High drama – and wantable, wearable clothes

TO SAY THAT last week’s autumn/winter ’20 edition of Milan Fashion Week was one for the history books is an understatement. First, there was coronavirus, which landed in Italy and escalated during the week. It prompted Giorgio Armani to show his collection in front of an empty theatre rather than the thousands of guests originally invited and sent editors running for the nearest pharmacia in search of hand sanitiser and face masks.

And then there was the last-minute press

conference, where Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons announced they were joining forces as co-creative directors of Prada – leaving the fashion set ecstatic. It’s major – the first time two designers of their stature have ever entered a partnership of its kind and a move that many believe could alter the business of fashion in years to come. Welcome to the age of PRAFA! Or PRAF?

In short, Milan was high drama. Yet, through it all, designers still managed to show an impressive line-up of incredibly desirable clothes. Here, the key talking points…

WE FEEL SEEN

Increasingly, fashion can feel like a spectator sport with its imagery, shows, scandals and plot twists projected across countless screens. This idea took on a new meaning at Gucci and Versace, where the tables were turned so that audience members were the ones being watched. At Gucci, Allesandro Michele’s models stood on a stage that rotated around a ticking, neon-lit metronome. They watched us watching them as dressers pulled clothing from rails and helped them into baby-doll dresses with leather harnesses, retro suiting with top hats, ladylike coats and shaggy wig hats, and enormous, frilled gowns. It was the more-ismore maximalism that has defined Michele’s Gucci, but flipped inside out

– the backstage area became the stage. And rather than walking on to a runway fully dressed in Gucci regalia, the models started out wearing notably less – underwear and hosiery. The assembling of the looks, the making of the moment, was as compelling as the clothes themselves, if not more.

Similarly, Donatella Versace turned the

cameras on her audience, leaving editors staring at a fun-house-style projection of themselves in a dark room. It was meta. It was also Instagram bait of the highest order. Why bother with a front row selfie when you can take a photo of your face broadcast on to a giant screen?

When it comes to turning a show into a social media hit, Donatella has always been savvier than most, having produced not one but two internet-breaking moments, with the supermodel reunion of 2017 and J-lo’s surprise appearance on last season’s catwalk. This time, a cast of supers past and present, including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Adut Akech, Kaia Gerber, Binx Walton and Mariacarla Boscono gave star power to Donatella’s trademark sexy clothes.

It all heightened the feeling that a runway show has evolved to become something much bigger than the mere prediction of what we’ll be wearing in six months’ time, but rather theatre and commentary on the state of play. Though let’s be clear, judging by the breadth of the clothes in the collection (a combined men’s and women’s show meant there were many, many looks), there will be plenty to want and wear, from her broad-shouldered blazers to her clever updates on the LBD (a slash of skin here, a bell sleeve there.)

BACK TO BLACK

Amy Winehouse’s Back To Black may have been the soundtrack to Dolce & Gabbana’s show last Sunday, but its title seems to be summing up an entire trend. Black has been inescapable this season, appearing in New York, London and now all over Milan. Its return makes sense. With so many rethinking the way we consume fashion, advocating an approach that prioritises circularity and longevity, a classic wear-with-anythinganytime black seems like a good way to go.

A gorgeously tailored noir coat that you can pull out over and over again feels like a more ethical choice than the quick hit of a fleeting trend that might look dated in six months. This thinking was not lost on Team Dolce, who celebrated craftsmanship from start to finish. In the lobby, guests walked through an ‘atelier’ (featuring cobblers and embroiderers at work) on the way to their seats where video footage of Italian artisans hand-sewing garments played. Titled ‘fatto a mano’, which means to marry the traditional with the contemporary, the brand showed clothing that stood out for its timelessness – the bejewelled coats, lace dresses and tuxedo jackets drove home the longevity of the brand and the story of Sicilian glamour that has converted so many Dolce & Gabbana fans over the years.

Black was also used to emphasise Italy’s near peerless grasp of wearability and luxury at Max Mara, where lush the-coat-is-theoutfit outerwear was the star. There were swaddling teddy coats and nylon jackets padded with recycled cashmere scraps. Meanwhile, at Sportmax – celebrating its 50th anniversary, suiting and eveningwear stood out. Both were strong reminders that zeitgeisty industry talking points come and go, but a woman still needs clothes to wear and a beautifully crafted piece that won’t go out of style is money well spent.

And should you need further proof that black is back, look to the Boss and Giorgio and Emporio Armani collections, which went big on timeless investment dressing.

Speaking of investments, Walter Chiapponi, Tod’s new creative director, showed some of the best trousers we’ve seen all month. They were cool and polished, with just the right amount of slouch. You’ll want to wear them with his equally great blazers (the jacket will be big news for autumn) or a simple roll-neck top.

FRINGE IS BIG

Expect to see a wave of headlines declaring the ‘fringe benefits’ of getting dressed next autumn. Everything from coats and bags to dresses and shoes came with shredded,

swishy embellishments in Milan. In a highly anticipated third collection from Daniel Lee, Bottega Veneta owned the moment with enormous fringed shearling coats and dramatically shredded leather clutch bags that will most certainly dominate the street-style circuit later this year, just as his cloud-like purses and square-toed heels are doing right now. ‘I had been asking myself, really, what is the point of fashion; you know, what is the role of an artist today?’ Lee said backstage. ‘For me it really is something quite theatrical.’ It’s hard to overstate Lee’s influence right now – you see the impact of his minimalist, quilted and padded vision at every Zara, yes, but also on the runways of some of his peers. His impact was so definitive that the Fashion Awards bestowed him with a whopping four trophies, despite his having only been in the role for a year.

He wasn’t alone in adopting fringe. Backstage, Miuccia Prada said her bejewelled take on the trend was about showing how femininity can epitomise strength. ‘I am interested in the cliché of femininity and the contrasts between that which is perceived to be.’ So she juxtaposed masculine elements with conventionally ladylike ones: chunky knits decorated with dangling crystals, say, or a grey, broad-shouldered jacket and tie paired with a languid, tassel of a skirt.

Fringing also made an appearance at Boss, where creative director Ingo Wilts used it as an accent on scarves and bags throughout his caramel, lavender and maroon suiting, dresses and separates. Wilts called his collection Generations, playing up his clothes’ appeal to Millennials, Xers and Boomers alike. ‘The goal is to keep everything in use, and to make it as circular as possible,’ Amber Valletta said front row.

AGE AND BODY DIVERSITY

There was a different kind of generational dialogue happening at Fendi, where Silvia Fendi showed her intelligent take on sexy dressing on a relatively diverse cast of models that included Paloma Elsesser, Jill Kortleve, Karen Elson, Liya Kebede, and Ugbad Abdi. They drove home a point that seems obvious but is rarely reflected on the runway: that women come in all shapes, sizes, colours and ages. And the cast added depth to Silvia’s bold, confident clothes.

The supers were trending all over Milan, whether it was Irina Shayk, Arizona Muse and Carolyn Murphy at Salvatore Ferragamo or Natasha Poly at Versace. It’s always refreshing to see women in their thirties, forties and older on the runway. These are, after all, the women who can most likely afford the clothes. But how much more exciting would the runway be if designers dressed women in a wider range of sizes? As fashion leans into a decade that, two months in, has already been filled with big, probing questions, we should add that to the list.

DECADES

The ’80s was Milan’s decade of choice, from Jeremy Scott’s rousing, feelgood, Marie Antoinette-inspired show for Moschino (made even more fun with a soundtrack of Siouxsie and the Banshees) to Alberta Ferretti’s boldly colourful trouser, boot and sports jacket combos. At Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini, upbeat ’70s-inspired frocks reigned supreme.