Milan Men's succinct reviews

[kit]

Prada gets playful in Milan

[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Hadley Freeman, deputy fashion editor
Tuesday June 28, 2005
The Guardian

[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Milan menswear week offered up an image of summer yesterday that was a decidedly lighter and more idyllic version than outside's reality.

Even Prada, where the menswear can occasionally take its utilitarian-wear and similar inspirations to bafflingly literal extremes, showed a collection yesterday that had colours and patterns so cheerful and optimistic one half expected the models to start tap-dancing down the catwalk, Fred Astaire-style (sadly, they didn't.) Button-down shirts were spattered with hearts and stars, ranging in colours from dark blue to - for the man particularly comfortable with his masculinity, and presumably impervious to obvious jokes - baby pink.

Silver belts, patterned ties, silver trainers and oversized nylon bags decorated with metallic silver arrows were other similar details that fashion writers often describe as "playful", meaning somewhat kitsch and kind of cute. The belt with the metallic star buckle, for example, will be a fantastic present for a male fashion fan next summer.

But this was not a twee and silly collection. Prada showed in this collection why she has become so popular with fashion-followers and the rest of the world.

Balanced alongside the sweetness were some really lovely and simple clothes: suits, which were cut a bit broader - moving the label away from its usual geek chic aesthetic - were dyed in some elegant colours, from gentle pearl to deep teal.

There was a brief Great Gatsby moment - the favourite fashion reference in both men's and womenswear - with some beige suits and white shirts. But the style then moved into something a little more hard edged. The formality of the much-vaunted Fitzgerald character - tucked in shirts, sharp suit trousers, sharp jackets - morphed into something more reminiscent of bovver boys, simply by darkening the palette from pale pearls to dark metallic greys and deep blues. And while it seems unlikely most men would wear this outfit from headscarf-ed top to silver trainer-ed toe, it was an easier, and certainly more practical look than the white trousers everyone from Versace to Prada have been vaunting this week.

There were, as usual, some very innovative touches, such as the zip-up shirt, designed to resemble an anorak.

And there were also plenty of the familiar Prada motifs, such as the dip-dyed shorts. But in all, this was a fun collection that stayed on the right side of camp and, for a moment, almost made Milan in June look as bright and cheery as an MGM musical.

Trend watch: Tucking in

· "This week," one male fashion commentator was heard to pronounce ever so solemnly, "is all about tucking in." Yes, formal is the new informal (or something) so you'd better start that GI diet now, boys, because next summer you will need nipped in waists and flat stomachs.

· At Versace, proving that Liz Hurley really is the label's icon, for both men's and womenswear, shirts were sharply tucked into Hurley-esque white trousers.

· Burberry also opted for an English icon, albeit one from a slightly different celebrity world, using Lord Lichfield as the inspiration. Shirts were elegantly tucked into trousers the International Herald Tribune described as "shrimp pink." · Bottega Veneta went for a more basic look, tucking its shirts into khaki trousers

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[kit]

Street v chic: D & G, Gucci and the paradox of Milanese fashion

[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Hadley Freeman in Milan
Wednesday June 29, 2005
The Guardian

[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Two of Milan's best-known labels, D & G and Gucci, showed their menswear collections for spring/summer 2006 (yes, in the fashion world outfits get planned very far in advance).

Yet the differences between them typified a strange anomaly of Italian fashion. No other fashion capital has such a split between what its citizens wear and what its fashion designers are known for. Whereas Manhattan's monochromatic chic is reflected in its camel-white-ebony catwalks and Parisian chic is clearly represented both on and off the fashion stage, Milan suffers from a style disjunction. The molto-sexy look of its most well-known labels, such as Versace, is rarely spotted on the Milanese themselves. The most famous Versace fan in the world is probably Elizabeth Hurley - and she, of course, lives in London.

But if there is one show on Milan's menswear fashion week schedule that best represents the city, it is probably D & G, Dolce and Gabbana's far cheaper label. Yesterday's show was typical: male models wore bleached jeans, cotton tartan shorts, T-shirts emblazoned with generic mottos, floral button-down shirts and charm necklaces - and that was just one outfit. And this is the D & G approach to life: pile it on, never mind trends, just knock out some quick turnover collections for the kids. They do have a point: 16-year-olds around the world, but particularly, from casual observation, in Milan, will always enjoy tight T-shirts, hoodies promising that the wearer is "Dynamite" and jeans slipping round their hips (all the better to see those floral boxers). Quite whether the label merits a fashion show is another matter.

At the other end is the self-consciously upscale Gucci. How upscale? Even the carpet of the show's venue was colour-coordinated to match the largely monochromatic collection. Perhaps in recognition that modern Italian style is not really the look that Gucci is going for, the designer, John Ray, took his inspiration from "an exclusive hotel on the Lido de Venezia in the 1930s". Well, who needs contemporary relevance when you can knock out swanky white tuxedos, double-breasted cardigans (far more elegant than they sound) and bags so big you could stuff a male model in them?

The trousers were cut short to give "a sensuous glimpse of a naked ankle", although this was more silly than sensuous. But the tuxedos were, as ever, really fine and will undoubtedly be seen at next year's Oscars in LA - if not, perhaps, on the streets of Milan itself.

Trend watch White trousers

What to look out for in the shops for spring and summer 2006

· It's official. The Liz Hurley effect has now spread into menswear, with Hurley's beloved white trousers featuring in pretty much every collection so far for spring/summer 2006

· On Sunday, Versace proved that Hurley is the label's icon for women and men alike, with its plentiful array of ivory trousers

· Yesterday Missoni wheeled them out, pairing them with the label's characteristically colourful and patterned shirts · But Gucci is so far winning the white trouser competition, featuring them in nearly every single outfit yesterday. Whether it has as many as Hurley, though, is unlikely .



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[kit]

more

Retro-activity

Miu Miu sends out party shirts as Milan harks back to the 80s

[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Hadley Freeman in Milan
Friday July 1, 2005
The Guardian

[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Milan menswear fashion week wound down yesterday with a characteristically quirky but wearable showing from Miu Miu, the second label from Prada.

Light-coloured, pre-wrinkled suits (a popular look for next summer, unfortunately for drycleaners) were brightened up with that favourite staple of all men aged 25 to 55, the party shirt. Button-down shirts were splashed with whizz-bang-wallop patterns in grey, red and blue, with matching metallic dog tags. For the more suave customer there were ties and shirts featuring cloth images of mysterious, Blues Brothers-style men wearing shades and sipping martinis, while sunglasses and trainers emblazoned with the label's logo should keep the accessories market happy

But Milan's dominating trend for spring/summer 2006 has not been quirkiness, but a return to the 80s - or, at least, the 80s in which the big brands first made their names.

Many show in the Italian economic centre, and most seem to think the way forward is to look back, even though many of the original designers are now taking more of a backseat role. At Versace, Warren Davies opted for a "South Beach Miami collection", resurrecting the fluorescent palm leaf and tropical plant prints and branching them across luminescent blouson shirts, paired with pastel trousers and suits.

"It's hard to get men to wear pastels, but I think people are tired of the whole studs and safety pin look," he mused, stroking a pair of acid green trousers. "I wanted to take it back to how Gianni [Versace] started out."

Similarly, at Calvin Klein, Italo Zucchelli showed pre-wrinkled cotton pale silver and beige suits, paired with orange T-shirts. The effect was reminiscent of Klein's Manhattan 80s heyday, from the tips of the suede slip-ons to the tops of the models' greased back hair.

At Emporio Armani cotton jackets were rolled to the elbow and worn with aviator shades, as if two decades never happened.

Whether this is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the past, or a desperate lack of ideas, is debatable. But there is more to it than that. When the Gucci designer John Ray showed what many felt was a very "un-Gucci" collection - white casual suits and espadrilles, as opposed to the more usual shiny black, faintly Eurotrashy style paired with loafers - the International Herald Tribune criticised it for just that: "This is the moment when, however good-looking the clothes, image is the engine of a brand."

This appears to be the overwhelming feeling among nervous designers, one hand in the sketchbook and another being held by interfering investors.

Whether customers agree that brand matters more than aesthetic when spending more than £1,000 on a suit remains to be seen. Next week, Paris menswear.

What to look out for in the shops for spring and summer 2006

· Designers have noticed there's a trend about, one they haven't started - and they're not happy. Yes, colourful charity wristbands. So you may have charity wristbands up to your elbow, but do you have a designer one? No? Fear not, next summer you'll have plenty

· Missoni included pretty little tie-on ones in all colours, matching the colourful geometric patterns in the show

· Even the po-faced luxury label Tods is dabbling in brightly coloured leather to wrap around men's wrists · Burberry featured bright yellow, green and blue wristbands, contrasting with the sepia tones of the clothes







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[kit]

Again , this last episode has not taken on the forum list , but it is here .

 

[nqth]

Thanks for the articles, Kit:-)

 

[kit]

FENDI : Bitter Sweet Emotions , Not Results


From Fashion Wire Daily



By Godfrey Deeny
The spirits of Antonioni and Bertolucci breathed through Fendi’s men’s collection, which was presented to the fashion industry via a short, bittersweet movie about teenage romance.

Entitled, “The First Sun,” the painterly film was an almost wordless tale about thwarted adolescent passion set in a small resort west of Rome.

“So much of summer when you are growing up is about youthful romance, and the way it inevitably comes to an end. It's bittersweet. That’s the scent of summer I wanted you to feel seeing these clothes,” Silvia Fendi explained to FWD after the screening in Fendi’s traditional show space on via Sciesa.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino, the short proved to be a crafty vehicle for displaying the collection, a breezy, bright, graphic and colorful selection that was very Fendi, and highly wearable.

The flick itself was set in a small port where the Fendi family once had a seaside home, and the sense of a pampered youth was evident throughout. Hailing from the British Isles, one could not help but feel a tinge of envy watching the handsome Roman youths (actors mostly, not models) swimming off rocky points, lolling around the grassy banks of posh swimming pools and stealing a kiss from their first adolescent obsession.

Post-screening, one could view the collection on racks and display stands, and what we saw looked just as attractive off screen. Macro check jackets with clever piping, natty cricket blazer stripes in muted hues and some brilliant jackets in zigzag prints – a big Paris trend – all looked very fine.

The stands also featured some excellent takes on bowling shoes alla Italiana, very neat multi-color woven leather belts and a series of great swimming trunks that made one bitterly regret the lack of a good pool nearby.

In short, there was plenty there for the costumer who wants good taste and something that bit different. No wonder, Fendi’s CEO Michael Burke seemed in such a good mood.

“I complained last year that we wanted Fendi to be a complete meal, not a soufflé based on one thing, the baguette. Well, now we have a full repast wine, with a good glass of wine. Neiman Marcus expects a record year for us, but with a full array of products, not thanks to just one bag,” beamed Burke.

 

[kit]

MARNI : From Industrial to Naive

From Fashion Wire Daily

By Godfrey Deeny



Naivety, in our hard-edged world, is generally not considered a virtue. But when it is taken to mean unaffected and innocent, it don’t seem too bad to us.

Naivety was the most apt term for the Marni men’s collection this season in Milan. In just its second season, the collection could be seen in a battered industrial warehouse in south Milan, artfully restored to leave an elegantly austere patina. Ideal to show a precise, understated collection of clothes with primitive prints on formal shirts, crew neck knits, skinny ties and casual cardigans.

Marni’s designer Consuelo Castiglioni also knows how to tailor – one suit had an exceptional lining that in one piece morphed into a double pocket. And it is nice to see that there is a designer who likes to keep things simple when it comes to styling: a V-neck sweater over a plain T-shirt is as far as it got here.

Though perhaps not a household name, Castiglioni has cut out a loyal following in the women’s fashion elite. In my experience, she is perhaps the most worn designer at shows internationally. And we all know that this is a great indicator of things to come.

Inevitably, one has to ask, will she achieve the same sort of support among men? On the basis of this collection, it’s unlikely, for though fresh and new, it lacks the same sort of panache and excitement of her clothes for hip ladies. But there is always next season and maybe a runway?

 

[maverick]

[font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]Hadley Freeman in Milan
Friday July 1, 2005
The Guardian

[/font][font=Geneva,Arial,sans-serif]
What to look out for in the shops for spring and summer 2006

· Designers have noticed there's a trend about, one they haven't started - and they're not happy. Yes, colourful charity wristbands. So you may have charity wristbands up to your elbow, but do you have a designer one? No? Fear not, next summer you'll have plenty


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Anyone have any idea what he is talking about? Or for that matter why anyone would want to wear a colorful wrist band?

 

[kit]

Anyone have any idea what he is talking about? Or for that matter why anyone would want to wear a colorful wrist band?

It's become the ' fashion ' in the UK for individuals - particularly socially conscious teenagers and young people , to wear a wristband in a particular colour ' to show overt support for the charity / good cause(s) etc. with which they are associated .

eg the ' Make poverty history ....' campaign
Live-8
the anti- bullying campaign
AIDS research ,

etc etc .

It has become SO much the fashion that criminals are having fake wristbands made up in China and sell them on the streets for about £2 , or so .

SO hypocritical , but if you think about it , you just could not make this up , in this Godforsaken little country .

 

[maverick]

It's become the ' fashion ' in the UK for individuals - particularly socially conscious teenagers and young people , to wear a wristband in a particular colour ' to show overt support for the charity / good cause(s) etc. with which they are associated .

eg the ' Make poverty history ....' campaign
Live-8
the anti- bullying campaign
AIDS research ,

etc etc .

It has become SO much the fashion that criminals are having fake wristbands made up in China and sell them on the streets for about £2 , or so .

SO hypocritical , but if you think about it , you just could not make this up , in this Godforsaken little country .

Thank you kit,

I can't say I understand the trend, it is a rather garish manner to support a charity.

 

[Morningstar]

In America the popular band is the Lance Armstrong Livestrong bands produced by Nike.

 

[orlem]

Anyone have any idea what he is talking about? Or for that matter why anyone would want to wear a colorful wrist band?

The funny thing is one out of three Americans is bound to have a few of these wristbands, and believe me it doesn't say anything about the person's charity. I couldn't tell you why in the world the trend caught on...

Anyway it's a huge stretch for the author of this article to say that any kind of bracelet the designers are making is a take on this trend.

 

[kit]

Thank you kit,

I can't say I understand the trend, it is a rather garish manner to support a charity.

Tell me about it .