It’s the young people of NUDE - New Upcoming DEsigners – who close the Milan Fashion Week, SS 2012. A closure that is actually a projection toward the future of Italian fashion, a see you to next season.

It was an important signal to enter the  young people in the calendar and give them the task of closing Milan Fashion Week: a signal that should be grasped in particular by the many young people who are interested in fashion through writing and photography, whose first task should be to bring forward and introduce  their peers to the big public.

On the catwalk show the collections of Mauro Gasperi, selected from the Fashion Incubator,  Sergei Grinko, Russian up and coming  designers, and Francesca Liberatore, the winner of the Next Generation.

MAURO GASPERI brings on the catwalk  few but decisive colors: black, white, cocoa, blue with golden veins and yellow, in the wake of the trends for next season. The difference are the  "spaces" that Gasperi  builds and occupies with the fabrics  that overlap each other. But the spaces are also let free: in some details, in some parts of each garment , it  is a game of adding and subtracting. And even when you open a seemingly empty triangle, filling it is the personality and the skin of the woman who wears the garment. The cuts are strategic, lines overlay horizontally and diagonally, stripes and fringes which are the symbol of the freedom to mix styles, which after all is the major leitmotif of the collection. Freedom of who wears them, but also of those who create it by combining geometric and almost architectural features to the delicacy of the female shapes.

SERGEI Grinko is inspired by the legendary lost civilization of Atlantis, with women, half sirens, that charm with bold color combinations and dangerous underwater monsters that look like jeweled-lobsters, a true symbol of the collection, declined in the form of accessory or decor of the garment. The jewels included in the dresses are made of  resin, raffia and crystals: lightweight in materials, but with an imposing look. Spectacular dresses , but always within the pret-à-porter. The queens of the sea of ​​Sergei Grinko have high tails and green water colored hair strands, to recall the shades of the dresses, but there is also ample room for turquoise, green, pink and gray. The real peculiarity of the collection, however, are not the clutches covered with teeth or "monsters" that cover the back of the models, but the ability to render three-dimensional the fabrics through the application of crystals that deceive the eye of the beholder, that feels projected in the middle of a show worthy of an international pop star, and at the same time, in the magnificent Atlantis.

FRANCESCA LIBERATORE. The themes of the sea return in this part of the show, but obviously differently declined. It is the beauty of nature, the texture of the fishes but also of the sea, from a human point of view. And so they  meet and clash, as in life, creatures of the sea and fishermen's nets, repeated, not as dresses but as decorations on jerseys and pants. Nets that in this case are not fatal, but decorative and shimmer and absorb the glow of the sea under the sun.
The designer uses Swarovski Elements to give light to her dresses, but it’s the imagination who does the rest. And here comes a big fish on the catwalk, which is actually a bag  entirely handmade, the glasses which remind us of the deep sea creature looks, the striped prints, the coral pink and mint green shades, the sugar paper which characterizes the skirts. Francesca Liberatore is inspired by the fishermen, thinking about women and their elegance, their desire for creativity and freedom, their greatness. Greatness  that has always belonged, in the popular imagination, to the sea.

The original was accompanied at the shows, with nonchalance, by his fiancée Garance Doré.

He wandered through the crowd before entering Jo No Fui, as if he was there almost by coincidence, behind two photographers commented "Now, not only do we have starlets, we also have bloggers,  bloggers' girlfriends, children of bloggers etc. ... ". Well, at least, there is always someone to photograph ...

The others are bloggers, but he is Scott Schuman, the genius that made street style ​​glossy, inspired thousands of image workers and experimentalists of many different styles. In his photographs Extravagance and Elegance go hand in hand, capturing those fifteen minutes of fame, which become eternal if fixed on film (digital). And so, anyone who had a camera or mobile phone at hand, at the Milan Fashion Week, could not help but shoot pictures when in front of amazing mix & match outfits designed up to enamel color of the feet, elegant and black silhouettes lit by a red lipstick, cosmopolitan looks and captivating fantasies, feeling for a moment like him, the little big Scott.

Milano fashion week closes with the freshness and energy of the new generation of young designers to whom Camera Nazionale della Moda dedicates much attention and care.

First on the board walk is the pure and clear line collection of Chicca Lualdi BeeQueen.  The geometries of the dresses have a contemporary and sophisticated approach. The geometrical pattern recalls the rationalist architectures of F. Lloyd Right and Citterio.

Mergers of matter, of transparencies and fills, where organza becomes the base for master tailor games through the application of hand sewn rectangular elements of leather. Fresh and fluid fabrics, but at the same time compact, like cady, silk and cotton. Colors: from whites to warm tones like hazelnut, with touches of coral and olive green. 

The collection of conceptualism Erkan Coruh is inspired by the movie “Picnic at Hanging Rock”, the story of a group of girl students who disappeared, during a picnic, on S. Valentine’s day of 1900. The garments in a Mitteleuropean style with white, black, nude look or off green colors are mixed with asymmetrical dresses with the application of beads and stick spangles. Very nice the draped and transparent like burka. Egg lines for elements purposely ripped on the hem.

Cristiano Burani Spring Summer 2012 woman also moves on rigorous graphic lines. Casual mixes with more couture solutions. Tridimensional laceworks and transparency games. Technical and elasticized lines are combined with voluptuous chiffon for double face dresses. Great accessories: suede or shiny piton shopping bags, like sandals, and cadi hats with inserted laceworks. The main color is red, presented by itself. Pastel geometries with a flash of orange stylized with an intrusion of black and absolute white.

In the tent structure in Piazza Duomo next to the Rinascente the three shows of the young designers selected by the N-U-D-E project, organized by Camera della Moda Italiana. Mauro Gasperi presents a collection played on white, on black and on strong architectural structures. Cocoa, gold shining blue and real yellow complete the job. Denim triangles combine with chiffon fabrics; raffia and meshes give it an imprint of evanescence and fluidity.

Sergei Grinko, a promising Russian newcomer, calls his collection “Atlantis” as a tribute to the disappeared civilization that has inspired religions, writers and adventurers. Hand painted silk and idealistic representations of the abyss; a “queen of the seas” covered with long fluctuating capes that create a trapezoidal shape, tuned with an ideal circle that involves and pervades every creation. Typical 3D touch thanks to the drops of resin and crystals, applied to the dresses by matching chains.

Francesca Liberatore astonishes, instead, by presenting a woman light but aware and thoughtful. The results of  her idea are evident in the prints that reproduce the seabed of the Red Sea, reviving in every field the colors, the brilliant shades and the shapes of the tropical fishes of Egypt. Silk pockets, nets lighted by Swarovski, applied on shantung and satin, paper effect, enhance the attention on the two-dimensional geometrical shapes,   in an alternate combination of transparencies and matte effect.

Iacopo Crudeli

Quando il gioco e la solidarietà vanno di pari passo

C'è un legame profondo tra la moda, la musica e lo studio. Ed è la Cultura, strumento fondamentale per emergere dalle difficoltà, per riscattarsi e sognare un futuro migliore. Ed è questo il senso profondo dell'iniziativa FASHION KIDS FOR “CHILDREN IN CRISIS”, che in realtà si rivolge anche ai bambini che hanno sfilato divertendosi.

Si può sempre fare qualcosa per gli altri, anche quando sembra che le cose non abbiano alcun collegamento tra loro. La cultura della solidarietà e della cooperazione, innanzitutto, il trasmettere alle nuove generazioni il senso che qualunque azione può avere una reazione positiva. E così, una divertente sfilata di bambini  si traduce, a chilometri di distanza, in un aiuto concreto per chi non ha i mezzi economici per vivere un'infanzia serena.

Un bel gioco dura poco, si dice. Ma il gioco della moda, andato in scena durante l'ultima giornata della fashion Week PE 2012 fa eccezione. In passerella, tantissimi bambini sorridenti e alla loro prima esperienza come modelli e i più importanti brand di kidswear – Laura Biagiotti Dolls, Simonetta, Richmond Junior, Miss Blumarine, Ermanno Scervino Junior, Fay Junior, GF Ferrè, I Pinco Pallino, Roberto Cavalli Angels e Roberto Cavalli Devils – per aiutare altri bambini.
 Un gioco che si spera duri sempre più a lungo, di anno in anno, per portare un aiuto concreto all'infanzia che non gode del benessere che tutti i bambini del mondo meritano.

I proventi ricavati dallo show e i contributi degli sponsor serviranno a realizzare due progetti: il primo a Milano, con la creazione dell'orchestra Pepita, dedicata ai giovani milanesi svantaggiati, che aiuti a combattere la dispersione scolastica; il secondo rivolto ad 80 bambine in Tanzania, che per motivi economici non possono permettersi di proseguire gli studi e che, grazie al progetto Dalla parte delle bambine, potranno accedere alla scuola secondaria grazie a delle borse di studio.

Simona Melani

per vedere le foto della sfilata basta cliccare questo link > FASHION KIDS

The sixth day of Milano Moda Donna was marked by the big names of Made in Italy luxury: Dsquared, Armani, Cavalli and Ferrè.

Matinée at Dsquared. The Caten twins were able to recreate, at 9 am, the atmospheres and the sounds of a rock concert. The scenography of the rotating set shows two faces of a musical event: the sensations felt by the spectators and those felt by the performers. Cross combinations in the collection: from hippy maxi dresses to cowboy hats, from stars and stripes prints to American Indians styled fringes. A mix and a match that reflects the subculture “clubbing”  of the public to whom the brand is aimed at.

Sweet, strong and sensual like a pearl is Giorgio Armani’s woman for spring summer 2012. A bon ton lady, elegant, ready for the parties just as suggested by the many night dresses that were shown on the board walk.

Pearly nuances, tones of blue and grey. Shimmering satins, laminates and chiffon, covertly transparent, united, overlapped with great sophistication. A triumph of simple and linear silhouettes, with overlapping lengths and widths.

Rich of works is Roberto Cavalli’s collection. Black and gold is the indispensable base on which flowers work, seventh century motives and the animal prints develop. A recall ’20 for the lines. Smoking tuxedo essentially cut in black and white, combined with maxi dresses impalpable and veiled or with short dresses, with leather sticks applied on chiffon. Leather and reptile, with inlays of tulle embroidered with sequins, for the working of clothing.

Return to the origins and to the architectural structures by Gianfranco Ferrè. The collection is designed for the first time by Stefano Citron and Federico Piaggi. On the notes of “Often Bird” by Wim Martens, the fashion show opens with contemporary tunics presented in absolute white. The cadi double cuts are combined with soft leather, creating flat volumes and new patterns. The slits are deep and sensually uncover the skin of the body. The night is illuminated by lacework of raffia. Enameled feathers and crystals, sewn on tulle base embrace the body and at the same time reveal curvy transparencies. Roaring of applauses half way through the show.   

In the halls of Palazzo Clerici, the record player repeats over and over “Cameo lover”, to underline the ’60 atmosphere of Normaluisa. Shirt dresses under the knee, over long pleated chiffon under-gowns, that lengthen the silhouette. Tribal allusions and severe volumes. Lilac bouquets for the wall-paper prints, inspired to the Danish artist Nina Saunders.  Double micro-belts strengthen the waist. A woman immersed in an endless vacation that starts in Positano, where she dresses with sorbet colors and arrives in Africa where she wears hemp dresses with touches of fluo colors.

Iacopo Crudeli

Marni, Massimo Rebecchi, Missoni, Byblos, Ferragamo and Aquilano Rimondi shows.  

Sunday morning the fifth day of the Milan fashion week awakes the “philosophers of fashion”, only the very attentive that went to see Marni pragmatic woman. Consuelo Castiglioni, founder and creator, claims that she only designs things she likes to wear and that for this reason her type of woman keeps faith to herself and it is not a surprise her surrealistic but extremely aware vision that the collection communicates. Three quarters or half leg dresses, veiled under-gowns and adherent to the body become visible since they are longer than the dress are often flared or even broad. The constructions are solid and full of body, and the matching of the colors is flat and definite. Big and little daisies, geometrical and optical prints. Sharp and of high intellectual profile.

A magnificent show town feast lights at the Metropol of Dolce and Gabbana. Hordes of aspiring participants and crowds of curious, cascades of flashes for a contemporary ‘dolce vita’. Photographers gone crazy when a creature of the past appeared: Scarlett Johansson, a real star. The usual notes of the Cavalleria Rusticana introduced a “Mambo Italiano” that brings us back to insolence of Sophia Loren in the movie “Pane amore e......”. In this picture of total Italian neo-realism here is the collection with prints of tomatoes, hot peppers, eggplants and zucchinis. Earrings of pasta and jewels. Mix and matches of organza, macramé, crochet, lace, prints on classic tube dresses, shorts and jackets, curled dresses cut to the waist; colors: a triumph of the Dolce & Gabbana heritage, a finale filled with multicolor stones  and gold touches on corsets, unique pieces, that shine like fireworks in a small southern Italian town.

Longing for Spain by Missoni. Real life “tanguera” dressed in knit works, the classic fantasies of the maison are also used on gowns and tops  with ruffled flounces. New tribal patterns.  Pressing, the jungle-house music that gave rhythm to the show. A mention goes to the sandals with an imitation of glass cylindrical heels and to the cat shape eyeglasses. 

A woman with a capital W is that of  Ferragamo. Dresses adherent at the body, knee high, drapery and ripples of fabrics. Strong and various are the maxi flower prints, presented in the vivid colors of nature. Courageous and successful the combination of cyclamen and scarlet red.

A gym set for the almost teenager cheerleaders of Versus, designed by Christopher Kane, with fringed skirts just like in the best American TV movies, but dampened by soft pastel colors, with solid black finishes. The jersey of the basketball uniforms becomes a dress silhouette. The sports inspirations sublimated in the edgy glamour bring us back to the glories that once were and bring us to imagine a brilliant future for Mr. Kane in the time of Versus “medusa”.

Quasi-spatial is Byblos woman. Technical materials, kept together by geometrical patchwork patterns. The dresses visibly light that resemble  armors. Touches of transparencies on the single veil poncho. The shades met are hazelnut, goose beak and black. The showpieces are star shaped shopping bags.

Damask and prints in the pale tones of pearl gray, wisely mixed with mint green, apricot, sand and lilac by Aquilano Raimondi. Dresses of couture inspiration, adhere to the back part of the body while they balloon in the front, evident sign, on the side of the two stylists, of a never ending search in design.

From Roberto Musso, shimmering materials and soft shapes give the collection a fluid twist. The color white is combined with reds, with blue and sand both with fusion of abstract prints and with clean matches. The lengths are knee high or midi and transparencies completely absent.

In the halls of Palazzo Clerici, Massimo Robecchi, at the usual women fashion shows, adds a flash of a man collection. The pastel and grey colors are prevalent. Basic clothes refer to actual trends: linearity, medium lengths, geometrical patterns, prints and stripes.

Iacopo Crudeli

Usual “Lunch at Bottega Veneta” for the fourth day of MILANO MODA DONNA. Thomas Meyer presented a confident and metropolitan woman. Simple shapes and chaste length. Midi skirts, essential bikers and one shoulder or V-neck sheath dresses.

The construction makes the difference. Matches of  haute-couture fabrics, technical canvas and leather. Marble prints go from periwinkle to indigo, from deep blue to underwood green, on a black background. Remarkable are the dresses colored and shaded, very feminine, declining in the hot shades of reds and oranges.

Jill Sander’s total white hall is minimal-Zen. Public wait is palpable. The fashion show opens on sophisticated electronic notes of “Love on the Beat” by Serge Gainsbourg. Then the appearance of algid and ethereal models, dressed in a resolute and severe way. Midi and below the knee skirts, shirt gowns, round-necks, Bermuda shorts, veils. The reference color is optical white, which opens and closes the fashion show.  

Mat shades are present: pine green, cyclamen pink, acid yellow. Choice unexpected the cashmere and madras print, purified and simplified in black + white, green + acid yellow, wisteria and light blue. Shoes have heels and tips softly squared.  Final ovation for the last walk: the “virgin brides”, in white gowns with flared skirts, waist underlined and shirt necks. Deserved applauses for Raf Simmons, also by a pleased Anne Wintour.

Hyper feminine and 20’ style for Emporio Armani woman. Trouser suits, soft dresses, three quarter flowing skirts. Fluctuating volumes, translucence, edges and crossing of fabric. All black and white. Brim hats give strength.

Chromatic masterpiece that one of  Biancamaria Gervasio for Mila Schon that shows at Circolo Filologico. Palettes of full colors, deliberately combined: light coral + goose beak, hazelnut + pale pink, yellow sunshine + dark blue green. European and oriental inspirations with harmonic balance between lines and concept. Clothes develop among impalpable fabric petals, precise folds and graphic patterns. Pant skirts, trapezium dresses, sandals with cone-shaped heels and, for the hair, funny oversize headbands.

Vaguely “gipsy” Emilio Pucci’s woman. Wide large skirts semi-transparent in black and ruby red prints; tribal patterns are far away from classical Pucci, but make sense and solidity. Short and top nude shoulders highlight the rosary with crucifix around models’ neck. Ter Et Bantine revisits the concept man/woman where feminine imagination is suggested by ’50 almost couture shapes, declined on men’s type outfits. Men’s blazer worn as mini-dresses, turned-up trousers, wide shirts and skirts are the main points of the collection. Ecru, mad, lime and clay nuances rotate on blue. Break point are tight shoes colored like marker pens.

Silvio Betterelli, in Pirelli hall in Palazzo Clerici, one of Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana locations, presents a cautious and never extreme collection. Simple lines define the silhouette while drapes give volume. Spiny flowers prints, micro, macro and matched; black, pale pink, burgundy + cream, chocolate + black, black + sea green, cream + fraises. “Datemi Un Martello” (Give me a hammer) in ghost track version as soundtrack.

Also music chosen by Frankie Morello for his show says a lot: “Ma…Cos’è questa crisi” by Rodolfo De Angelis at the beginning and “C’è crisi” by Bugo at the end. In contrast, the woman the two designers present is irreverent and carefree, to underline a positive look at the future. Historical and artistic wonders of Italy become the theme of the collection. So, “David di Michelangelo”, “Colosseo”, “Torre di Pisa” and “Duomo di Milano” become prints, earrings, clutch bags and sculpture hats: “Souvenir d’Italie”.

Iacopo Crudeli

The hundred years of Trussardi, Marras, Moschino, Etro, C’N’C of Costume, Les Copains and Blumarine for the third day of  Milano Fashion Week Spring-Summer 2012.

We start with Moschino, that presents a very contemporary torero-woman. Boleros encrusted with gold metallic applications and big Spanish skirts, with ruffles, rushes and embroideries are the best items. Colors: black, white and yellow gold. The hairdos of the models, a braid around the neck, are completed with toreros hair or by ‘sculptures’ of feathers: black varnished breathtaking platform shoes with gold details. 

It’s with Marras that the atmosphere becomes more vintage. On the notes of the “actress-singer” Charlotte Gainsburg, walks a romantic and at the same time monolithic woman. Overlapping layers, draperies and decompositions of chiffon. Flower prints go from grand-mother’s  micro flowers, to abstract flowers, almost watercolors , with embroideries and applications. Unusual but declines the Marras way: animal designs. Hints of fluorescent pink in resins knitwear skirts and purple in pleated ruffled skirts.

“Vestivamo alla marinara” (“We used to dress sailor suits”) by Les Copains, in the halls of palazzo Clerici. The classic navy garments are revisited with a feminine and chic twist. The striped and the single colors are mostly blue or white with hints of yellow. The jewels buttons are golden and round and adorn the lapels of coats and the martingale.  Woman’s Bermuda, Capri trousers, basic shaped knitwear, enriched with grain of rice and fishnet workings or even encrusted with the soap bubble effects transparent spangles. Splendid the final nude color tricot dresses.

“The new Jazz Jungle” is the title of Etro’s show, during which the fantastic music of Ella Fitzgerald, Armstrong and Buscaglione was played. Futurisms and Constructivism were the starting points from which Veronica Etro was able to represent dynamism and plasticity. The paisley drawing becomes graphic and meets the decoupage prints of Fortunato Depero. Soft lines and over layers of crossings and V necklines. Almost totally absent the transparencies, thanks to satins, linens and crepe de Chines.

Technical and androgynous is Ennio Capasa’s woman for C’N’C Costume National. Nude and black, black and yellow, emerald and black, nude and pink confetti. A definite show of colors, structured and fluid fabrics. The viscose cadi meets the leather and the shantung. The pants are away from the body and the  bikers of sportswear inspiration have removable caps and contrast zip. Shoes: stringed and masculine for the day, wedges with suede grafts for the evening.

South American atmosphere and music at Blumarine. The first 5 dresses all surprised for the “Chiquita” prints with very innovative embroideries and applications. Flat sandals woven with colored raffia and with maxis spangles made of shiny and mat plastics. In the second half total black and white, with a Bianca Balti that stroke the parterre in a capped dress worked with spangles-jewels. Celestial.

Prints with woven ribbon, shades of color and linear forms by the young Marco De Vincenzo. The skirts are up to knee with a deep cut in the front or short and slightly flared; the necklines of the tube dresses are deep but they still maintain a not impudent femininity. 

Versace proposes the opulence of the historical Gianni Versace prints, cleaned and made very updated thanks to the choice of colors: base of whites with milk-mint green and wisterias on a seabed theme, with pictures of starfish and tropical algae. A tempest of gold mini studs create a print on united whites. All on pleated chiffon, so dense as to seem wrinkled; short boleros, bikers, midi, ruffle skirts, pleated ruffle inserts with geometric cuts on sheath and soirée dresses from which wedge-shaped sandals in transparent Perspex show.

An exceptional location for the Trussardi brand, that for the hundred anniversary of the maison present her collection in a tent-structure created in the garden of Castello Sforzesco, with a dinner party at the end of the night. The designer chosen by the family, the up and coming Umit Benan, proposes a theme of a voyage that recreates the seats of an airplane at the end of the walkway, where models take plastic poses. The concept of the collection is that of menswear. Blazers, wide leg trousers with double pleats, shirts, double-breasted, safari jackets and pea coats in colonial colors like ecru, kaki, mustard, brick and cobalt. Sandals with medium high heels and trapezoidal hand bags in leather and reptile.  

Iacopo Crudeli

The last of D&G, Fendi, Scervino, the return of Genny, Jo No Fui, and grand final in Via Fogazzaro.

The second day of MILANO MODA DONNA opened with the sober but determined woman by Max Mara. The historical maison of the Moramotti family celebrates 50 years and presents on the walkway a palette of colors almost neutral, with nuances of whites, sand, colonial, with touches of soft sea water and black. The lines are rigorous, almost graphic, the feminine silhouette is cleaned to the most. Trousers, midiskirts , shirts and jackets follow the natural shape of the body: “for a woman that likes to be looked at but not pointed to”.

The most influent fashion editors of the world moved then to maison Fendi, where Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Valentini Fendi showed at the rhythm of  “drum and base” music mixed with Ornella Vanoni’s  “Sono Triste” (“I’m sad”), women arrived from the future, but conscious of what they have been in the past and most of all in the present: cotton hairdos in an elliptical helmet of hair with maxi transparent eye-glasses, as if they just came out of a comic book or a trip in a spider car. The collection, instead, recalls the taste of the Sixties, with shirts, skirts and mini-dresses made of poplin in the colors of Oxford blue and white with  medium stripes gray pumice. All made particular by cuts and weaving that have made the final effect almost geometrical. Not missing were furs color peacock, orange and purple. Also present were biscuit color buckskin, perforated in petit-pois and finally, for evening, total black, gloss and transparencies for the haute-couture dresses, worked with embroidery and weaving of fabrics, very similar to a bas relief sculpture. Masterpieces.

Also very beautiful is Ermanno Scervino’s woman, on the notes of Amy Winehouse and Rapahel Gualazzi, shows on the walkway with a look that recalls the shapes of the ‘40s. High waist mid-length skirts, adherent to the body but flared or draped in the lower part, mesh knitted sweaters, heavily worked and feminine dusters, but built in very technical shapes and details. The workings are really rich and complex: paisley pattern embroideries in lace on transparent tulle, perforations that look like lace. Shoes and bags color leather and transparent plastic. Cream, azure blue, declinations of green and terra di Siena are the chosen colors.

Total look for the D&G collection. Every piece, from dresses to skirts, from shoes to 5 pockets, shirts and tops, all was made of foulard silk: the prints, very much colored, are matched and united in the most unorthodox way, but with an extremely convincing result. Gold and eighteen century red stirrups, optical, flowered, landscapes and iconographies, combined by the inspiration of Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana. Today was the last show of the brand D&G, it will be taken over by the brand Dolce & Gabbana. The two stylists seem very happy of this moment that they defined as a new beginning.

Great revival with the return of the brand Genny, symbol of the chic woman of the ‘90s, created by Donatella Girombelli and revived today under the direction of young Gabriele Colangelo.

The shapes of the dresses pay homage to the historical archive of the maison: pant-palace suits, capes, knee high skirts, and dresses characterized by their softness and cleanness; the colors are ochre, electric blue and mustard. Very white and geometric prints. Shoes and hand bags in leather with rigid details in metallic gold. Amusing belts with metal zipper and slider, lurex worked with honeycomb, and use of pony leather in the summer. The event was repeated many times, to allow the guests to enjoy the exceptional location, spectacular, but limited in space, the Arengario of Via Marconi with a breathtaking view over Piazza Duomo.

Bright and lively Jo No Fui, that played with graphic jungle prints on light fabrics, ethereal kaftans, mini-dresses with tropical fantasies stormed with imitations studs drops of gold, all well stylized in a sophisticated ‘70s mood.

Final with a bang in the spaces of Via Fogazzaro for Prada. The whole fashion of the world got together to praise Ms. Miuccia, who presented, in the usual complete surprise, a collection inspired to the ‘50s, in an “American Graffiti” style. Lots of plisse for the chiffon Marilyn style skirt, but also in printed leather with images of old American cars, pea coats in technical fabric, embroidered crochet in the front, applications of small roses, banded tops and leather midiskirts with rippled elastic on the waist, almost culottes chastened customs.  Comic book prints, pastel colors, combined with applications that recall the friezes on the flaming body of the American Mustang. Hints of red, burgundy and brick. The sandals with stiletto heels and flame shaped applications on the back  leave us speechless.

Sizes, volumes and iridescent silk shantung by Albino. The colors are ocher, mustard  and shades of grey and  beige. Touches of blue and peach.

The day ended with the show of Anteprima that, in the tent-structure of Piazza Duomo, set up by camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana, proposes a dynamic and fresh woman, the geometry of the play of  colors, the technical materials, also worthwhile is the romantic side given by the total white floral embroidery and transparencies just mentioned.

Iacopo Crudeli

Is fashion still an exclusive world, only for the experts? In recent years it is no longer so, thanks to the growing digitization of the fashion industry and the explosion not only of blogs but also of  the use by the maisons of  internet and social network sites as showcases and place of conversation.

Fashion is closer to the fans who feel personally involved, especially during the Fashion Week, thanks to the live streaming of the shows, to  bloggers unleashed in the city, to the dozens of photographers which capture, in glimpses of Milan, the images of fashionists arriving from around the world.


But - if the online plays a fundamental role in this process - so does the “offline”.  And with this in mind not only Camera della Moda has completely redesigned its site by enriching it with news and contributions, but also has decided to once again bring it in the heart of the city.

The tent structure near the Duomo, a stone's throw away from the Fashion Hub, is not simply a convenience for insiders, but a real tangible sign of how fashion and Milan are strongly interconnected. The people of Milano breathe the air of the Fashion Week; foreign professionals are immersed in the real city, with its symbols and cultural references, powerful and important, Palazzo Clerici and the Circolo Filologico (other locations that Camera della Moda provides to the fashion house). The shows in the city center thus become a clear symbol of how much fashion is in the heart of Milan and its citizens.

Also N21 by Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Richmond and Alberta Ferretti open the first day of MILANO MODA DONNA, Milano fashion week which present woman collections for the spring/summer 2012 that will end on September 27^th , with the shows of young designers supported by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana.

The morning started with the show of Simonetta Ravizza, historical maison of furs that, for the first time, shows with a collection of total summer look. Colors and batik prints, bell bottoms trousers, white shirts and very colorful fur vests. Next, in the tent-structure of Piazza Duomo offered by CNMI, Roccobarocco, that overcame the impasse due to the theft of the collection, and was able to present an independent and volatile woman: red and yellow absolute colors, united and mixed with black, and with peaks of aquamarine green. Prints of a marine-animals, chiffon’s transparencies, and hemp safari jackets, enhanced by stones which eliminate the colonial obviousness. A Scheherazade that seduces the cruel Shahriyar of “The Thousand and one Night”.

Soft geometries by Gucci that enchanted us with clear and determined chromatic choices of black, gold and white, hints of green and bits of ocher. “Boyish meets girlish”  says Frida Giannini to the foreign journalists. Cuts are rigorous, trousers with double pleats, shirts in soft cloths, but precise and impeccable in their style. Colors mix in geometrical games, of deco’s mood. In the evening, hints of transparencies and soft leather and metal fringes appear, thin as those of the Charleston’s dancers of the late ‘20s.

In a parterre filled with celebrities, soccer players and famous faces, the Richmond woman, sexier than ever, uncovers her curves and rides the walkway like a real vamp: backcombed hairdos and strong makeup for the models; colors to the limit, from red to deep purple, from white vs. black to black vs. yellow. Also here transparencies, chiffon, skirts up to the knee and power to the waist line.

Also this time, Roberta Ferretti did not deny us of her romanticisms: her woman is ethereal and refined, but also in this case allows for hints of transparencies. Nude and black for all monochromatic dresses, simple and adherent to the body, but made special by the  geometrical crossings of the embroidered tulle. Breaks of colors thanks to the tropical-jungle prints, and the recall in the joined colors lobster and sage green; crochet works and colored beads for the more ethnic appearances.

In the N21 of Alessandro Dell’Acqua: contrasts were the leaders: blue man shirts with skirts decorated with plastic maxi spangles. Sweaters with suede elbow patches matched with running shorts, but studded with turquoise stones. I-Pad containers instead of bags e key chains as necklaces. A vision with no uncertain terms: either you love it or you hate it.

Transparencies in laces and organza with the trump of rushes and sculptured heels for Francesco Scognamiglio. Nude and black are dominant, but also apricot color and green Veronese, leaving a trade mark.  An elegance enriched by a soft and sophisticated eroticism : length knee high, balloon jackets and armor jewelry reminiscing the metamorphosis concept of Apollo and Dafne myth.

The night ended, with the retrospective show of the brand Louis Vuitton, cured by Mark Jacobs, designer of the maison and by Katie Grant, respected editor and English designer.

Iacopo Crudeli

Following the red carpet leading to the Fashion Hub of Palazzo Giureconsulti, the headquarters set up by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana for the insiders of the fashion week, gives the impression of walking through a real fil-rouge that connects the places of fashion in the city center. From the Duomo to the Palazzo Clerici, up to the Circolo Filologico, all roads lead to the Loggia dei Mercanti.

Can you relax while working? On the first floor of the Fashion Hub certainly yes. The bloggers running from one show to another, journalists looking for a quiet place where they can rest and finish their article are found in this area with wifi connection which, - especially for bloggers – is a breath of fresh air. The immediacy of the network relaxing on a white sofa, a beauty bar available to touch up the makeup are ideal for facing these busy days.

In the elevator, between one floor and the other, you can meet journalists who made the history of Italian fashion and costume and young bloggers: it is the spirit of the Fashion Hub, an intriguing epicenter where networking allows to meet and acquaint with each other generations of professionals’ often too far apart, whilst Camera Nazionale della Moda wants to bring them together.

 Simona Melani (blogger thewardrobe.it )

With the launch of the new site, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana offers users the opportunity to follow live streaming some fashion shows, in particular those of fashion houses that will show in the structure of Piazza Duomo managed by Camera della Moda. It is only the beginning of a project that aims to offer to professionals and enthusiasts a digital hub to follow the fashion shows of Milan Fashion Week on a single platform.

On this page live.cameramoda.it you will see the following live shows, which will later be available also on demand (at the end of the show) on Camera Moda TV (www.cameramoda.it/it/archivi/camera-moda- TV /)

• Wednesday, September 21^st
• 9.30 am > Simonetta Ravizza
• 12.30 am > Rocco Barocco

• Thursday, September 22^nd
• 7.00 pm > Albino
• 8.00 pm > Preview

• Friday, September 23^rd
• 11.30 am > 2012 Les Copains
• 2.00 pm > C'N'C Costume National
• 5.00 pm > Gabriele Colangelo
• 6.00 pm > Marco De Vincenzo

• Saturday, September 24^th
• 11.30 am > Mila Schon
• 3.00 am > Silvio Betterelli

• Sunday, September 25^th
• 3.00 pm > Byblos
• 5.00 pm > Massimo Rebecchi

• Monday, September 26^th
• 4.00 pm > Normaluisa

• Tuesday, September 27^th
• 10.00 am > Chicca Lualdi
• 10:45 am > Cristiano Burani
• 11.30 am > Erkan Coruh
• 12.15 pm > New Upcoming Designers: Mauro Gasperi, Sergei Grinko, Francesca    Liberatore

Testanera, uno tra principali marchi di cosmetica del gruppo tedesco Henkel, continua il suo percorso nel mondo del fashion system, sponsorizzando MILANO MODA DONNA, fashion week milanese. La Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana ospita il famoso brand all’interno del Fashion Hub, suo quartier generale in via Mercanti. Martedì 20 settembre, serata di apertura della settimana della moda, Testanera ha organizzato un happening sulla terrazza del Palazzo Giureconsulti, offrendo ai suoi invitati un cocktail, ottima musica jazz e una shopping bag contenente alcuni dei prodotti best seller del marchio. Dopo il successo della mostra fotografica di Karl Lagerfeld dello scorso febbraio, quest’anno un altro ospite d’eccezione e grande spessore artistico: Alison Russell.

La Russell, giovane performer inglese, ha ereditato da sua nonna il talento di creare in pochi minuti perfette silhouettes che riproducono fedelmente i profili delle persone.

Dal 20 al 27 settembre in via Mercanti, Testanera esporrà le silhouettes dei celebri stilisti della moda italiana, interpretati dall’artista britannica: da Alessandro dell’Acqua a Dean e Dan, da Angela Missoni a Mariuccia Mandelli e molti altri.

Canon and Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana renew their commitment to the promotion of young talents. Now in its sixth edition, Catch the Colour offers the opportunity for aspiring photographers to get involved and interact with the city of Milan. Also during this edition of  Milano Fashion Week, the Canon Studio at Palazzo Giureconsulti will be opened to all photography enthusiasts who want to take on the proposed challenge: to photograph the color.

Each participant will be given a camera offered by the sponsor, an essential tool to represent their ideas about color, with which to photograph the more colorful moments of the event. After shooting the pictures, you can take advantage of the Canon service center within the Fashion Hub at Palazzo Giureconsulti, to download and select the best shots to be presented  both to Camera della Moda and Canon.

At the end of fashion week a committee of professionals will award the most representative shots by promoting them within the site of Camera della Moda, on the Canon site and on the social networks. The first three winners will be offered the opportunity to participate at a shooting with Leitmotiv designers, winners of past edition of the N-u de project, to contribute to upcoming events organized by Camera della Moda, and also to receive a camera from Canon.

The opening of the contest will be taken care by Canon, who will organize a workshop supervised directly by Fabio Sole and Juan Caro, designers of Leitmotiv. Camera della Moda invites all fashion and photography schools to participate at the workshop to be held on Wednesday, September 21^st  at 11am at Palazzo Giureconsulti.