Blacks In Fashion
Luxury Apparel
« Sept. 19, 2007 | | October 8, 2007 »
Milan Fashion Week – Spring 2008 RTW
Fashion Week moved to Milan earlier this week where designers pushed their creativity to come up with collections that sometimes broke the mold of their brands. If Paris outshined New York with its freshness, Milan took on London with its imagination.Here’s Blacks take on the shows so far:
Burberry Prorsum
The buzz about Christopher Bailey’s latest collection for Burberry is that its luxury rock ‘n roll. Short, rouched skirts and dresses in chiffon hugged the body yet gave a sense of femininity with the light colors and soft details, such as ruffles and fringe. Trench coats and dresses were studded with medallions and metal details.Later in the collection we saw bright, belted A-line dresses in fuchsia and electric blue and belted high-volume frocks. The entire collection seemed more Gucci than Burberry, that doesn’t mean we didn’t appreciate the added sex appeal.
Jil Sander
The audience at Jil Sander’s spring show must have done a triple take at the bright colors, super slim pants and translucent ensembles put together by designer Raf Simons. This was a dramatic turn from the somber attire we’ve seen previously.Bright bolero jackets were matched with pants that were trim enough to be leggings and models’ breasts and underpants were clearly visible under colorful, flowing dresses. One “top” was merely a wrapping of translucent material that made the model look as though she had spun herself into a curtain.
One had to wonder how sellable these pieces would be to the average Jil Sander customer. Our guess – not very.
Prada
Prada’s latest collection takes an Art Nouveau turn full of colors, patterns and pretty silk-printed pieces. Colored seams squiggled down tops like lines from a drawing and printed ensembles were taken over the edge by patterned tights and fanciful shoes. Lily prints and colors like emerald, purple and yellow gave the line a wood nymph feel, although Prada also used plaids and checks, adding a masculine touch.Overall the collection was overwhelmed with pattern making no one piece stick out, despite the obvious detailing.