Umbrellas complicate access to the doors of the shows organized during Milan Fashion Week and the queues last forever. Accessing the live stream of the new collection for autumn winter 2024-2025 from Max Mara or Prada forces you to identify yourself, since the exceptional nature of fashion does not allow intruders: how expensive the resale passes would be!
Despite the rain, the public fills the street to see live Katie Holmes, Juliette Binoche and Emma Watson, in Prada, Jessica Alba and Olivia Palermo in Tod's or Dulceida in Cavalli. An Asian crowd welcomes actor Xiao Zhan, ambassador of Diego della Valle's flagship brand, while brigades of burly doormen pamper famous influencers who mix among well-known faces, such as Anna Wintour and Suzy Menkes, legend of journalism. fashion that continues to go to the catwalks even if it walks with a cane.
There is no single message from Italian fashion, beyond excellence in manufacturing, the choice of black as the king color and the redefinition of the feminine waist, well cinched, whether in knitwear, as Max Mara defends, or as a belt. corset in praise of a harmony that wants to be compatible with feminism.
Much lower heels, loose coats and leather as a symbol of resistance, although the aesthetic proposals of the new signing for Tod's, Matteo Tamburini, formerly Bottega Veneta, treat leather as a fabric. Fendi proposed a recital of geometric cuts that combine made in Italy with airs of British subversion.
The collections presented in Milan oscillate between the echoes of an eighties Studio 54 by Cavalli, designed by Fausto Puglisi, and the garments of Sportmax, which emulate the negatives of a “camera obscura”, title of an album by the singer Nico, who He also performed at Prada with the song My funny Valentine.
The soundtrack of the parades is a guide to the mood that each line projects. Nights of white satin by the Moody Blues and the voice of Irma Thomas sounded at the Prada Foundation.
“I am interested in the introduction of the good, the just and the gentle, because there is so much aggressiveness and evil that we have to highlight the other qualities of humanity, which women often represent,” says Miuccia Prada. “Is kindness more feminine?” We ask her after the parade, and she responds that we don't have time to address such a complex question, but there are the redesigned habits of nurses or captains.
The tight silhouette is softened by an accentuated verticality and the shoes and hats mark the proportions, while the coats hug the body. An important detail: the models advance with their hands free, and they put their left hand to their heart, since the bags are held with a wrist strap. Masculine fabrics are combined with satin and velvet. A suit reflects the present in front and the past in the back, the same one that resurrects a petticoat under the skirt with a stroke of ingenuity that makes them contemporary. Stereotypical clichés such as bows and ruffles are examined: “Why do they continue to fascinate?” ask the creators who deconstruct them. Prada brings a military echo, and Raff and Miuccia say that the hats evoke the current war background.
Ian Griffiths for Max Mara signed a magnificent collection that responds to the concept of beautiful fashion. Inspired by Colette, the creator showed that with just beige and black you can create a solid collection, whose clothes dignify women's appearance. For his part, Emporio Armani looked towards Paris with a proposal of washed velvets, baggy pants and berets. To close, a romantic artificial rain covered the catwalk.
“Follow your heart” has been the motto of the second collection that Sabato de Sarno signs for Gucci. In her front row sit stars like Salma Hayek, with her husband François-Henri Pinault. On the catwalk, miniskirts and minishorts: legs and more legs emerge in a return to the origins of Gucci. Less philosophy and more sewing, Sarno seems to say with a defense of delicate lingerie to dress up the night. Plus sequins, jackets and waxed boots. The notes of I'm not in love by Kelsey Lu silence the rain. The Milanese afternoon regains its light to applaud the Versace stars, and trying to respond to the codes of a new femininity.
