MILAN Fashion Week launched its designs for Fall/Winter 2020-2021 this week, and we, of course, are very much impressed. BusinessWorldsaw the shows via livestreams, and we’re telling you the next season of luxe is very wearable, and very opulent. Our favorite designers took a glance at time periods that marked the world seconds before disaster — we hope these high priests and high priestesses of fashion aren’t saying anything more serious.

VERSACE
Versace’s show opened with black power suiting, paired with harsh pulled-back ponytails, evoking a sort of chic styling seen on glamorous spies. This collection is a bit staid compared to Donatella’s past offerings, exemplified in a plain black bag emblazoned with a single V.

The pieces combine bright luxury with decidedly street styles: take note of puffer jackets, tracksuits, and bomber jackets. They’re given a touch of luxury through volume and details and materials like shearling and leather. Speaking of volume, the look also incorporates a lot of lumpy knits on top, giving audiences a peek of silhouettes next season (lots of layering). Some excitement is achieved through zebra prints, florals, and of course, the rich baroque foliage prints we’ve come to associate with Versace.

We’re absolutely in love with a return to 90s Versace glam with slip dresses appearing as if slit with a razor, followed by deconstructed full-length deconstructed leather trenches (though one can only imagine the weight). By the way, Versace’s the first designer we’ve noticed this season who makes a case for gray: who knew that a shade we associate with concrete could be so interesting? Prints and rich fabric give dimension the drab neutral. In fact, it’s glittering version, silver, closed the show, seen on a little lamé dress worn by Kendall Jenner.

MOSCHINO
“Après moi, le déluge (After me, the flood),” this was apparently said by Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of the penultimate king of France’s Ancien Régime, Louis XV. Madame de Pompadour was said to have uttered the words as a portent of the changing times that lay ahead, which would culminate in the French Revolution — which, fortunately for her, would not live to see. Moschino’s confectionary treat for Milan Fashion Week evokes the 18th century before the revolution, resulting in rich outfits out of a fairy tale.

Think panniered skirts — everywhere! Check out a yellow panniered dress with a gold-embroidered leather jacket, a denim suit and a denim playsuit, both embroidered with gold, and several more of the panniers we mentioned. It’s seen on a biker leather jacket with a pearl belt spelling out the house’s name, a full-length khaki trench, or else paired with streetwear sweatshirts (who would’ve thought?). It’s a camp girlish fantasy complete with towering poufs. Oh yes, and we saw gray too, this time in a frock coat printed with monochrome rococo pastoral scenes.

A cream brocade pantsuit with golden embroidery appeared on the runway, and I wouldn’t be surprised if this is soon adopted by some princess or first lady somewhere. Then came another suit we loved: gold, with a portrait collar, and entirely wearable. A woman, for example, could pair either the jacket or the skirt with something more staid: who knew that this candy-box aesthetic could yield something so wearable?

We’re also in love with a collection made of blue-and-white china prints, evoking silent and refined teatime. This would go very well with the runway’s other offering: dresses meant to look like cakes. The brief couldn’t be simpler: tiered cakes in several pastel shades. I guess it also points to another pre-revolutionary figure, Marie Antoinette, the last Queen of France’s Ancien Régime, who is supposed to have said “Let them eat cake!” when she was told that the people had no bread (she didn’t; she was actually quite sweet, according to recent historical sources).

The show ended with two strong looks: a coat embroidered in silk roses worn by Gigi Hadid, and a long white bridal dress that somehow reminds one of a wedding cake-topper.

GUCCI
Gucci opened its show with the behind-the scenes take: literally. The runway lights open to the dressing room, encased in a clear shell, while models are made-up and dressed while wearing white terrycloth bathrobes. The dressers leave, leaving just the makeup tables lit. Those lights dim too, and then flash back on again, showing the models posing within the clear shell, which turns out to be a revolving platform. It wasn’t all gimmick: the clothes are actually stunning (thankfully not adopting that derelict look for the men’s line last month).

We kick off with start with a lace-edged top paired with a tiered and paneled ballgown skirt made with three colors of lace, and then a red and black coat with frog closures, paired with a checked skirt and edwardian-era boots, which tells the rest of the show’s references. We also liked a black tiered ballgown in tulle, scattered about with bows. Next we saw a sweet little pleated dress in mint green with a lace collar, paired with beautiful oxblood loafers, and would you believe it, knee-high Gucci socks (trendwatchers watch out).

Next came a romantic pink silk blouse with puffed sleeves, paired with baggy tweed pants. The same material is seen in various outfits.

We also live for a ladylike blue and black coat with a rounded collar. The schoolgirl aesthetic seems to point back to the previous menswear collection of the exploration of childhood and masculinity. Perhaps this time, it’s an exploration of childhood influences of femininity and how it shapes the future woman: how else would you explain a sheer babydoll dress paired with a leather harness?

More babydoll dresses follow, and Gucci Creative Director Alessandro Michele makes a statement by pairing softly feminine outfits, such as a blush-colored ruffled skirt with another harness. We see more than a bit of the Edwardian Era here, and I we guess the reference also played into this theme of innocence, being a very visual testament to the world lost by the two great wars. This is why we’re treated to a black velvet Edwardian-era gown with a square collar. We’ve noted the prevalence of gray in the different runways, and Gucci doesn’t lag behind: gray is amplified by different textures of wool in pinafores, suits, and coats. We also noted that the dressers helping the models earlier in the show were also dressed in identical grey pantsuits, and they were just as much a part of the show. — Joseph L. Garcia

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