AquilanoRimondi’s pencil-into-bubble dress had many variations, including innocent red plaid, belted, with short, puffed black velvet sleeves with golden hearts. Others shimmered fantastically with black sequins. The pair gave one nod to innocence, with a lace collar. There also were flared skirts with voluminous folds, an homage to the 1950s, often in plaid or checked tweeds.
Hearts were one of the prevailing motifs, showing up as patterns on silken fabrics and in neat rows down the back of high-heeled shoes. They also formed large panels on the front of dresses that cleverly concealed pockets.
PUCCI
It was a naughty little show, but quite a relief from the Goth fashion prevalent on the current Milan runway.
The mood at the Emilio Pucci show for next fall ‘‘is playful and unapologetically optimistic,’’ Norwegian designer Peter Dundas said in the notes for the collection presented Saturday in a downtown Milan palazzo.
The ‘‘Pucci Girl’’ is carefree, glamorous and sassy. She likes hot pants, miniskirts and thigh-high boots that cling like a second skin. She’s not satisfied with just a mink jacket. It has to be fabulously pink and puffy.
For evening she decorates her shorts and matching top with glittery sequins, and switches to stiletto pumps, baring her legs.
Much of the collection’s night wear is a flirtatious combination of sheer fabrics, prints and embroidery. The Midas touch comes in tunic dresses and gowns held together by myriad gilded beads.
VIONNET
The maison Vionnet is honoring its heritage with an exhibit of sketches of founder Madeleine Vionnet’s designs as rendered by the futurist artist Thayaht.
The 60 sketches, on display at the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in Milan in conjunction with fashion week, also pay tribute to the French design house’s bonds with Italy.
Madeleine Vionnet designed strictly on 80-centimeter (31-inche) mannequins, which allowed her to achieve the proper draping and three-dimensional effect on the body. The designs were rendered into drawings by Thayaht, an Italian artist born Ernesto Michahelles, who invented the iconic Italian blue worker’s jumpsuit. They depict a bold tunic with an asymmetrical shawl top and drop-waist black gown with a red-and-brown sash.
The French house founded in 1912 was purchased in 2008 by Matteo Marzotto and Gianni Castiglioni, who are recreating the French brand with Italian quality. They have brought on Milan-based Russian designer Goga Ashkenazi as creative director, who has kept up the house’s tradition of designing on mannequins.
