As usual fears that at Roberto Cavalli’s catwalk show glam may have dominated the runway, reigning supreme over fashion sense and sensibility, were understandably high. Luckily, though, it was the more crafty aspect of Cavalli that prevailed.
The Florentine designer is among the few ones who led interesting and successful experiments with leather and for his Spring/Summer 2010, he went back to his roots, exploiting the new possibilities this material can offer.
Leather jackets and skinny trousers were characterised by laser cut-outs, hardware decorations (could that be a trend? Just in case, stock up on nuts and bolts from your local hardware store…) or embellishments created with special embossing techniques that gave the impression something alien had interposed between the skin of the models and their leather garments.
Trousers – in black leather or in pastel colours – were characterised by an extended waistband that folded and flopped over the hips. As a whole the collection was rather coherent, though heavily verging towards the Edward Scissorhands look.
Massimiliano Giornetti displayed at Salvatore Ferragamo the same obsession with colours showed by Tomas Maier at Bottega Veneta, though the former opted for a juxtaposition of bright and neutral colours. Rich orange suits were accessorised with electric blue envelope bags; intense yellow jumpers and trousers were matched with dark jackets and bronze/beige bicoloured suits added a post-modernist touch to the collection.
But the juxtaposition appeared to exist not only in the colours: Giornetti sent out on the runway both youthful looks and more classical, almost old-fashioned, pin-striped and double-breasted suits worn with fedora hats.
Two-tone raffia shoes were instead the male version of the legendary crocheted raffia shoes Ferragamo himself designed during the 40s, when shortages of materials pushed him to find new fashionable solutions.
There are times when I wished Elsa Schiaparelli was still alive, just to see the reaction she would have at seeing her newspaper print being reused ad nauseam by some designers and brands.
Moschino’s S/S 2010 collection was heavily influenced (once again) by the iconic newspaper print.
Employed on shirts and trousers it was alternated with surreal splashes and splotches of ink printed on 50s jackets, waistcoats, trousers, ties and even hats.
Contrasts were created by unnecessary nerd/Clark Kent looks achieved via cropped tailored check suits and retro glasses. You wished there had been fewer newspaper prints and even fewer jackets with patches and slogans that seemed to have been stolen from the wardrobe of a member of the Manic Street Preachers (circa early 90s) and that the possibilities of the paint splashes had been investigated a little bit further as they could have provided more interesting looks.
Designer Italo Zucchelli provided a study of contrasts for Calvin Klein Collection. Mesh sleeves and light nylon see-through tailored jackets and shirts contrasted with matte garments.
Sporty and tailored inspirations were investigated, the final result showing how Zucchelli wisely manages to mix his classical skills with the latest development in technological fabrics.
The colour palette – comprising light silver-grey, beige, military green, bright turquoise, orange and iridescent nuances – was based not only on the theme of lightness but also on studies about light refraction and proved the designer was extremely coherent while coming up with this collection.
Miuccia Prada often injected cinematographic inspirations into her collections. Prada’s S/S 2010 menswear collection has one main connection with cinema and that’s the different shades of grey that characterise black and white movies.
Dark anthracite jackets were matched with light dove trousers and vice versa, while V-neck soft sleeveless tops characterised by perforated motifs were layered one on top of the other to create a stratified look.
Analysing the effects different grey nuances could produce when used in the same outfit was just one of the designer’s aims: the recurrent perforated details that decorated the shoulder area of coats, the micro perforations that pierced the trilby hats and the patterns of holes drilled into the leather shoes, was an attempt at playing with the light, while also being a way to metaphorically make the Prada man more vulnerable, piercing his clothes to reveal his skin.
The uniformity of the main looks was broken by cut off shorts with trailing hems, and houndstooth and almost optical prints that created a sort of 3-D illusion on the carefully selected fabrics. As a whole the collection was extremely well balanced, sober and saleable.
The historical indoor Cozzi swimming pool, hailing from Mussolini’s times but renovated and reopened at the end of last year in Milan, became the set for Thom Browne's Moncler Gamme Bleu catwalk. Originally opened in May 1934, the swimming pool was for decades an important landmark for the local swimmers and even featured an avant-garde opening roof designed by Luigi Secchi.
Leaving behind his cloned office workers, Browne opened the collection with a hieratic looking group of swimmers clad in towelling capes and wearing goggles. As they removed their capes and dived into the lap pool, you suddenly felt you were in an Esther Williams films with male protagonists.
While the athletes swam in the pool, one by one the models removed their capes revealing functional parkas and shorts in techno fabrics, grey suits and navy blue trench coats with prints of little nautical flags, see-through nylon overalls, jackets and trousers worn on top of navy blue suits and plaid printed nylon suits.
The collection oozed Thom Browne’s aesthetic and tailored sensibility and this heavily risked at times of obscuring the brand identity.
While the cropped/short suits and tailored garments were rather pleasant, there was one rather embarrassing mistake, the very last item, a sort of slightly padded Moncler tuxedo jacket with trailing tails worn over a scuba diving suit. Rather than understated elegance for a yacht owner, it created the perfect alternative look for The Penguin (of Batman fame...).
Among the brands and designers that showcased their collections on the very last day of the Milan menswear catwalks there is one that intrigued me, Z Zegna.
I was expecting to see a subdued classicism that still moved from this historical brand’s heritage, but designer Alessandro Sartori opted for a modern and urban dandy style.
Pinstriped trousers, tie neck blouses, tailcoats with frayed hems accessorised with watch chains, raffia top hats and even spat-like bicoloured boots, set a new fashion code for an elegantly modern man.
Indeed, even though some garments were worthy of Dorian Gray, they actually showed a few post-modernist details: in some cases the pockets were surrealistically slightly longer than the jackets, while the lapels of doubled jackets transformed into scarves that extended beyond the hem of the jacket.
Sartori managed to perfectly combine style, sophistication and modernity also through the bicoloured trench coats, the perfect grey trousers that contrasted with the electric blue tailored jackets and the light black leather jackets with perforated motifs.
Despite heavy doses of subtle elegance being injected in some of the contemporary menswear collections, casual and sporty outfits often end up prevailing.
With this collection Sartori brought to the world of menswear a new kind of refinement, while wishing to see the return of a man with a modern and distinctively stylish sophistication both on the runways and in everyday life. You can only hope his wish will become true very soon.
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