MILAN: Milan kicked off its leg of the month-long catwalk calendar on Wednesday, with Italian luxury labels Fendi deconstructing masculine tailoring and Alberta Ferretti opting for dark colours at their womenswear fashion shows.
Milan Fashion Week follows New York and London events in which designers have been presenting their creations for the autumn/winter 2023-2024 season.
At Fendi, designer Kim Jones added pleated skirt aprons and trains to tailored trouser suits as well as shoulder-baring sleeves to waistcoats.
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There were also boiler suits with skirts, slashed knits with halternecks, draped and ribbed dresses as well as Mac coats adorned with sparkling sequined lining.
In show notes, Jones said he was inspired by the way jewellery designer Delfina Delettrez Fendi wore her family label's archive items. Jones works alongside Delettrez's mother and the founding family's scion Silvia Venturini Fendi, who looks after menswear and accessories at the Rome-based label.
"It's deconstructed but luxurious. There's a little nod to punk and my admiration for DIY, but moved on towards something chic," Jones said in the notes.
"The first day that Delfina walked into work, she was wearing blue and brown and I thought she looked so great. There's a chicness but perversity to the way she twists Fendi, which is what I love."
Jones' colour palette mainly stuck to pale blue, greys, cream, brown and black. He added dabs of bright colours with pink and orange dresses.
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Accessories included thigh-high boots, a trend also seen at Alberta Ferretti, who opened her show with a strapless grey gown.
Further grey looks, often paired with long shiny black gloves, followed - from trousers suits to short dresses.
Models wore long velvet gowns, checked or corduroy suits, belted coats and jackets as well as sheer sparkling dresses.
Ferretti used mainly dark colours - burgundy, black and brown with bursts of red on some outfits.
Evening looks were all black: sparkling jackets, sheer dresses as well as matched tops and skirts.
Milan Fashion Week will host more than 50 catwalk shows, including by big names such as Giorgio Armani, Prada, Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana, over the next few days, wrapping on Feb. 27.