Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images, Courtesy of Bottega Veneta, Courtesy of Ferragamo
When you see a fashion show that feels unconscious of being cool — or sexy or chic — your brain suddenly switches on. What’s happening here? A perfect example is Dario Vitale’s Versace show last September, when the first models came out in tank tops cut deep at the sides with peddle-pushers, followed by a guy in a sea-blue blazer, a red camp shirt, and belted green trousers. The lack of flash seemed to bait viewers, with the more jaded calling the looks “vintage.” But the show’s uncanny modesty rewarded you with a new energy. These clothes were just cool.
I had the same feeling the other night at the Bottega Veneta show, when the model Mariacarla Boscono, her hair loose, came sauntering out in a relaxed pair of wheat-colored trousers with a pale-pink silk shirt layered over a blue cotton one. Boscono could wear a potato sack and win over a fashion crowd, but this breezy image of chic was all Louise Trotter’s doing. The model ahead of Boscono also wore the colors of a European spring: a deep-purple blazer nipped at the waist and loose, peony-pink silk pants.
From left: Photo: Courtesy of Bottega VenetaPhoto: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
From top: Photo: Courtesy of Bottega VenetaPhoto: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
The Milan collections vibrated with color — the red, pinks, and icy blues of Prada; the mellow yellow and fleshy peach of Jil Sander — but in that single moment, Trotter had the freshest colors around. It’s just a pity that she didn’t stick with both the color and the sporty attitude. She offered only two looks in that vein and then sent out dresses and skirts made of fine, laser-cut fringe, like the loopy dress in a muted flower print worn by Julia Nobis, with more grass-green fringe over the shoulders.
Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
This is Trotter’s third runway collection for Bottega, and her theme was the changing seasons of Milan, noting especially the lightness of summer clothes. It seems to me that if you live (or visit) anywhere in Europe — Trotter is from England — that you experience the four seasons. But Trotter’s clothes have looked heavy, like you’re planning a long stay on a croft in Scotland and never expect to feel a little naked. And she seems drawn into the technique war that’s been going on in fashion, with creative directors throwing gobs of stuff on clothes instead of attracting us with a realistic shape or silhouette.
But whatever it took for Trotter to lose a lot of the bulk in her clothes, and some of her technical flourishes, I’m glad she has. Her first dozen or so looks were fantastic, and mainly because they had unself-conscious drama. They wouldn’t look out of place on the street. These included a long coat in light tan cotton with the hem partially knotted up — a bit like someone’s summer curtains — over a white dress with a crocheted collar, a black blazer in a wool-and-cotton blend with white balloon pants, and a slim skirt in a beige wool-silk with a semi-sheer white blouse over a bra. I loved that last look and, again, wish that Trotter had expanded on its lightness. In photos, the shirt appears to be cropped, but the white band at its hem is actually part of the skirt. The collection has a lot of great shirts for that slouchy attitude of Boscono’s.
From left: Photo: Courtesy of Bottega VenetaPhoto: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
From top: Photo: Courtesy of Bottega VenetaPhoto: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
Photo: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta
Despite a strong and fast soundtrack from the artist Mark Leckey, and some clever knitwear pieces in white that vaguely looked devoured by winter moths, Trotter couldn’t sustain the show’s early drive. A number of the draped styles just looked shapeless and pointless. And what was Kendall Jenner doing in a biblical black shroud? That was too perverse.
At Ferragamo, Maximilian Davis was apparently inspired by the life and art of Lee Miller, who was the subject of a movie starring Kate Winslet. But apart from a 1940s silhouette and some trenches and dresses in opaque rubber that evoked a photographic technique that Miller used, the connections to her remarkable life remained stubbornly remote. She really embodied a transient and independent spirit, and Davis’s collection projected the opposite: an uptight fussiness.
From left: Photo: Courtesy of FerragamoPhoto: Courtesy of Ferragamo
From top: Photo: Courtesy of FerragamoPhoto: Courtesy of Ferragamo
Silvana Armani has made strides to bring the Armani collections up to date. She’s using better models, better music, and — as virtually everyone has noted — she’s left out the hats. And her show on Sunday was concise: Here were fluid daytime pantsuits and separates, with shorts, in taupe and off-white; and here, also, streamlined evening looks mostly in black and muted metallics, including slip dresses and styles with a nice nakedness. But Armani can only do so much modifying to a familiar style. What’s missing, and it’s possible to find it, is an irresistible sense of fashion.
From left: Photo: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty ImagesPhoto: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images
From top: Photo: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty ImagesPhoto: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD via Getty Images
