By Banzay on 06:13
Filed Under: Loren, Sophia
It's safe to look like a rich lady again.The styles coming from the Italian fashion capital for next season are luxurious and elegant: sumptuous fur coats that Sophia Loren might love, ladylike pointy-toed pumps, and glamorous dresses that seem inspired by Turner Classic Movies.The week's shows in Milan, which ended March 1, suggested that it's OK to show off your wealth—a message the world hasn't seen since 2007, before the financial meltdown. But flaunting it doesn't involve the tawdry flash of the last decade. This isn't so-called affordable luxury that focuses on youth and big labels.Instead, the new luxury is deeply appropriate, in the way that your mom might have meant the word: prim structured handbags, with hinges that snap, and shoes—like those Ferragamo showed—made of fabric that matches the dress and bag, à la Doris Day. The predominant dress silhouette covers a woman from neck to knee.The look manages to be opulent at the same time, featuring extraordinary materials such as furs you can sink into and a crocodile-skin skirt that Brioni sent out. Luxe was a theme at New York Fashion Week, but for European labels, the level is amped up way beyond the likes of fur trim to encompass whole garments of sable or mink. Bottega Veneta, where the models' hairstyles aged them a good 30 years, encapsulated a key look: society woman headed to a charity luncheon.Around the world, wealthy shoppers are displaying a resurgence of income and confidence. "They're back," said Steve Sadove, chief executive of Saks Fifth Avenue, looking jolly and confident at a cocktail party in Milan. His department stores' richest customers are the ones who are boosting business, he said, and it's the luxe goods that they want.To be sure, unemployment in the U.S. is still hovering near 10%, and most middle- and working-class families aren't experiencing an economic recovery. But consumers are queuing up for Chanel in places like China and Hong Kong, where hotel consultant Alicia Kan recently said one of her client hotels has been throwing out record numbers of luxury-brand shopping bags left behind by guests. "It's like there's no recession," she said.In established economies such as the U.S., wealthy people have stopped boasting of "shopping in their closets"—a phrase that swept the country three years ago.Fashion has been tiptoeing toward an all-out show of wealth. For instance, last fall's fascination with Mongolian lamb and goat hair—long, deep, dramatic shearling, essentially—was a first step toward lavish furs.Kean Etro, a member of Italy's Etro textile dynasty and designer of Etro's menswear, said it's important for the industry to move away from mass-produced affordable-luxury products. "That's status, not luxury," he says. Luxury fashions, he says, should be so sumptuous that they can't be produced—and aren't affordable—in mass quantities.The fall runway shows now move on to Paris. While Parisian designers can be unpredictable, the city is the world's capital of luxury and home to the world's two biggest luxury conglomerates, LVMH and PPR.For years, the fashion business has been obsessed with reaching a younger audience. This led many designers to create revealing clothes, leaving women over 40 years old to shop in the more subdued "commercial collections." This season, mature women, who tend to have more disposable income to spend on designer clothing, should have a smorgasbord of runway looks to sample.The styles aren't old-lady boring, though. They look modern because they are eccentric, such as Marni's off-kilter rounded lines and Prada's blown-up plaids, or they are made of extraordinary materials. Bottega Veneta's mohair coats and suits, python bags and silk lace dresses are statement pieces.Despite the mid-20th-century look, these are not the uptight clothes that women wore in an era of boned corsets and unforgiving fabrics. These clothes have a clear focus on comfort and lifestyle.For the Jil Sander brand, for instance, designer Raf Simons centered his collection on a simple black stirrup pant. Over the pants, he layered all manner of elegant toppers, from swingy minimalist dresses to chic sweaters. The style was elegant, but it also looked as though you could curl your legs up on the couch with your glass of champagne.As the rich-lady look translated into accessories, brands such as Gucci, Fendi, Prada and Jil Sander suggested that women need new handbags, after years of the slouchy look. Tina Craig, co-founder of the influential Bag Snob blog, says she noticed "a dramatic reduction in the size of bags, from oversized trash-bag styles to a structured and ladylike aesthetic." She says her favorite was Gucci's revamped Bardot bag with a top handle in exotic skins. Crocodile, lizard, ostrich and python were all over Gucci's runway.Extreme elegance extended into evening clothes, where glitter and glamour were the thing. The final look for Versace—a star-quality gown that slithered down the runway—summed it up best. Eat your heart out, Ava Gardner.
Subscribe RSS via Feed
Subscribe RSS via Email
0 comm. for this post