Review by Suzy Menkes
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Sporty Marni beats Prada's surgical sexiness in Milan
By Suzy Menkes International Herald Tribune
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 27, 2006
Milan Miuccia Prada has seen the woman of the future - and she is wearing a slipper satin surgical tunic and Indian turban, and swinging an African grass skirt of a bag as she strides out on thin heels.
Is she sure? As certain as anyone can be whose millennial mission has been to re- define modern beauty.
"I just thought about fashion - the pleasure of the colors, the materials and the silhouette," Prada said disingenuously backstage, referring to the shiny duchesse satin in vibrant colors - like a strong, deep purple, fuchsia pink, orange and ink blue - often with a matching backpack that often seemed tougher and more substantial than the models with their bare beanstalk legs.
In contrast to the overtly sexy outfits that had a faint resonance of a 1940s showgirl, there were simple black or beige cotton dresses, calf-length, occasionally with a dark African pattern and always with that Prada pretense of primness, as the upper back was left open like a surgical gown.
You felt that all sorts of thoughts about multiculturalism, modernity and latent sexuality were stuffed into the bold backpacks. And that Prada was fascinated by the rich beauty of primitive things: fringed dresses in soft leather or a skirt made up from painted bottle tops, a creative artistry developed in the third world.
But whereas Prada's last show seemed like a turning point, as the designer exchanged strong Amazonian women for her former ladylike elegance, this show seemed more forced, with its turbans, brief tunics and girdles, while the medical theme just seemed like one more take on Prada's eternal fascination with uniforms.
To aficionados, buying in to the fur- trimmed parkas and thick-heeled shoes currently in the stores, Tuesday's spring/summer show seemed to have changed register for no real reason - except to sell more must-have accessories.
Put your name down now on the waiting list for the fringed bags. But fashion's future may take a different tack.
New volumes with a sporty energy made a standout show from Marni, a label that grows in its stature with each season.
Imagine dragging 1980s icons like athletic mesh and stretch jersey into today's cyber- space world. Add the fact that this whimsical brand was once predicated on a child-woman and a pastoral vision, and the achievement of the designer Consuelo Castiglione is the more remarkable.
Marni has moved from country meadows to urban streets - without losing any of the charm epitomized by its kooky mushroom- shaped hats.
"Sportswear with an interpretation, as a good combination with my femininity," Castiglione said backstage to describe her masterly meld of sculpted cotton tunics and dresses, which were loose at the back, but belted at the front and often worn over cropped leggings.
Those work-out staples came with racing stripes, and either peeked from under a hemline in a street-style way or were seen through a gauzy coat. Also in gym mode, a work-out bra top might appear under one of the new- volume coats.
Marni's geometry took the body as its compass point, but swirled around circles and half-moon shapes. Color blocks and artistic patterns decorated the surface.
The collection embraced shiny vinyl - an unthinkable note in Marni's early-bird song. Even the signature wood-and-feather jewelry had been transformed into bracelets of interlocking metal rings, proving that the change of direction went from head to hefty shoes.
The show defined a womanly modernity, and it moved Marni from an "alternative" brand into the big league.
[Excuse me for thinking too much...
] I can tell you that what we think is 'distortion' is just our convention... You know... I'd be happy if something, what we consider beautiful or casual, changed in our days... I mean whatever... Take 
Okay... I just want to skip into the next age (like from renaissance to baroque or from the '20s to the '60s) - and I believe Miuccia could help me out. 
