the cherry on top

Milan Fashion Week wrapped up yesterday after four days of non-stop hit collections. I was in awe of the usuals (Zegna, Jil Sander, Burberry) but what made things even better was the fact that Domenico and Stefano at Dolce & Gabbana and D&G really showed why they became so popular in the first place. Going away from the usual Italian stereotypes of gold sneakers and stuffed shirts and ripped jeans, the Italian duo keeps finding inspiration in the country's traditional clothing and putting it through their funnel to bring their clothes to the present. For the D&G line, which I haven't liked since I was 16, they gave us a picnic orgy of gingham and espadrilles. They created mono-colour outfits that played with patterns, prints and texture. Everything was extremely wearable, fresh and, yes, desirable.

Dean and Dan at Dsquared2 were my second surprise of the week. I normally find their collections really fun and clever but too stuck into their own cliched Italian-ness. For SS11, however, their found inspiration in the classic 'American Gigolo'. Personally, I think they couldn't have chosen a theme that suited them better. The 80's vibe works amazingly with the really modern colours of the tucked-in t-shirts and tight straight-legged jeans. Their collection also had that kind of cocky attitude they always add to their clothes but this time it was a cool kind of cockiness when men slick their hair back and leave undone a few buttons on their shirts for the walk of shame they will enjoy.

And now we're on to Paris. It's only getting better. Which was your favourite collection from MFW?
I'm off.

[Pictures: GQ.com, larapixie.blogspot.com]

peaches from Monaco

This short post is the product of a bit of a long story and a few random stops on websites. This morning I was having a look at what the buyers from Net-a-Porter had chosen from the Versace SS10 collection. I was quite excited because, even though I have never been a fan of Donatella's creative decisions, I have very much liked the turn the brand has started taking in the last few seasons. SS10 went a little back to Gianni's 80's, which was refreshingly retro, if you know what I mean. This time, there was more of a pastel feel to the colours and gold was substituted with silver —trying to get away from the traditional Versace tackiness Donatella has us used to.

In the middle of doing this I made my daily stop at RDuJour to see what glamourous content they had come up with for today. As it turned out, an interview Barbara Walters had with Princess Caroline of Monaco around 1985. I was happy to see them embracing the 80's with (Caroline) an all-white ensemble and (Barbara) in pastel peach. This last outfit made me think straight away of Versace's peach colour for this summer, of which Net-a-Porter happens to be selling a few pieces. End of the story.

Click here to see the second part of the interview.

[Sources: Style.com, Net-a-Porter.com, RDuJour.com]

I'm off.