Neithan Herbert’s mother, Etelvina, opens his presentation at Milan Fashion Week wearing her son’s dress and veil with a long white train.Victo Virgile/Supplied
This season, Milan Fashion Week’s governing body, Camera Moda, upped the ante in the event’s size and scope. With 54 runway shows and 88 presentations, the occasion rivalled London Fashion Week in ambition and spectacle.
Here are a few of the most attention-grabbing moments.
A moving debut
Designs reflect the marriage of Herbert’s sartorial mastery and sacred and folkloric references.Victo Virgile/Supplied
Born in Ecuador and raised in Mexico by Indigenous Inca parents, Neithan Herbert showed the most poignant collection of the week.
His presentation opened with a procession of seamstresses: four women from the house’s atelier ushered Herbert’s mother, Etelvina, onto the runway, where she bowed to the front row and posed in her son’s dress and veil with a long white train.
What followed were exquisite menswear and womenswear silhouettes with elongated proportions, knotted fabric and sleek pleating. A Beaujolais-hued asymmetric look worn by a male model evoked a ceremonial vibe with its dramatic sash and fluid trousers. A quartet of captivating looks reflected the marriage of Herbert’s sartorial mastery and sacred and folkloric references, among them an ivory ribbed cotton dress that transformed the model into a modern-day sibyl. A sheer black dress, meanwhile, was punctuated by a true object d’art: a brass-cast cluster of tulips, suspended from the outfit’s loose belt.
Pillow talk
Gucci’s looks were matched by an equally sexy, star-studded front row.Gucci/Supplied
There was so much organza, sheer fabric and lace on the runway that it was easy to lose track. Fendi led the boudoir boom, embracing underwear as outerwear with slip dresses, nighties and lace-trimmed loungewear inspired by the 1970s and ‘80s.
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At Gucci, a near-transparent black blouse and matching dress and a one-shoulder purple evening gown popped on the catwalk. The looks were matched by an equally sexy front row, which included Pickering, Ont.’s Shawn Mendes in a Gucci shirt unbuttoned to the belly button, Cardi B in fur and lace, Bianca Jagger in white leather and Donatella Versace in a furry wrap.
The fashionable pillow talk continued at Ermanno Scervino, where lace and leather bra tops were gilded with fine thread work and remarkable flashes of embellishment. The romantic pieces appeared beneath stunning jackets embroidered with botanical motifs.
Starry style
Louise Trotter says Bottega Veneta’s new collection explores organic language alongside a ‘language of polish.’BOTTEGA VENETA/Supplied
Bottega Veneta creative director Louise Trotter, typically camera-shy, surprised journalists after the brand’s presentation. She described the fashion label as a “house of craft,” explaining that the new clothes explore organic language alongside a “language of polish.”
The show opened with an all-white crochet look and closed with an all-black leather dress worn by Kendall Jenner. Front-row guests included Julianne Moore, Tyler, the Creator, Solange and Jacob Elordi (Jenner’s rumoured beau).
But the collection went beyond its star wattage. The tuxedo shirts and handbags, rendered with the brand’s signature handwoven and braided techniques, wowed. The best pieces, however, were a fringe skirt in a cool lavender hue and a full-length dress that looked as if it was made from spools of thread and television wires.
Champagne dreams
Butterflys, a symbol of metamorphosis, appear throughout Silvana Armani’s collection for Giorgio Armani.Armani/Supplied
Summer nights may have been the inspiration behind Silvana Armani’s collection for Giorgio Armani, the namesake line founded by her uncle. As she told Women’s Wear Daily, she wasn’t sure he would have approved of her use of cotton, having regarded the fabric as “too humble.” She stuck to her vision anyway, creating lightweight looks in cream and beige.
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There’s no doubt Giorgio would have been proud of the evening wear, though. Gowns in shades of blush pink and champagne, along with bustiers encrusted with gleaming stones, carried high-voltage glamour. A gown embellished with shimmering jewels in the shape of tiny butterflies – “An image of metamorphosis,” according to the show’s notes – was a standout.
The final flourish
Canadian creative Celia Sears says the goal of Voices of Denim was to balance compelling fashion imagery with genuine representation.Alberto Alicata/Supplied
For more than a decade, Michelle Francine Ngonmo, founder and CEO of the Afro Fashion Association, has worked to make Milan Fashion Week more reflective of Italy’s diversity. This season, the organization’s biggest win was a partnership with Levi’s on a multichannel project titled Voices of Denim: A Living Cultural Language.
The initiative included an exhibition of collaborations between established and emerging designers using deadstock and recycled denim. Among the contributors is Bologna-based, Ghanaian-born sculptor and fashion designer Victor Hart, who created a monumental denim umbrella installation that later appeared on the runway of his spring/summer collection. Produced with Italian and Ghanaian craftspeople and artisan communities, the project represented “the many possibilities for communities across Africa, Italy and the rest of the world,” according to Hart.
The exhibition, on view until Oct. 2 at Casa degli Artisti, also features upcycled denim designs by Canadian creative Celia Sears and her Milan-based collaborator Marta Cottarelli. Sears, founder of backstage agency Show Division, also appears in an accompanying documentary.
Sears said the goal was to balance compelling fashion imagery with genuine representation.
“Denim is so universal,” she said. “It crosses generations, cultures, genders and social boundaries, so everyone brings their own meaning to it.”