title of the collection. The fabrics are illuminated by metallic and iridescent touches, floating like sails. Flowing jackets barely touch the body, tops and short shorts reveal the skin, harem pants and organza millefeuille petticoats cover the flesh without ever constraining it, in golden beige tones, shades of silver, mineral grays, watery mint green and fuchsia pink.
We find the same well-balanced shine for his other line, Giorgio Armani, where the designer pursues his ideal of a timeless wardrobe, all in unstructured jackets, clean coats and soft pants, this time decorated with undulations in the form of embroidery , cutouts or prints. A sobriety shaken up by the shimmering fabrics (silk, satin, shiny leather), the rhinestones, the embroidered stones which illuminate the collection. The Armani style, immutable and recognizable among all.
