Mish-mash Milan

The Age

Friday October 1, 2004

HILARY ALEXANDER AND JANE BARRETT WITH THE TELEGRAPH AND REUTERS

From Bollywood, to Blue Hawaii and the hippy trail, designers tried every trick to get attention. Hilary Alexander and Jane Barrett report from Milan.

This week in Milan, 219 different designer collections for spring-summer 2005 competed for the attention of 1600 fashion press and photographers and as many buyers from 50 countries. It is clearly not a time to be subtle if you want orders.

Designer Anna Molinari took a metaphorical trip on the Marrakesh Express with her Blumarine collection of hooded djellaba-dresses, embroidered vests and tunics with tribal necklace necklines. Alberta Ferretti backed the flouncy and over-decorated smock dress - high-waisted and with billowing sleeves - in bold mixes of Turkish carpet colours such as blue, wine and jade.

Milan-based designer, Angelo Marani, was not the only one determined to prove nothing succeeds like excess. His show blended the glitzy-ritzy celebrity style of Versace with the over-the-top opulence of Roberto Cavalli - and then some.

Marani's models, including Australian beauty Megan Gale, wore earrings the size of saucers, diamante chokers and belts, bling-bling rings on every finger, armloads of bangles, jewelled stilettos, matching handbags and fox furs, dyed every colour of the rainbow and embellished with corsages - and that was just with the swimwear!

They paraded against a Bollywood inspired backdrop: an exotic Indian temple garden, festooned with orchids, jungle foliage and gilded deities.

Pucci and Dolce & Gabbana, on the other hand, gave Bollywood the brush-off and took their trip back to the Happening '60s and '70s. Pucci returned to its hippie roots and Dolce & Gabbana got the catwalk all shook up with an Elvis-inspired show.

The design duo joined Elvis on the set of his 1961 film Blue Hawaii, wrapping models in bright red Hawaiian prints and stamping tropical flowers and birds on their trademark denim. There were rockabilly suits with white socks and shoes; hibiscus shirt-dresses; golden bras with tiny hula skirts in red and gold raffia, and embroidered denim hot-pants with jewelled, high boots.

Ten early black-and-white shots of Elvis were also reproduced on T-shirts with the permission of his family.

But, rather than blue suede shoes, the D&G girls marched around in pink slouch boots or flat pumps with bright sequined flowers. For a night on the town, D&G dreamed up tiny pink and orange grass skirts and Hawaiian print micro-dresses with side slits so high, and front plunges so low, they posed some serious underwear challenges.

D&G's answer? Bright pink briefs with diamante studs.

Pucci offered more of the hippie '60s as designer Christian Lacroix raided the archives of the house of swirls. Bright pink and acqua graphic patterns cascaded down floaty chiffon dresses and capri pants, structured work skirts and trench coats.

For night, the patterns were picked out in bright sequins on dresses held up by jewelled bands, and for day, milkmaid skirts were cut from broderie anglaise with the occasional Pucci patch.

It was back to Bollywood for the first of Giorgio Armani's two shows. The elder statesman of Italian fashion seived out some exotic cliches from the Indian Raj to inspire his elegant, ethnic collection for the younger Emporio line.

His first models appeared to float through white muslin curtains that fluttered like flags, stepping out as nomadic tribesmen in sand and beige tones, with their legs encased in tight leather spats, waists cinched with corded belts, and heads wrapped in knotted scarves. Or, they arrived like 19th-century polo players, in dazzling white jodhpurs cut full around the hips and tight between knee and ankle.

In silk and chiffon, the jodphurs were the key to the Emporio range and were either worn alone or under short, asymmetric, scarf-hemmed skirts and even under long "red-carpet" gowns. The jodhpur-shape was balanced by tiny, taut jackets with small shoulders and well-defined bodices, or with shimmering, crystal-beaded camisoles and puffed-sleeve blouses.

Later in the week, Armani made another aesthetic leap, presenting his signature collection of ready-to-wear in the guise of pared and elegant haute couture: long evening gowns studded with thousands of crystals, handprinted silk shifts flounced out over bustles, and satin jackets embroidered with coloured jewels.

Armani went all-out to prove he is king of the red carpet. The man renowned for his relaxed, smart style, said he is now ready to take on the haute couture kings of Paris. "Personally, I'd really enjoy showing in Paris with the haute couture crowd. But first I want to work at this and see if we sell," the 70-year-old designer said.

Armani believes there is still a market for five-figure dresses, defying the likes of Versace and Emanuel Ungaro who have stopped showing haute couture to focus on ready-to-wear. "A woman with spending power wants to be protected from the run-of-the-mill luxury market," was Armani's insightful comment on an era of easy-access "luxury" fashion.

"The last thing she wants is to see her secretary touting the same bag," he added.

With the Telegraph and Reuters.

© 2004 The Age

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