Sat, November 11 2017 » Fashion Blog

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO SPRING SUMMER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK

Individuality. Distinctiveness. The Ferragamo Spring/Summer 2018 collection by Fulvio Rigoni celebrates women, exalting their multi-faceted styles, personalities and beauty. Inspired by the uniqueness of the women who wore Salvatore Ferragamo shoes. Greta Garbo, Carmen Miranda, Brigitte Bardot, Eva Peron and Marilyn Monroe, to whom the legendary shoemaker contributed in defining their elegance and allure.

“No two women are the same – I wanted to celebrate women’s individuality and style, vivid colors – ever evolving femininity, ”states Fulvio Rigoni, Design Director for the Salvatore Ferragamo Women’s RTW Collections.

Similarly, the collection is hinged on great standalone pieces with assorted silhouettes, textures, prints and attitudes that lend themselves to be mixed-and-matched liberally, according to one’s personality. Drawing from a vast time frame – pencil silhouettes from the Twenties, fringes from the Thirties, Fifties’ full skirts, Seventies flares – each look is put together to tell a different story with femininity, quality and color as the common thread. Each one is infused with a surprise element, a modernist twist and highly-detailed touches that represent Ferragamo’s idea of “high tech, high craft.”

Quintessentially Ferragamo, the color palette features shots of geranium pink, emerald green, bright red and plum, tempered by pastels and white.

Textures play a key role. Tops and wide-legged pants with a mélange effect are made with crocheted chinè cotton; perforations are micro on suede and macro on hand-painted python for a semi-transparent look, at once unexpected and vivid.

Prints are exclusive and inventive. Striped graphic prints offer an unusual 3-D effect as if different fabrics were draped, layered and twisted while the florals include a maxi flower positioned on the side or a hazy, painterly all-overall motif, at times enriched with gauzy patterned overlays for an X-ray effect. They appear on dresses, tops and evening gowns, in varying lengths, often asymmetrical for a more fluid, relaxed and summery elegance.

High-skilled artisanship elevates the knitwear enriched with labor-intensive intarsia inserts.

The accessories add the finishing touch with small leather bags featuring gold and silver Gancini hardware evocative of costume jewelry like metal bracelet-looking handles, geometric totes and belt bags in rich choc brown. The footwear spans from embroidered stretch booties with Ferragamo’s signature “Flower” and “Cage” heel, to embellished flat sandals and cross-over mules.

Head-to-toe Individuality that crystalizes and respects the personality of each woman.

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Tags: Salvatore Ferragamo, SALVATORE FERRAGAMO SS 2018, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2018

Sat, November 11 2017 » Fashion Blog

MARNI SPRING SUMMER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK

Treasure hunt. Bits and pieces collected on an endless search, put together like strings of DNA, or charms dangling from a bracelet. Lovingly.

A multitude of women, surfing through a multitude of worlds. They scavenge into trunks full of objects, finding items that belong to different individuals and carry different stories: Fifties bathing suits and dressing gowns, humongous polo shirts and sumptuous skirts, outscaled pants and impalpable slip dresses.

They play, dissect, adopt, adapt. Joyfully. They magnify, distort, distress, glorify. Spontaneously. Their idea of beauty is a bizarre cocktail: shaken, not stirred. The ingredients range wide: couture nods and Twenties languors, balloon poises and skaters’ slouch, ravers and flappers.

The spirit is inquisitive. Nothing is taken for granted, or as it is. Insides and constructions peek a boo as through X rays. Seams and toiles are exposed, hems cut raw and frayed.

New balances arise from the flipping of an angle, or a grand-angle. Masculine pieces morph to the womanly shape. Volumes get reconfigured. Micro turns into macro, and viceversa. Harmony emanates from clashes and cacophonies: demure furry shoes and sturdy Wellingtons, fragile silks and compact knits, utilitarian checks and elitist flowers.

Surprise. Objects lost, objects trouvé, knotted into jewels. A lucid accumulation of accidents, like the female figures in David Salle’s early drawings, seductive in pose, scribbled over in hastened gestures.

The humanity of touch, expressed by women who do and do not pose. Their urge to make things their own, to assemble, disassemble and reassemble is playfully childish. Dada, perhaps. Spontaneous, always. Beauty as a playful act. And as such, as a subversive one.

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Tags: MARNI, MARNI SS 2018, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2018

Sat, November 11 2017 » Fashion Blog

N°21 SPRING SUMMER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK

“NUDA”

Countercurrent/Countercontemporary. Rather than direct referencing, a keen reappropriation. No revision or reworking, by contrast an explicit return to authenticity. «I wanted to go back to my own fashion codes, the ones that established my style and that I’ve now imbued N°21 with through a conscious pursuit of authenticity. So that the style message is clear, recognizable, definite, strong. I like to personalize my work, present my own viewpoint on fashion as a way to take responsibility, because I think the brand should narrate my vision, namely the vision of its author,» says Alessandro Dell’Acqua, creative director of N°21.

Irriverent. Assertion of an authoritative message, one with a distinct personality, on the concept of femininity. The color blush pink — inflected in 21 shades of flesh tone — imprints the character of the collection. «Son qui radiografata, son nuda anche vestita (I am here x-rayed, nude even with my clothes on)»: Nuda, Mina’s 1976 song written by Don Backy, soundtrack for this show, becomes the manifesto that tells the story of clothes in all shades of blush pink and that affirms a woman’s right to have her person and her body respected, no matter how many centimeters of skin are covered or not covered. Embroideries, overlays, plisse skirts with plume inserts, sheer tulle on dresses and parkas, little mohair sweaters with sequins and feathers. Lingerie ribbon distinctly marking seams, the rims of shoes with satin lining and contrast high heel. Lightweight knit bras and culottes appearing under voile dresses. Sequin- or crystal-studded petticoats peeking out from under dresses in nylon or duchesse fabric. Leopard print coats presenting lovely sheer tulle overlays.

Now New. The masculine/feminine mix, another one of Alessandro Dell’Acqua’s fashion codes, infiltrates the N°21 collection through mannish check fabrics in the form of skirts, short pants, bomber jackets. And, quite surprisingly, through full skirts in tech brocades. In a statement by a woman with a multiple personality: «Io v’innamorerò parlandovi di me (I will make you fall in love talking to you about me)», Nuda, Mina.

Eye Candy. Eyewear expressing optimism. Ultra clear colored lenses on frames in blush pink or some other pastel tone. All to highlight an alluring look, a sophisticated step-up in glam through objects and accessories that become iconic if interpreted within the context of a conscious style.

Inspirational. Introduction of the Alice Bag, a long-strap handbag to sport on the shoulder too. In addition to the normal size, there are mini and tote versions. Complete with crystal edging. It joins the Bow Bag, where the brand’s signature bow makes for the smartest of features.

Aspirational. The spring-summer 2018 N°21 collection by Alessandro Dell’Acqua depicts fashion for a woman firmly set on asserting her own aspirations. «Con la mia testa io vi conquisterò (I will win you over with my mind),» as Mina says in the show’s soundtrack. Meanwhile affirming the right to determine the moment of seduction: «E per chi vuol vedere le gambe e il mio sedere, vestiti trasparenti li accontenterò (And for those who want to see my legs and rear, see-through clothes, I will accommodate them)».

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Tags: N°21, N°21 SS 2018, SPRING SUMMER WOMEN 2018

Fri, November 10 2017 » Fashion Blog

FRANCESCO SCOGNAMIGLIO SPRING SUMMER 2018 WOMEN’S COLLECTION – MILAN FASHION WEEK

Liberté – Décadence

For Francesco Scognamiglio Spring-Summer 2018 represents freedom: aesthetic and ecstatic representation of a delicate restless soul, mislaid between romanticism and perdition. A desert island, the place of an inner and exterior journey.

Light silks and tropical textures are decorated with exotic palms, alternated by kisses and screams in a midsummer night. Diaphanous and romantic lace, blends with patent, evoking a shining Cadillac. Antique pink coatings, fuchsia, black and bronze restore thickness to ethereal flounces. Form becomes matter: the polka dots are lurex holes or three- dimensional crystals.

Inevitable dresses, cropped-short and sometimes longuette, shown together with blouses and shirt-dresses with tight knit lurex sashes round the waist. Boxer pants to the knee, recalls men’s underwear. Overcoats are transformed into silk printed and embroidered bombers. The colour palettes ranges from silver to azure, from bronze to antique rose, with fuchsia and deep black details.

Evanescent creature in the midst of summer, Francesco Scognamiglio’s woman is an angel, travelling from and to perdition, lost between dreams and disenchantments.

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