Once again, the Italians lived up to their solid reputation for providing women with wearable, well-made clothes in superb fabrics-the kind of clothes that are worth the investment because they look smart and last almost forever. But in the fashion collections that designers presented here last week for fall, a few of the stalwarts and a couple of the young alternative-wavelength creators also provided enough novelty and newness to make Milan a fashion center that is more than merely reliable.
Giorgio Armani`s feminine touches and opulent evening clothes, Gianni Versace`s baby-doll dresses (”They`re so hot they`ll singe the hangers in the stores,” said one retailer), Genny`s slick suits and Gianfranco Ferre`s sharp-edged jackets and reed-slim pants were touted as items that added verve to the week, enough to make the trip to Milan worthwhile.
Now, knowing that they have their bread-and-butter clothes ordered-along with some cake and maybe a bonbon or two-the retailers who decide what American women will be buying next September are ready to look at the zip and flash, the extremes and excitement that are Paris.
The French collections start today with an even greater international roster of designers on the schedule. Several defectors from London, including John Galliano and Katharine Hamnett, have joined the now-established Japanese showing in Paris; and even a young American designer, Carmelo Pomodoro, has decided to show his collection in France before New York.
`Modern` and `comfortable`
Paris is attracting such design talents because it has always been known as the place for fashion direction, the center of flair and ideas.
”But we get our modern, comfortable clothes from Milan,” said Ultimo`s president Joan Weinstein, who also owns the Giorgio Armani shop on Oak Street. It comes as no surprise, then, that she singled out Armani as ”the leader”
of those moderns. But Armani came in for even more laudatory comments than usual from other store executives as well.
”He didn`t fail us with his deconstructed suits,” said Kal Ruttenstein, Bloomingdale`s senior vice president and fashion director, referring to the designer`s softer tailoring. ”But the surprise was the simple opulence of evening and also the added note of sexiness in his spare, short and skinny evening dresses, which looked very young and modern. There`s a new edge to Armani.”
Neiman Marcus fashion director Joan Kaner was taken with Armani`s ”new sense of very feminine clothes. Small on the top and rounded on the hips” is something unusual from him, she indicated-and apparently, most welcome.
In his collection, Armani had sojourned beyond his usual simple suits and had ventured even further into more feminine detailing (the draped hipline of the suit of Style`s cover, for example), and Far Eastern inspirations and jeweled eveningwear. Many other designers had traveled into similar territories. Sometimes their efforts worked; other times, unfortunately, they went overboard and, as one retailer put it, ”their stuff looked schmaltzy.” Solid on the basics
Fortunately, what was on the runways does not always reach the stores. The trends shown here that will most likely affect American women`s wardrobes eventually (whether they buy the actual designer clothes or adaptations from more moderately priced lines) are the kinds of clothes Italians do best:
jackets, good pants, coats, things in suede and leather and, this time, more luxurious dressy things as well.
The newest jackets are very long-well below the hips and sometimes as long as the skirts they`re shown with; that means, of course, that the skirts are very short. Jackets have an infinite number of necklines and collar treatments. (In fact, collars are a trend in themselves, especially those that are particularly large and capey.) Jackets can be single- or double-breasted, showing one button at the waist or sporting three or four in a row; they can be shapely or oversized, sport wide lapels or drapey shawl collars (a strong Romeo Gigli influence). What matters is the length.
The coats of the moment are duffels and anoraks and parkas-items that are already popular as streetwear in the States. No matter. They look great as the Italians do them in their beautiful leathers and suedes, and they look fresh
(yes, again) in silks as evening cover-ups. The drawstrings and hoods, the zippers or duffel-coat closures inherent to these sporty coats have carried over to all types of dressing, resulting in things like hooded evening dresses and zipped flannel suits.
Shapes to come
Another important coat shape is the swing, tent or pyramid; curved-front coats (longer in back) are pervasive as well.
Also increasing in importance-in everything from coats to skirts and jackets-is the blouson, the rounded silhouette with turned-under hemline. Even Armani uses it frequently-maybe too frequently when it comes to some of his coats, but he can be forgiven that, considering his other contributions.
The pants that go beneath those coats and jackets are almost always skinny. Narrow pants, stirrup pants, tights (even bejeweled for evening) are more prevalent than skirts.
The trends that seep into all categories, whether sportive or dressy, are things like prints, trims such as fringe and fur and, of course, color.
The prints are a natural because of the underlying ethnic spirit-occasionally Russian, most often Far Eastern-and the continuation of the feminine spirit. Chinese vase patterns and florals tend to dominate, especially in brocades, velvets and matelasses. Newest and most interesting are the tapestries (beautiful at Dolce and Gabbana) and the recurrence of patterns that resemble needlepoint. Designers sometimes mixed three patterns together, with results that were dizzying.
Ice and earth
The range of colors is rather wide for fall-surprisingly including icy pastels and inevitably including black. Strongest are the earthy tans and browns with a strong show of gray in the neutral family, while real colors include all greens, orange to red and burgundy, and purple (especially with blue, turquoise and a jab of pink). Gold, as in the color mustard, and gold, as in metallic, are omnipresent in lace, leather, jewelry and sweaters.
A new kind of layering (inspired by Romeo Gigli, but now more widespread) also gave clothes a special flair. For example, a richly patterned and textured blouson or cocoon-type jacket was shown over a crisply tailored pinstriped suit (Genny); an ornate floral silk capelet with long black fringe covered the shoulders of a long and heavy melton coat (Callaghan).
Over-the-knee and thigh-high boots, most often in suede, complemented the superbrief skirts and occasional shorts shown.
”None of the things are revolutionary,” said Neiman Marcus` Kaner,
”but the clothes are very wearable.”
They will have to be in order to reach women`s closets. With the lira down and prices up, clothes for next fall will average about 15 percent higher than last year`s fashions. –
