The Best Collections At Milan Fashion Week 2017

This is why I LOVE what I do. Milan Fashion Week 2017 Spring/Summer was beyond amazing, pure fashion, art, glamour, and edginess. Yes I tend to bitch and whine a little bit around FW, but truth is there’s this incredible pleasure in watching all the collections and immersing yourself into the sartorial world of next season while fashion literally unfolds in front of you and you pick up new trends, looks, & inspiration for current and future seasons.

Sure, some designers stuck to their legacy and what we always expect of them – like Armani par example (greys & blues, black tones, understated glamour, a lot of shorts, and more casual cut of the blazer) – but others were a magnificent surprise, like Versace. Donatella outdid herself with the SS2017 collection, and I truly feel that ALL designers at Milan FW were more courageous and uninhibited in expressing what Spring 2017 will be all about in terms of fashion and the times we live in.

Moschino did a collection that leaves you in awe and craving for some of the clothes, but also gets you thinking about how it all changed with social media. Life sized paper doll clothes invaded the runway and we were witnessing one of his best collections that combine today’s social media phenomenon if you will, with the Barbie look that Moschino is famous for. I loved it, and loved the intentional kitsch and the explosion of ‘too much’.

When NYFW started I predicted a back to 80s and 40s phenomenon with a bit sports/athleisure going on. And NYFW 2017 gave us that, but I must say not as much as I’d have expected, at least in terms of 80s fashion comeback.

Well… grab your coffee or drink or whatever and sit back for Milan FW. It not only gave us the reinvented 80s fashion with a beautiful melange of 1940s style, but it did so in the most clean, yet glamorous and explicit way possible.

Bottega Veneta was probably one of my favourite collections with what I thought was the best 1940’s transition to the 1980s. The women’s clothes started off as a very post WWII austere yet glam and feminine style and design, with masculine shoes, and socks, but cinged waists and very sexy fabrics, sombre classic colours, with a bit of yellow or brick brown outfits. Menswear is fantastic with the representation of how men will dress come 2017 spring. Those 40s high waist trousers, with casual tees and jackets slowly transitioned to the loose and slouchy 80s suits, that I never really cared much for in menswear but got to love with this collection. They were a great opening for women’s 80s inspired jumpsuits and slightly bouffant pants and broader shoulders tops and jackets. Absolutely gorgeous.

I also really liked Jil Sander, though I’m usually not a massive fan. I like it but I was never too into their collection. This season I actually loved their clean lines, and cuts and brilliant muted solids and powerful colours. Can I have any of those broad shoulders trench coats? sigh.

And then there was Prada. She’s one of the best and so was this collection which I thought was very effortless. Nothing was shocking but it was all pure pleasure to watch. Sporty inspired prints and tops mixed with chunky sporty shoes stuck into that athletic style we’re all still milking, and then there were the trench coats and retro moto jackets in ice-cream sporty colours, and of course the ostrich feathers adorning hems and sleeves.

Versace was brilliant, and I loved how she furthered herself a little bit from her usual glam inspired looks to more complicated pieces and gave us her own version of athletic wear. The collection was one of the best with pieces that were very powerful and body-unflattering-cut to more fitted pieces that stayed true to Donatella Versace’s hot woman. Hello green dress. I loved the skirts’ cut, amazing slits that made them slung sexy to the hips, brilliant trench coats and dark colours. The purple-green combo was insane.

Dsquared and Cavalli gave us what they’ve trained our eyes for so far: collections that stayed true to their brand. Cavalli was packed with 70s inspo, prints, and fluid silhouettes and Dsquared I swear had the best jackets and adornments.

Speaking of adornments and intricate absolutely exquisite embellishments – Dolce & Gabbana – shut the front door. They are one of my fave, no secret there, and like the above designers, they too gave us what we expected. With them we know to expect plenty of glamour and opulence but with that constantly traditional reinvented Sicilian legacy. There is also this type of femininity that you can only get with a Dolce and Gabbana collection, and this pure beauty and effortlessness that makes you feel Italian even though you’re not. Dolce vita vibes and gelato, and pastas, and pizzas and big jewellery mixed with traditional items. Oh and don’t get me started on the head pieces and earrings.

And then there was the world over at Gucci. Still making history. “You know, when you are in love, in a nightclub, but you are not in the right place, the person is not there?” said Alessando Michele. Think Renaissance meets 70s in a borderline kitsch filmset with plush pink carpets all over, strange outfits that you can’t help but love, horrendous beautiful humongous shoes, a doll-like scenario in which costumes take front seat and you kinda wanna stay in that film set and wear everything and never comeback to a reality of conformity in fashion, opulence, or glamour, depending on your cup of tea.

A wonderful surprise was Marco De Vincenzo‘s collection. I thought it was one of the most powerful and feminine with a dash of sexy collections in Milan. Strong beauty looks, bold lips, mixed with the best blues and pinks in the world and the best flirty and fluid cuts done in a very masculine way. LOVED it.

Maxmara had 80s written all over it. Amen to that. It was like watching Kim Basinger back in the day. Tall like a glass of champagne, all covered up in 80s jumpsuits and looking hot as hell. That orange skinny jumpsuit was beyond.

Missoni, Stella Jean & Fendi were beautiful collections to watch. Those kinds that you just wanna run away with all their clothes and live happily ever after. Stella Jean’s was football inspired and if I could live in those T-shirts I would. And Missoni… who knew knits could be whatever the hell you want them to be. Stunning.

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I made a reference to champagne in there somewhere. Now it’s all I can think about and it’s only noon on a freaking Wednesday.

xoxo