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MILAN (AP) — Milan Fashion Week made way for young talent on the last day of preview shows for next spring and summer Monday.
After Giorgio Armani ceded his usual spot anchoring the last day of fashion week this round, the Milan fashion chamber officials put the spotlight on the next generation of designers. The looks on display exuded youth and adventure, color and sartorial flair.
Highlights include shows by Mila Schoen, San Andres and Piccione Piccione:
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BOURGEOIS ADVENTURER
The Mila Schoen woman for next season is a bourgeois adventurer who moves in harmony with her own inner music, literally.
Designer Alessandro De Benedetti, who joined the label a couple of years ago, incorporated outdoor wear details into his metropolitan collection. He also added a "surreal" touch by putting little bells on the bracelets or on chains hanging from coats.
"I thought it was nice to have a super-chic woman, who is a little eccentric, because having eccentricities is chic. So she does extreme sports and then, with her bracelet, she intones her own interior music. It's all very visionary," he said backstage.
De Benedetti has reinterpreted Mila Schoen's taste for clothing that serves a double purpose in several ways. There is the practicality of the reversible parka. And on the adventurous side, he has created a silken jumpsuit with detachable galoshes. Once removed, the silken shorts can be cuffed for a sexy look.
"From a sporty garment, you get a super elegant, very simple garment," he said.
Jumpsuits, a Milan trend, are a recurring theme for de Benedetti. One of his designs looked like a regular suit. A green dress sports long pleats down one side for the appearance of a built-in trailing shawl.
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MEXICAN DEVOTION
A mariachi band serenaded the fashion crowd during the runway presentation of the San Andres Milan brand's romantic ode to love, and the brand creator's native Mexico.
Designer Andres Caballero, who grew up in Mexico City with a love of Italy, relocated to Milan to study in 2001 and established his collection in 2011. This marked his fourth Milan runway show.
"It was two dreams come true, to live in Milan and to live in the fashion world," the 35-year-old said backstage.
For his latest collection, Caballero created satin dresses with silk prints inspired by Mexican tiles and decorated with embroidered images of votive offerings. Silk blouses had colorful tassels. Shoulders were often left bare, framed by pretty ruffles. Couture caps sported embroidered details. The colors were vibrant pink, blue and green, often contrasting with black. Shoes were flat and decorative slip-ons.
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FRAGILE YOUTH
Thirty-year-old Sicilian designer Salvatore Piccione said his collection intends to explore the fragility of the transition from adolescence to adulthood.
The pretty looks had marine life motifs, such as shell prints, fringe made of pearls and fishnet stockings. Riccione said the digital prints of the underwater world on chiffon or satin silk fabrics was meant to underline "the theme of change, evolution, growth towards the adult world."
Models wore golden stilettos with shorter looks and flat slippers with longer, billowing ones. They stopped during the finale to salute the crowd on both sides of the runway, giving everyone in the audience a good look.
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This story has been corrected to show that one of the brand's showing Monday was Piccione Piccione, not Piccone Piccone.
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