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June 23, 2019

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Home » Sunday » Style

Fresh Milan fashion week takes the runway outside

Source: AP | 00:05 UTC+8 June 23, 2019 | Print Edition

FROM Fendi in the forest to Sunnei in a public art space and Georgio Armani at his lavish mansion, designers eschewed the traditional indoor shows and moved outdoors, offering creations inspired by everything from high-tech materials to gardening and sex appeal.

Fendi goes gardening

Oscar-nominated film director Luca Guadagnino continued his long-time Fendi collaboration by staging its spring/summer 2020 collection, and the Italian director recreated the sultry, summery mood from his hit film “Call Me By Your Name.”

Rather than the usual indoor runway show, models strolled along a forested path in Milan’s Villa Reale to preview a collection that blended neatly into the foliage with earthy greens, beige and browns.

“It was Luca who discovered this place, a different set, which he saw with the eyes of a cinematographer, to present a collection inspired by the botanical world, by gardening, and by travelers,” said creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi, who has produced some of Guadagnino’s films.

Fendi said the collection was a return to simpler things, like caring for a garden. Models carried Fendi-clad watering cans, coveralls, gardening gloves and bags that had elements of a gardener’s tool bag.

Versace’s new sexiness

The Versace man is not afraid of playing with his femininity as he looks for new ways to express his sexiness. It is also a coming of age story.

Dontatella Versace has tapped the soul of fashion house founded by her brother, the late Gianni Versace, with modern sex appeal, animal prints and loud fluorescents.

The looks play on the fashion house’s iconic bondage moment, mixing the shiny leather with more mundane looks, like blazers and jacket. A shimmery leopard men’s top embroidered with Gianni Versace’s signature in silver peeks out of a knit vest, with black trousers and a cross-body bag that embrace of femininity. Shimmery leopard prints were paired with slim trousers patterned with ancient vases.

Sunnei’s high-tech knits

Sunnei took a leap in sophistication with its co-ed collection featuring highly researched materials and calm, Zen-like silhouettes.

Founders Loris Messina and Simone Rizzo brought the fashion crowd to the white-washed concrete of a future public art space beneath a disused overpass in Milan.

The looks included textured yet translucent knitwear, which from the front row looked soft as a sponge.

On closer inspection, the knit was closer to the actual marine sponge, resistant and just a little scratchy.

The super-light knitwear lent itself to layering — over knit pants for men and a long knit dress or skirt for women.

Dsquared’s fetish vibe

Milan-based Canadian designing twins Dean and Dan Caten stuck with co-ed formula to unveil a collection bursting with patterns, shapes and volumes — and lots of attitude. There was an East-meets-West cross-over inspired by Bruce Lee films, which appear on movie poster T-shirts for him and for her.

Dsquared’s menswear had a fetish appeal, with leather trousers paired with lace or sheers tops. Floral silk boxer shorts stuck out of trouser waistbands, clashing with tropical tiger printed light silk shirts or kimonos. Trousers ranged from straight leg khaki to cuffed jeans. Wide-leg shorts with a frayed-edge denim jacket had a feminine silhouette, accentuated by a bright-red shoulder bag.

The women’s collection had a 1980s vibe with tough-girl denim in ripped skinny jeans and short-shorts. A gold lame jumpsuit laced at the side waist heralded the gender shift in the runway show. Silk corsets were worn with jodhpurs.

Armani shows off at home

Giorgio Armani took the fashion crowd home for an intimate show in a 17th-century courtyard of a former noble residence at the heart of his former headquarters.

The central location — just steps from Armani’s hotel and a clutch of flagship stores — led to some traffic tie-ups as curious onlookers snapped photos for the arrival of VIP guests Samuel L. Jackson, Aleksander Skarsgard and Richard Madden, who played Robb Stark in “Game of Thrones.”

Models took a slow, deliberate pace past the paired Tuscan columns along the courtyard perimeter covered in greenery, allowing ample time to take in the elegantly tailored looks.

A vest that closed asymmetrically with a geometric cut was a center-piece garment, worn in soft velvet under a jacket or shirtless to show off toned biceps. Soft jackets had new rounded lapel that contrasted with the angular vest. Looser linen trousers with button flies tapered harmoniously.

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