Quotes of the Day
Forget new housing starts, unemployment rates or durable-goods orders. If you want a true indicator of our global economic health, count the shopping bags being carried by fashion editors during the runway shows in Milan. As recently as last fall the streets of the Italian fashion capital were chockablock with idling Mercedes as the brains behind Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire dashed into Fendi or Gucci and emerged with bags big enough to hold small children. Not this year. Last week you could swing one of those bags in any of those stores and not hit a paying customer. The rows at the shows were filled with talk, not of the latest purchases, but of what the euro has done to the prices at Prada. Silver shoes are cute, but at €425? Political chit-chat was limited to the effect a war would have on travel schedules and the luxury market. And that didn?t cheer up anybody.
Not even sunny Milan skies could inspire editors to get dressed up. Their clothes were sensible, their shoes were flat and their hair was dirty and tied back?indices of uneasiness every bit as clear as the rainbow peace signs that seemed to hang in every window. But dour and dirty had no place on the runways. There the skirts were short and the fabrics sparkly, but the most talked-about trend was confusion. Prada mixed up the gifts it gave to editors, much to the delight of C-list (third-row) editors who left the Prada show clutching large €800 A-list bags, while the A-lists (front-row) only got the smaller €300 bags. ?I thought it was hysterical, justice well served?those third-row girls work hard, they deserve all the gifts they can get,? says Anne Slowey, fashion news director at American Elle.
Maybe the people who work for Miuccia Prada were too busy contemplating the nature of beauty to keep the power ratings straight. Certainly, her Prada show was beautiful. The collection called to mind 1950s propriety — ladylike coats, long gloves, high heels — all done with a twist because with this designer, nothing is ever exactly what it seems. The coats were made of menswear fabric, the gloves were not slim and sexy, but more like something you?d use for gardening, and the shoes had mannish square toes.
Roberto Cavalli continues to excel in the sexy stakes: leather catsuits, animal prints and teensy-tiny dresses which were shown over jeans as a nod to blustery weather (that?s as practical as he got). Donatella Versace continues to develop a style of her own, one that?s stronger for daytime looks than for evening, despite the house?s reputation for high-glamour nights. Her leather coats — fringed, tight or mixed with fur — were particularly beautiful.
Not everyone ignored the state of world affairs. At Gucci, waists were fitted and belted buckles adorned the shoulders of evening dresses. Bottega Veneta went for medieval military with leather plates decorating the fronts of boots. Lest any of these messages be deemed too subtle, Cavalli, whose father was killed fighting in World War II, sent out bomber jackets at his first Just Cavalli show bearing the slogans not in my name and make wear not war. But fashion prefers fantasy to reality, and so some of the strongest shows ignored all of the above. Missoni, in a daring act of optimism, sent out lovely, flattering, well-tailored clothes designed for a world without war. Let?s hope those editors are soon in the mood to snap them up.
- LAUREN GOLDSTEIN | Milan
- Milan had it all — and still no one is buying