Milan Begins: Armani, Burberry, Dsquared

If New York's fashion week is practical and commercial and London colorful and streetwise, then Milan is like the alluring, elegant older sister of Fashion Weeks. It began with three disparate shows, including the grand master, Giorgio Armani. He showed within his typically sophisticated mien, taking inspiration from the nautical themes that have been popping up here and there. There were elegant interpretations of sailor stripes and almost surreal little decorative touches like anchors and other sailing accoutrements. Despite the tributes, exhibitions and stars on the Hollywood Walk of Style, Armani's role in fashion is almost overlooked in its quest for perpetual stimulation, but the spring show demonstrates what he does best: make clothes that are timelessly stylish without falling into traps of trendiness. They may not inspire the rabid excitement that greets the newest thing, but Armani will always stand for a classic stylishness that makes him one of the truly global brands of fashion.

If Armani lifts itself out of the maw of fashion, then Burberry Prorsum keeps it all up to the minute, thanks to wonder boy designer Christopher Bailey, who has been remaking Burberry into something decidedly au courant (and financially solvent.) Perpetually It girl Kate Moss walked the runway, leading off a show that displayed a lightness of touch that falls into the rest of the spring trends without stepping into twee or cute territory. The palest green, the freshest pink and the prettiest grey (or is it "griege" these days?) popped up into loose, easy silhouettes comprised of little biker jackets, swinging skirts, abbreviated trench coat capelets and little t-shirts that were tossed together with the coolest insouciance. It was very tomboy and a touch of London in Italy.

If Burberry is a cool customer, then Dsquared is a hot tamale of a fashion show. There was no subtlety to be found: it was very 50s and very sexed-up, and will probably be found on the body of Eve, Lil' Kim and maybe even J Lo if Ben Affleck ditches her and she goes on the rebound. There's nothing new about t-shirts with "Rebel" emblazoned on them - they might as well have "Hot Topic" emblazoned on them - but there were some dead-sexy leather pieces, including a shrunken biker jacket and some tight leather cargo pants. It was exuberantly slutty and heavy on the va-va-voom; no wonder a huge crowd showed up at the show.

Posted by Kat in Fashion Weeks
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