Where New York and London are subdued and practical in a fairly monochrome elegance, this year Milan Fashion Week chose to be loud, and exuberant, painting timeless classics with all the colours of the rainbow.
This year, the fashion week started with a retrospective exhibition. “Italiana, Italy Through the Lens of Fashion 1971–2001” looks at the formatives years of Italy’s rise as a fashion powerhouse and the names that built that reputation.
Curated by W’s editor in chief Stefano Tonchi and by fashion critic and curator Maria Luisa Frisa, the exhibition will be open to the public at Milan’s Palazzo Reale, running until 6 May 2018. A number of thematic rooms, set up under the supervision of Annabelle Selldorf, recreate and celebrate the story of Italian fashion system and all of its connections to the cultural landscapes of these years.
That being said, while the opening of the exhibition seemed to be a nostalgic moment to all attending it, the fashion week moved on to prove that Italy’s glory days as a fashion capital are far from over now. These are the highlights of the week:
Armani
Combining grey and soft black with metallic hints of pink, purple and blue, as well as the deep greens we are seeing more and more in high street shops, Armani never fails to deliver classy, yet affective pieces.
The beret seems poised to be the headwear of this year, and the designer really took that idea and ran with it. Models wore oversized floppy faux fur in deep greens, with the occasional splashes of pink, and striped berets perched on the back of their heads.
Dolce and Gabbana
This year Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana celebrated religious devotion in an aberrant show, and taking our obsession with accessories, technology and flashy décor up to eleven.
D&G skilfully combine all that is holy in Catholic tradition with the mass marketing of 21st century, creating what they called their Fashion Devotion collection. The show was an ostentatious splash of colour, patterns and intricate detailing on everything – from sunglasses and hats all the way down to the shoes.
Bright colours of the Catholic variety (green, cardinal red, Venetian pink), cut velvet and Vatican City brocades coexist peacefully with cheap slogans reminiscent more of souvenir stalls than high fashion to truly deliver an obscene representation of modernity.
Hilfiger
If fashion is a race, Tommy Hilfiger takes being in the first place seriously.
Attacking us with lots of bright reds, whites and blacks, straight lines and geometrics, and sheer fabrics flowing freely around models’ figures, Tommy Hilfiger brings the fashion of Formula One to the Milan runway.
Created together with Gigi Hadid, the ready-for-wear collection boasts a bold palette of red, white, blue and black, daring leather trousers, jackets covered in patches, and checkered flag prints. The last accent of the show was the half shirts, cropped sweatshirts and bikinis, apparently added to appeal to millennials.
Moschino
A blast from the past, specifically from the 1960s, Moschino doesn’t disappoint. The show stood out with its bold colours, tailored cape and jacket skirt suits from the 1960s and its slick expertly cut edge.
Scott dressed his models somewhere between Jackie Onassis and Pan Am flight attendant lookalikes. Where the fresh cut and bright colours took a step back in favour of printed looks and patterns, is his collaboration with illustrator Ben Frost, whose kaleidoscopic pop art is a perfect fit for Moschino’s current direction.
Versace
With Donatella Versace’s last season’s tribute to her late brother, Gianni, the pressure was definitely on for the fashion powerhouse to deliver a worthy successor. Of course, we didn’t expect anything less than a spectacle, as she so proved at the fashion week.
Cleverly combining archive print and 1980s retro and silk headscarves, she brings back glamour, accentuating a sexiness considered ‘classic’.
The title of the collection is ‘The Clans of Versace’ and it stresses characters and personalities. Any woman can pick her clan through the choice of print and footwear. With a bold colour palette, starting with sleek trench coats, tartan and pop prints, held together with the classic Versace logo belt, the collection promises that whichever Versace clan you choose, it will be the right choice.
> Borislava Todorova
The Best of Milan Fashion Week 2018
