Minimalism was a good way to get buzz during Saturday’s shows (see: Bottega Veneta and Jil Sander). All was not straight and narrower, however. At Emilio Pucci where Peter Dundas has scaled back in recent seasons, the designer set tongues wagging with his embellished-to-the-max microminidresses that adhered to the philosophy of more is more.
From a few bad girl tartans at Moschino to Versace’s entire “Vunk” collection, Friday the most buzzed about shows were those most likely to step out on the Met Gala red carpet for this year’s Costume Institute Punk exhibition. We’re calling the slit-to-the-collar-bone closing look for you, Anja Rubik.
Fashion with a capital F was the order of the day on Thursday at Milan Fashion Week, where Miuccia Prada pulled all the triggers on subversive femininity and Karl Lagerfeld probably caused more than a few PETA supporters to say what the EFF?!!”
On the first day of Milan Fashion Week, the most buzzed about collections were those that interrogated the complex theater of the female persona. Alberta Ferretti showed prim neo-Victorian looks that were even more so than usually innocent, while at Gucci, Frida Giannini became the true standard bearer for 90s-era Tom Ford. Photos: IMAXtree
So, OK, that was the darkest London Fashion Week we’ve seen in awhile. If you’re not quite sure what came over British designers, flash back with Report Card now through for the spots of black gold, like, for instance, when Tom ford said “Kapow!”
Though the final day of London Fashion Week was left to the young guns, it was all about “Advanced Style,” what with Simone Rocha giving an object lesson in respect-your-elders chic. Meadham Kirchhoff went back to black, while Roksanda Ilincic was very much in the pink.
It may have been a sleepy President’s Day here in the good ole U.S. of A., but if you’re looking for a little visual wallop, Super Monday in the U.K. offered luxed-up sex at Burberry Prorsum, fifty shades of black at Erdem, a “this is your brain on Christopher Kane” performance for PPR, and the return to the catwalk of Tom Ford.
Has hell frozen over? Sunday at two of London’s most redoubtable print masters, Mary Katrantzou and Jonathan Saunders, bright digital prints were not at display. (Boobies were though, at the later.) Also of note were the grown-up womanly looks at Mulberry and Preen as well as at L’Wren Scott’s UK debut, where look seven (a cobalt wool dress with gold collar) premiered on the runway after it premiered on Nicole Kidman at the Stoker premiere.
What’s the buzz from across the pond? On the second day of London Fashion Week, those designers who got everyone talking went their own very eccentric way–whether that be upcycling at Christopher Raeburn, haute frayed denim at Marques’Almeida, wacky knits at Sister by Sibling, or racing sophistication at Thomas Tait.
If your head’s still spinning from all the nonstop fashion action at Lincoln Center, Milk Studios, and points further afield (hi, Cunard Building!), flash back with Report Card through a digest of critics’ picks for the 13 top shows. Why 13? threeASFOUR did a bonkers show as one of the last of the week inspired by “ophiuchus,” the supposed 13th Zodaic sign, and also it just seemed like an apt number.
Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Manhattan anymore. From fantastical flowered headgear to sheer-ish latex looks and peekaboo trousers, but a few hours after New York Fashion Week wrapped, the message in the land of outlandish fashion was clear: “Welcome to London Town!”
Thanks, Marc, for moving your main line to the last spot on the grid, on the day that Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein’s Francisco Costa show. You made it very easy for Report Card when selecting the final critics’ picks for most buzzed about runway spectacles.
