by MILAN — Designers with diverse backgrounds featured prominently in shows on the fourth day of Milan Fashion Week, in a season where the diversity of Italian fashion has become an even more pressing issue.
Maximilian Davis, 27, marked his second season as creative director at Florentine-based Ferragamo. Likewise for Filipino-American designer Rhuigi Villasenor at Swiss luxury brand Bally. And Tokyo James, founded by British-Nigerian designer Iniye Tokyo James, presented its fourth Milan runway show almost a decade ago.
This week, the fashion room also supported underrepresented designers with an interior project called Blanc Spaces, Black creatives were honored with the first ever Black Carpet Awards and new designers of color were showcased at one of the most fashionable exhibitions in Milan. collaboration with Afro Milano Fashion Week.
Some highlights from the mostly womenswear collections for next fall and winter on the fourth Saturday of Milan Fashion Week.
DOLCE & GABBANA SHOULDER WITH SILVER AND LACE
The negative is coming out of the bedroom next season at Dolce & Gabbana, where strong lingerie and lace looks set the tone during a season when nude outfits are one of the hottest trends on the Milan runway.
Not to worry, for those who aren’t ready to go that far, lacy corset tops are also a great outfit element.
Almost never the designers created such a clear progression: from the seduction of black lingerie with herringbone or feather details to all-white looks, including one force, which could be suitable for a very non-traditional wedding.
An audible gasp went through the crowd for a gold-studded dress with a metallic corset. Ashley Graham stunned in a red ruched dress that swathed her form.
Like last season curated by Kim Kardashian, many of the looks drew on the Dolce & Gabbana archive.
Kardashian was back this season, this time in the front row as a spectator, wearing a red sequined bra top and skirt that was a cousin of the final look of the runway collection.
SALVATORE FERRAGAMO chases Youth
Ferragamo has some sex-kitten looks for next fall and winter as creative director Maximilian Davis, showing his second collection for the Florentine fashion house, delved into the archives when 1950s divas like Marilyn Monroe and Sophia Loren were setting the mood
“With Ferragamo there is so much in the heritage, that I felt we really had to work to present it to the younger generation that we want to bring into the brand,” Davis said backstage.
That included invisible stiletto heels, and the Ferragamo red he used in smaller ways, like peekaboo slits.
Davis plans to dress his mothers and daughters, fathers and sons with his clean lines and straight-forward attitude.
To that end there were slightly eccentric suit jackets with culottes worn delicately, and modestly, with dark tights. Culottes also paired with knitwear in see-me red. Guys may gravitate towards technical bombers and tank tops in bright colors, or motorcycle jackets and pants with red flashes that can be opened or closed.
Davis hit an elegant and sexy tone with wrap dresses, elegant when combined with draping and sexy when hugging the body in liquid metallic colors and short hemlines.
Celebrities in the front row included Uma Thurman and Hunter Schafer.
BALLY HOST ELLA EMHOFF, ADRIEN BRODY
Model Ella Emhoff, stepdaughter of US Vice President Kamala Harris, made her Milan Fashion Week debut this week, which included a front row stop in Bally to see Ruigi Villasenor’s second collection for the Swiss luxury brand.
Emhoff did a Villasenor creation with layers of spiky beads that she compared to weighted whites, ”which is relaxing,” she said before the show. The striking black top was styled simply with jeans, slicked-back hair and an orange dot on the eye – with a security detail in the corner.
Villasenor placed his collection against the backdrop of the 15th Century mansion that was home to Leonardo da Vinci when he painted “The Last Supper,” in a chapel in front of the house.
And the luxurious surroundings reflected a life of active leisure at home in the delightful surroundings, including a well-decorated map room, where a carving on the ceiling invoked: “Agere, non loqui,” Latin for “Do, do not speak. “
The men’s suit is laced with luxury leather waders, while their elegant capes fall perfectly to accommodate thigh-high boots. For her, there were functional knitwear with a gold chain belt for daytime outings, and for evening, super-sexy dresses that fell and clung to the form, with asymmetric backs. Waiting at the door, there were fake furs and quilted puffer coats.
Sitting across from Emhoff in the map room was Adrien Brody, arriving just in time with his partner, designer Georgina Chapman.
TOKYO JAMES CODE SWITCHES
Tokyo James emphasized his collection with rows of dead zipper pulls, which offer no opening or closing. They are there to amuse, inspire, and glitter, like charms that draw attention away from the beauty of the garments, lest they attract envy.
The collection, called “Code Switch” in tribute to his ten years as a designer, featured denim combinations in blue and purple, multicolored patchwork patterns, cropped leather jackets and teddy coats with mesh-covered openings. A loose-cut suit is covered with the names of the places in his native Nigeria: Badagry, Surulere, Ikoyi, and one suit jacket proudly declares: “Africa” in sparkling red.
Models had smeared smears on their teeth, and some made the most of the potentially gruesome taste, panting for the cameras as they did their turn. But the overall mood was more dapper, with an emphasis on the accessory of the short scarf, tied with an off-skewed bow, as worn by the designer himself.
FERRARI IS PINK
Ferrari Fashion seems to have a permanent home at Milan Fashion Week, as its performance strengthens the lifestyle segment of the sports supercarmaker.
Rocco Iannone’s latest collection features Ferrari pink – ironically the only color the car refuses to offer to automotive customers – alongside the traditional red. On the runway, the colors play well off each other in bold combinations of shiny outerwear, puffy utility vests and quilted skirts. Pink also got a turn as an accent in striped and intarsia knitwear
Innovation at Ferrari is not limited to automotive technology. Shiny red jackets and patterned jodhpur quilted pants were made from a new textile developed through a patented process called Q-Cycling that converts old tires into wearable fibers.
BENETTON makes POPULAR FASHION
Andrea Incontri is in her second season upping the fashion game at the Benetton brand, with her first collection – a mix of knitwear featuring fruit patterns in stores right now.
“They tell me he’s doing well,” he said with a laugh.
Its second collection for the first fall and next winter turns mostly to color, with the brand’s famous knitwear the lynchpin element. Lavender, pink and tangerine are combined in a casual suit combo, keeping the blouse open under a cropped cable-knit sweater. Bunny motifs are repeated on black-and-white sweaters, worn over a polka dot shirt. And a shiny, green eco-shearling coat pulls together a pink-and-green floral-print skirt and matching turtleneck.
Accessories include soft bags with the streamlined octopus logo, which can also be seen as jewelry.
The looks are meant to be accessible and a real stab at fashion for the High Street crowd who can’t, or don’t want, access to luxury.
