More is more as Italy turns away from its minimalist past
SOMETHING funny is happening in Milan. Minimalism’s cold, strict stronghold – for so long the default look in fashion – has been breached. Magical maximalist chaos is reigning once more. And even Giorgio Armani has been recruited.
The 81-year-old king of beige (under his direction, an exquisitely tasteful shade rather than a catch-all synonym for vanilla) couldn’t resist a twist of Milanese eclecticism in his Emporio Armani show yesterday, embellishing his signature soft, fluid tailoring with hot-fix appliqué flowers and petals.
The accessorising echoed the pileit-on sentiment that characterised Gucci and Prada’s collections earlier in the week: necks were adorned with nonchalantly tied silk scarves, bib necklaces and chunky rose-gold chains; arms were stacked with bangles; and ears were loaded with giant saucers and chain danglers.
It came as a surprise, then, that Donatella Versace’s show, held in an “industrial” space rather than the usual palazzo square of Via Gesú, felt a trifle more restrained than last season’s crystal hashtag, look-at-me, logo-laden offering.
She was inspired, she said, in a preview of the collection on Thursday, by the notion of an “urban warrior”. Despite the proliferation of camouflage prints, utilitarian khaki, and heavy, tractor-soled boots, urban warrior in Donatella’s dictionary is “absolutely not military”.
Instead, it’s “a woman – not a girl” who is “fearless, a fighter, nothing gets her down”. All of which sound like qualities a good soldier should have. But let’s not get hung up on semantics.
The point is: Versace has moved into sportswear-inspired pieces that signal a new mood of easy wearability.
Khaki safari jackets with pockets and drawstrings worked neatly alongside wide-leg khaki trousers and a beautifully tailored tuxedo jacket with a nipped-in waist. Equally enticing was a laminated bouclé jacket with a silkchiffon fringe, paired with a below-theknee pencil skirt.
It was hard to see the easy breezy in the cocktail dresses – but then Versace has a reputation to uphold. The
‘Donatella Versace said she was inspired by the notion of the urban warrior for her latest collection’
craftsmanship was sophisticated: tiger and snake-print lightweight lace developed in Italy specifically for Versace formed the base for floorlength gowns which had then been hand-embellished; a silk-faille camouflage print dress in purple, khaki and orange was knotted casually at the hip and shoulder in seeming defiance of the skill that had gone into the shredded organza chiffon embroidery.
Donatella said they were clothes for “a woman who wants to be noticed – but for her beautiful tailoring rather than her flashy style”.