It's unlikely that Miuccia Prada, Giorgio Armani or any of the other designers showing in Milan over the past week have been pondering the effects of dizzying utility bills, surging inflation or the American sub-prime mortgage crisis. In fact, while the collections last week may have been restrained in mood, they were certainly no less luxurious than usual.
Consider Fendi, which came up with everything a billionaire ski bunny could wish for next winter, from high-heeled, fur-trimmed moon boots to a mink-lined pushchair. Or Italian knitwear firm Loro Piana, who showed ultra-light "baby" cashmere overcoats combed from the bellies of baby goats (mere cashmere is no longer deluxe enough). On the catwalks things were just as precious. The exquisite hand-made Swiss lace that made up most of Miuccia Prada's clothes costs more than US$780 per meter.
As the commercial heart of the fashion industry, Milan should be a pretty accurate barometer of how luxury brands are squaring up to an economic downturn, yet most designers are adamant that their customers are in an elite that won't be affected by a recession.
"For a luxury brand, like Versace, the recession wouldn't have that much impact because our client doesn't feel the effects," Donatella Versace said after her show on Thursday evening - a stance shared by most designers last week. Versace can afford to be optimistic; this week the company posted strong sales for last year with revenue up by 7.7 percent.
However, that does not mean that luxury labels are not taking note of changing economic conditions. "We do feel a demand for more unique and exceptional pieces, so of course it becomes more challenging for a designer," she added. To create those unique pieces, Versace worked with Berlin-based artist Tim Roeloffs to create a cityscape collage print used on a series of bright, silk cocktail dresses. It provided the only pattern in a slick, elegant show that ended with a series of floaty gowns surely destined for the Oscars.
Versace is not the only brand feeling confident. Both Prada and Salvatore Ferragamo plan to take their companies public this year, despite jittery markets. This week the industry paper WWD reported that, on average, fashion companies listed in Milan have lost a third of their value in the past three months.
So why are luxury brands feeling so perky? It's largely down to the rapid growth in newly emerging markets such as China, the Middle East and Russia, which will offset any dip in sales to the US or UK.
But while some designers are chasing new markets, others are trying to refine their message for customers closer to home. Luxury houses may not be feeling a downturn in consumer spending just yet, but they are noting a shift in mood. However, they are not responding with more affordable fashion. Far from it.
Bridget Cosgrave, buying director of the Matches chain of boutiques, has focused this week on finding more opulent pieces for her stores. "Often when we get into a recession things get more embellished. We have been buying jeweled belts and really amazing statement shoes. My view is to keep it as special as possible. I don't think people shop that sensibly in a recession."
Even if that's true, the week's winning shows focused on the wearable.
This is clearly no time for anything too experimental and challenging, such as the tufty tangerine overcoats Miuccia Prada sent down her catwalk last year.
Her offering for next fall, although austere, was a streamlined but ultra-elegant collection of neat skirts, button-up shirts and prim dresses, most of which came out in that incredibly expensive Swiss lace. This new, restrained mood doesn't come cheap. More viable, perhaps, were the dresses in lace-print satin or tonal ribbed silk, or the stark blond polo-neck sweaters and skirts. And, of course, the shoes and bags that are the Prada staples most customers will be lapping up for fall - this time around, they came decorated with sculptural fins seemingly inspired by the Art Deco architecture of a 1930s cinema.
In a stand-out Burberry Prorsum show, Christopher Bailey gave us the most convincing take on quiet luxury that was packed with feel-good, cozy textures (think stretch chenille dresses, fine cashmere knits, beautiful ultra-light coats in easy-to-wear shapes). He also went back to the brand's heart with some glorious coats, from cocoons in sludgy fall colors to a dressy take on a classic trench in pale blush, quilted silk. He added variations on the ultra-luxe theme with coats covered in hand-cut leather "feathers" and dresses made of hand-sewn leather sequins. The beautiful palette, like the silhouettes, took its inspiration from LS Lowry's paintings and gave the show a melancholic feeling, in keeping with the subdued mood.
Consuelo Castiglioni, the designer behind the hugely influential Marni brand, played down the often tricky "techno" fabrics and complicated shapes from last season and focused instead on more elegant and wearable pieces that will please the Marni faithful. Other than the odd ruffle on a skirt or wonky sleeve on printed organza dresses, shapes were streamlined. There were sleeveless coats (a big trend in Milan last week and pioneered by this brand years ago), simple skirts and cigarette pants in a delicious and typically Marni palette of bubblegum pink, raspberry, emerald and gray, offset with dull Plasticine colors and graphic prints.
Missoni's collection was also packed with wearable but luxurious pieces, such as a light-sage, suede poncho that was worn over a polo-neck sweater and cinched at the waist with a heavily jeweled belt. There were light cashmere coats lined with the label's colorful signature knits, slouchy fall print dresses and nicely tailored trousers.
Going back to a label's core values certainly seems to have been the most popular strategy deployed by designers charged with keeping the cash tills ringing during an economic downturn.
At Gucci, Frida Giannini took a folky, Russian theme and produced an incredibly commercial collection packed with embellished clothes and accessories that will be instant winners with the label's core customers, who want something a bit sexy and rock 'n' roll. There were embroidered fur gilets and velvet military coats, gilt-buttoned jackets and piles of pretty folkloric print dresses. Skinny velvet trousers, some decorated with lines of studding, velvet and braid (yes, all at once), were tucked into over-the-knee boots and circled at the hips with gold-coin-embellished or tasseled belts.
Things were far less upbeat at Dolce & Gabbana, which turned to the 1970s with shaggy sheepskin gilets, leather patchwork jackets contrasted with calf-length skirts in corduroy and tweed that showed just how tricky it is to master the new longer skirt that has dominated the fall show season so far. If a thick tweed, belted dirndl skirt that falls to mid-calf doesn't work on a supermodel, what hope is there for the rest of us?
The Italian duo ended their show with a parade of full-on crinoline gowns draped with soft cream sheepskin or tweed. They provided a dramatic end to the show and, who knows, as Los Angeles is expecting chilly, wet conditions for tonight's Oscars ceremony, those gowns could provide a practical solution.
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