Italians focus on creative fashion styles

MILAN — Undaunted by the recession, the curtain closed Tuesday on the Milan runway with Italian designers offering creative styles for fall and winter 2009-2010.

Recession cutbacks did affect buyer and press attendance — down 25 percent — and are sure to influence orders, but on the runway, the designers performed well.

“We must follow our inspiration and deal with the rest later,” Domenico Dolce told reporters before the Dolce&Gabbana show, inspired by surrealist artists’ search for boundless freedom.

Overall, the collections refer back to the 1980s, a trend already seen at the New York shows. The look, however, was softer than in those aggressive fashion years, as witnessed by the return of the power suit minus the bossy shoulder padding.

The winter silhouette is wide on top and narrow at the bottom. Many outfits are belted at the waist.

The little shift is the favorite dress, and mini skirts are everywhere.

Far from surrendering to austerity, the designers offered glitz, with showy jewelry, shiny fabrics and a myriad of glittering sequins decorating the outfits.

Detail was all-important in this round of previews, from intricate buttons to metallic embroidery to stitched-on jewelry.

The single most popular item are leggings, ranging from stretch fabric to super-soft leather. Leggings often replaced pants, which were super slim. The high-heeled boot also has a legging top.

Leather dresses, and even a couple of fur dresses, showed up on the runway, as did fur bags.

Footwear continues to tower on multi-inch platform pumps or high-heeled sandals. Ankle boots are an alternative to the thigh-high legging boot.

Black, a 1980’s favorite as well as a doomsday hue, is the non-color of the season, joined by gray and brown. But purple, pink and even bright red liven up the scene.

Long hair was often wavy, and bland makeup, except for a few hot lips, spoke of discretion in these troubled times.

The fashion pack next moves on to Paris, where the French will unveil their receipes for palatable recession fashion.

Tags: community, fashion, boot, italian