Geometry must have been on Tomas Maier’s mind while he was designing Bottega Veneta’s A/W 09 collection. In all his creations there was indeed a great attention to perfectly rigorous lines and even sheath dresses evoked in their cut rigid and rectangular forms.
Movement was added on one-shoulder dresses thanks to a ruffle-like sleeve and the rigid lines relaxed in Maier’s beautiful bronze leather trench coats and soft wool dresses.
The palette was never too harsh and featured neutral shades such as creams, browns and lilacs and occasional bursts of black.
There were echoes of corsets and hints at power dressing in some jersey numbers that featured bra-like structures, but Maier went back to safe territory towards the end of the catwalk show with some beautiful pleated evening gowns ideal for modern vestals.
Though the designs presented were charmingly beautiful and showed Maier has a knowledge of luxuriously functional fabrics, from velvets to silk and woollen jacquard, the emphasis was on the accessories.
Jewellery and elegant hair combs accompanied most of the looks; daywear was paired with high-heeled brogues or boots, the latter were made alternating strips of leather and lizard skin in a sort of armadillo-like structure. Big and medium-sized handbags and small clutches in leather, crocodile or python all featured elaborate wave-like motifs or the brand's signature interwoven designs.
Updating an historical fashion house is never easy, but the first collection for a well-established maison proves always tricky.
This was been the case also with Peter Dundas: starting with a precise inspiration in his mind, Emilio Pucci’s 1957 Spring/Summer “Palio” collection, the designer presented garments that actually completely revolutionised the marquis' designs.
Rather than opting for a full-on take on Pucci’s signature prints, Dundas evoked bits and pieces of them, reusing their colours for modern blouses and mini-dresses or trying to replicate their swirling patterns in different fabrics, such as lace and denim.
Short, skin-tight and sexy were the key words of the collection, that also featured a few voluminous fox fur jackets. While updating Pucci's signature looks, Dundas kept in mind a new generation of young and wealthy customers.
As a whole the collection was a bold step away from Matthew Williamson’s previous efforts and definitely had the sporty and casual – though in a glamorously luxurious way – feeling that Pucci gave to his first designs. Yet while winning new customers, Dundas risks of alienating Pucci's older fans.
At Iceberg creative director Paolo Gerani channelled the look that could only be described as “Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster on acid-meets-Doctor Zhivago-meets a Buckingham Palace Guard's bearskin hat.
Despite these bizarre and rather unlikely connections, this has become a rather popular look that has already appeared on the New York and London catwalks, though Gerani went for it in a rather maniacal way.
Iceberg’s collection featured voluminous knits à la Sandra Backlund, padded coats and jackets with bulbous and cumbersome knitted or fur sleeves and huge fur jackets in black, white or shocking pink that gave the impression they could have swallowed up the models.
It was a shame Gerani didn’t balance enough his designs, 
since his more wearable dresses such as his silk or wool dresses with scale-like inserts or bolero jackets proved he had good intuitions.
There were interesting details at Moschino, especially the rosette embroideries that decorated the sleeves of a navy coat, 
the 3-D appliquéd roses that created cascades of flowers on dresses and the safety pins that seemed to form sparkly and intricate motifs.
Rossella Jardini showed the best looks in her very special double-layered designs such as coats and dresses with detachable layers of organza and cigarette-shaped trousers covered in a thin veil of organza reproducing a pair of jodhpurs.
This clever trick might actually be employed in interesting ways and it actually has the potential of becoming a fun trend.
Among the things that might become a trend next season there is also the footwear from Alessandro Dell’Acqua’s show.
Though sexy, Dell'Acqua's knitwear/fur/chainmail designs weren’t entirely innovative, but his sandals with strips of leather and bits of chainmail looked like interesting experiments.
Dell'Acqua's wasn’t actually the only collection in which accessories seemed to be more interesting than the clothes.
At Marni there were “Planet of the Apes” fur gauntlets, chunky flowery necklaces in gold and black, bib-like fabric necklaces studded with multi-coloured stones, bracelets and bangles casually stacked together, 
sunglasses with delicate cut-out motifs that framed the lenses, sculptural shoes and bags in white, grey and ice.
These accessories literally stole the scene to an otherwise sensible and wearable yet not extremely original collection in which dark colours prevailed in the warm wool dresses, jumpers and trousers, while light shades of green and golden orange were used for the short silk dresses.
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