Milan is where editors, buyers, bloggers and spectators unite for one sole purpose…fashion adoration! This is where the trends for next fall begin and this is where the inspirations are born for what we know as trickle down to the mass fashion brands. So, in addition to finding these exact clothes at Bergdorf Goodman, Barneys, Jeffrey, Bloomingdales and Saks Fifth Avenue, you will also be feeling their influence at stores like Zara, H&H, Forever 21 and even The Gap.
Tomas Maier showed a very slick and understandable collection for Bottega Veneta. He is one of the more intellectual designers who seem to rely more on the blah blah blah and less on the clothes but this season the clothes are beautiful and possibly even refined. The razor sharp tailoring is certainly welcome after the so so soft looks that he has a penchant for as is the palette of the usual black, brown and navy but he injects some purple tones with great ease.
Loving the embellishment of the jewels and adored the black gown with the cabbage rose peplum but I am certainly less partial to the below the knee pant and corsetry and even less enamored by the styling with the droopy knee hose. P.S. a couple of short black dresses looked a bit clumsy and the prints seemed unimportant given the tenor of the collection.
Raf Simons and his final collection at Jil Sander will go down as one of the more forgettable during his time at the helm of the brand. The progression from barely there beige and pink to almost pastel beige and pink to red to black left something to be desired given that this was a fall collection. As a rule, Mr. Simons infuses the brand with fashion and yet keeps the DNA and the vocabulary of the brand with in its parameters.
For some god forsaken reason the injection of corsetry and the abundance of dresses did not help the case. Yes the duster/bathrobe coats were divine, but the underpinnings were of questionable beauty and/or merit. There were far too many dresses and too many gimmicks whether it be in design like the side drape of a skirt or the horrid look of the glossy black or shiny silver; in short there was no chic no edge that certainly was so evident last spring.
In the end, if you are only as good as your last collection, then Mr. Simons will walk away with his head slightly bowed!
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