01.03.10

Milan Fashion Week AW10/11 - Highlights

Prada

Citing a return to “normal clothes”, Miuccia Prada presented a collection culminating where a lot of designers were heading in this season - subverted femininity. There were quintessential Prada references, revisited from the mid-90’s, which were re-hashed for AW10/11 as a sort of anti-fashion statement to the recent escalation of fad trends.

This season’s demure seductress, the ex-Stepford wife turned Hitchcock heroine, was familiar yet unconventional in close-up dissection. Early 60’s references were continued from the pre-fall collections, in embroidered swing coats with double-layered collars of cable knit and fur, high-waist A-line dresses, and retro prints on boxy skirt-suits. But nothing is straightforward in Prada’s world, and the second half of the collection upgraded belted classics and chunky cable knits with black and cream patent leather. Moving away from the shoulder and neck focus (the latter seen all over the AW10/11 catwalks, there was a seismic shift on the chest area with the use of layered ruffles and pointy-bra detailing on librarian-chic dresses.

The frilly knee-high socks matched the predominantly industrial colour palette, whilst the pointy bow-tie heels and back-combed beehives added a conservative 50’s feel to the endearing sexual tension of the collection. This perverse womanliness was finally accented with exaggerated cat-eye glasses, which will no doubt turn into the ‘it’ buy from an anti-trend collection.

Jil Sander

Inspired by two very incongruent film heroines, Lara Croft in Tom Raider (who knew Raf Simons was influenced by pop culture references?) and Anna Wintour in The September Issue, Jil Sander’s AW10/11 collection was a sterile version of empowered minimalism. The result of two such different influencers was on the one hand quietly aggressive - in sharp tailored jackets, knitted jumpsuits and tweed skirts with sheer panels, and impeccably elegant on the other- in plaid suits in brushed wool and mannish coats in mohair and cashmere. Sometimes, the two forces collided (quite literally on the X-shaped runway), in the case of a collar-less tartan tunic with slashed sides, paired with matching slim trousers.

The use of multiple plaid patterns, taken from Jil Sander’s early 90’s archive, was an unexpected turn for the usually monotone designer, but the technical cuts were true to his aesthetic — minimal and flawless. Raf’s ‘no gimmicks’ approach to design was also reflected in the anonymous mid-calf boots, completing the composition of contemporary power dressing.

Posted by Modesta Dziautaite

Tags: Milan Fashin Week AW10 Prada Jil Sander