Best of Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014

The beautiful city of Milan plays host to the second last fashion week of September, with famous designers and labels such as Moschino, MSGM, Salvatore Ferragamo, Missoni, Jil Sander, Roberto Cavalli and Giorgio Armani showcasing their upcoming collections for the Spring/Summer season. My favourites from this season include:

Fendi

It's wonder to see how Karl Lagerfeld, being the Creative Director of both Chanel and Fendi, can diversify and adapt to the different design aesthetics of these two illustrious fashion houses. Karl's collection for Fendi is abundant in space-aged sheer layering, creating a juxtaposition of femininity against the hardness of the technological. To further enhance this, coats and jackets feature patterns reminiscent of conduit boards and displaced triangular tessellations are present in the latter half of the collection.

Costume National

Costume National is one of those fashion houses whose intermittent repertoire is a rarity, and whose influence on fashion is apparent but unknown to many. The Italian fashion house has shown a very grounded and effortlessly stylish collection, focusing on warping essential womenswear staples such as white waistcoats, tea and cocktail dresses via the cut outs along the decolletages and hems and placement of sheers. The perfect collection for a woman whose style embodies the climax of minimalist and cubist details.

Prada

Prada never ceases to amaze the fashion industry with its consistently eccentric aesthetic, which so often changes, but has managed to set the benchmark for other underdog fashion designers and labels with its distinguishable look and feel. Amongst the street art and graffiti filled venue, models donning garments featuring eloquent encrusted jewels, vibrant colours and the odd artistic portraits of women walked the stage. A closer look at the collection forces one to question whether the leg-warmers are a hit or a miss, but there's no doubt that the footwear and handbags are going to be a hit amongst the mass.

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta's earthy and grounded aesthetic is the label's signature, and has been translated so once again in their Spring/Summer 2014 collection. What stands out in this collection is the layering, draping and fabric creases within the dresses, which, rather than adding weight and heaviness, bring a sense of lightness - a hard feat to achieve especially in these techniques. Undeniably sophisticated, the collection has been designed for the understated woman who loves the weight and feel of textured fabrics combined with expert craftsmanship.

Gianfranco Ferre

The architect of fashion, aka Gianfranco Ferre, and his geometric and cubist approach to fashion has been carried on by the Creative Directors of his label, with the Spring/Summer 2014 collection making that evident. With the architectural construction of these garments, you'd assume more a harsh and non-wearable aesthetic to be the product of the techniques involved, but this is certainly not true. The luxurious fabrics used within the pieces bring a softness to the obvious accentuated waistlines, shoulders and necklines, backed up by the sombre colour palette.

Images courtesy of Fashionising

The Best of Milan Men's Fashion Week S/S14

The collections presented at Milan this year seem to have reflected the designer's limited ability to deliver striking pieces, but maybe this is partly due to a change in the overall ethos of men's fashion. The extravagance has been toned down, with designers showing much simpler designs, focused on the rise of digitization and cleanliness of men's fashion. Of all the designers and labels who showed, besides Emporio Armani and Ermenegildo Zegna (reviewed in previous posts), notable Spring/Summer 2014 collections included Corneliani, Neil Barrett, Bottega Veneta, Iceberg, Fendi and Z Zegna.

Corneliani

Simplicity is the key theme of Corneliani's Spring/Summer 2014 collection, but it certainly isn't shallow. Although the crispness of simplicity is commendable, the attention to detail is what makes the collection a stand out. Creased collars, asymmetrical closings of coats and gradient circular tessellated print are plentiful in the collection, and are not necessarily easy to be seen, hence one's questionable first impressions of the collection are undoubtedly made false. A refreshing colour palette of white, nudes, navy blue and hints of teal emphasize the discreet details.

Neil Barrett

It's a risky venture for a designer to re-appropriate a classic pattern for the sake of revival, but Neil Barrett has done so without creating a tacky feel to the pattern. Checks came back into the forefront of fashion with the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2013 collection, but no menswear designer has effectively reflected that successful comeback since Marc Jacobs. The dissection of the checkerboard has appeared as an interesting motif throughout the collection, overshadowing the other details including curvaceous panelling, ribbed neoprene shirts, zipper pockets and texturised stripes. Imbalance is present, but execution of modernising the pattern is successful.

Bottega Veneta

As an avid fan of Bottega Veneta, it was no surprise that I would feature their new collection in my review of Milan Men's Fashion Week. Their signature aesthetic is apparent, with the calming colours of concrete, navy blue, sharp black and earthen browns and reds heightening the sombre diamond and iron grate patterns and embroidered stitching that flow throughout the collection. To many who are unaware of this illustrious label, the collection may seem tame and boring, but one must look further the craftsmanship of the pieces to appreciate its bespoke wonderment. 

Iceberg

Integrating artworks into fashion is another difficult endeavour taken on by fashion designers worldwide, and sometimes turn out catastrophic to both the credibility of the designer and the dignity of the artist. I cannot say this is the case for Iceberg, their careful selection of abstract artistic patterns easing into the structural, yet relaxed, look of the pieces within the collection. Panels of white and pops of orange are vivid, but no other detail within the collection stands against the artworks on the sweaters. 

Fendi

The desert stormed through Milan and is set to next season with Fendi's latest offering for the hotter months, just as they intended it to. The sand-covered runway fit perfectly with the Saharan-Mediterranean theme, making obvious the connection between the clothing and the ethos of the collection. Lightweight fabrics such as silken shirts, amassed with dusty and earthy prints, and wide-necked Sicilian shirts juxtaposed against the heavy leathers and out-of-context oxfords bring a modernity to the Ancient connotations of the collection. The fusion of past and future are clear with the structured feel of the garments and the colour palette reflecting the colours adorned by Desert Kings.

Z Zegna

The classic Zegna aesthetic has been glorified once again with a Spring/Summer collection from Paul Surridge. The enclosed, futuristic space in which the collection was presented contrast to the seemingly relaxed feel and look of most pieces within the collection, particularly shirting and bottoms, which loosely fit on the body without  blatantly hiding one's shape. A contemporary take on the honeycomb pattern is motif within the collection, with quilted jackets and leather jackets donning the pattern via embossing. In addition to this, a retake of the kaftan shirt, patterned trousers and kimono shirts deepen the relaxing vibe of the collection.

Images courtesy of Fashionising

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