Feel free to share:

From ROBERTO CAVALLI’s Slinky Big Cats to FENDI’s Nostalgic 70s Disco Divas, from ALBERTA FERRETTI’s Rebirthing Butterflies to MISSONI’s Kaleidoscopic Chevrons, MILAN FASHION WEEK has been a Fast Moving Feast.

All Image Credit Milan Fashion Week and Brands Featured

The butterfly-motif ran through the collection, here seen in an amber mini dress – at Alberta Ferretti

As ever, Milan Fashion Week has been a tour de force that, no matter how prepared one is for all the action, it always takes you by surprise. You can’t help but get caught up in the sweeping momentum and frenzy and, frankly, in the momentousness of the occasion. The holy grail of fashion, Milan Fashion Week comes complete with all the gusto, energy and enthusiasm that only flamboyant Italian fashion, its dedicated followers, the heavyweight designers, ultra-professional models and fashion-adoring public can bestow on one fashion capitol. This is the arena where the fashion giants flex their muscles and where the up-and-coming talent quickly learn the ropes. This is the stuff that inspires fashion bible Vogue Italia and its epic photo shoots.

The line-up for Spring/Summer 2022 includes a spectacular set of the who’s who of predominantly Italian fashion, but also draws from much further afield. Camera Nazionale Della Moda Italiane orchestrated a great number of pre-pandemic traditional live shows as well as what has become popular over the past months of lockdowns: pre-recorded and beautifully crafted films to illustrate collections. The emphasis throughout the proceedings, just like it’s been since 2010, has been squarely on sustainability within the Fashion Industry, with designers firm in their commitment to continually improve and become increasingly more transparent in every aspect of the design, manufacture and retail process.

There was a festive vibe at Fendi: disco fever ruled! The mood was one of drama, celebration and exuberance, frivolity and self-indulgence, with models clad in slightly retro-inspired, nostalgic, diagonal pink and gold candy-striped off-the-shoulder sheath dresses, candy-coloured fur coats, fringy dresses, maribou feathers, gold accessories, sleek chignons and shiny red lips. A standout creation was the powdery puff lavender and caramel camouflage fur coat. Wow!

Watch the video of Fendi’s show here:

A furry wrap coat over thigh-high 70s-inspired patchwork boots – at Fendi

Candy-colour diagonal fur stripes in this disco-inspired coat – at Fendi

Swishy fringing on this little flapper dress – at Fendi

Sunset shades in this classic tubular dress – at Fendi

A standout piece: a lavender and caramel camouflage coat with fur slip-on mules – at Fendi

Alberta Ferretti, undisputed queen of the floaty, flimsy, ultra-feminine and uber elegant maxi dress, presented a collection that made us forget about 18 months of lockdown, of practical loungewear and sensible shoes. Here was a joyful celebration of renewal in all its guises. Incidentally, the butterfly theme – signifying new beginnings and rebirth – was a key element in the show. Mini dresses fluttered and floor-sweeping gowns swished as models floated across the catwalk in creations that made one wish you had the opportunity to hijack a few of these beauties to a secret location in the Bahamas! Some pieces sported delicate hand-made embellishments, others were made of macramé and delicate crochet. The colour palette was gem-like in its intensity – from sapphire to amethyst, jade to turquoise, amber to lapis simply divine!

Watch the video of Alberta Ferretti’s show here:

A floor-sweeping jewel-coloured creation – at Alberta Ferretti

A classical deep purple cut-out dress – at Alberta Ferretti

Twists and drapes in this exquisite turquoise creation – at Alberta Ferretti

Classical elegance in this one-shoulder lapis lazuli-shade dress – at Alberta Ferretti

Sheer elegance in this multi-toned pleated dress – at Alberta Ferretti

All the big cats were on the prowl on the catwalk in Fausto Puglisi’s debut collection for Roberto Cavalli, all claws out! Is there any other brand in the history of modern Italian fashion who’s had a greater love affair with animal prints than Roberto Cavalli? Ultra-glamorous, supersexy and over-the-top girliness have always been the hallmarks of the Cavalli brand, this time senza the frivolities and frilliness that Roberto Cavalli himself had often entertained. In amongst the various combinations and permutations of slinky leopard, tiger and zebra prints, there was also a contingent of rather Eighties-inspired black strappy dresses, reminiscent of the heyday of Versace in the Eighties and Nineties.

Watch the video of Roberto Cavalli’s Show here:

A bandeau top over a floor-sweeping tigerprint skirt – at Roberto Cavalli

A bandeau top over a floor-sweeping tigerprint skirt – at Roberto Cavalli

A slinky lemon one-shoulder dress – at Roberto Cavalli

Sexy zebraprint in this asymmetrical dress – at Roberto Cavalli

Turquoise maribou feathers embellish this ultra-glamorous ensemble – at Roberto Cavalli

The quintessential Roberto Cavalli creation – sexy and confident!

A floor-sweeping full skirt in yellow zebra print – at Roberto Cavalli

Missoni’s offering of slinky dresses, some metallic and others woven in the trademark Missoni chevron pattern, always revoke the same response from its loyal following: it’s what we know and love, it’s what we’ve come to expect from this Italian powerhouse. It was the first official debut collection for creative director Alberto Carliri for the house of Missoni and like at Cavalli and a few others, the collection was, well, oozing with sexiness! This was unmistakably a Spring/Summer offering, models balanced on ridiculously high, strappy stilettos with much bare flesh on display: asymmetric strappy dresses, scarf tops, midriff-baring sweaters, skin-revealing bikinis and bandeau tops barely covering the essentials … This seems a wonderful (over) response to the direness of the past few months where designers felt compelled to deliver mostly indoor-bound pieces. Hooray, glamour, seductiveness and sex-appeal are back in town!

Watch the video of Missoni’s show here:

An asymmetrical strappy chevron dress – at Missoni

Acid green low-slung trousers show off a slinky chevron top – at Missoni

Cutouts reveal much flesh – at Missoni

The Missoni-theme extends to a patchwork sweater – at Missoni

A chevron swimsuit and teetering stilettos – at Missoni

Climate change is so close to home that some designers have physically had firsthand experience of the devastation that is fast becoming an integral part in people’s everyday lives. Take, for example, Antonio Marras, whose poignant display of his trademark, beautifully embellished, bohemian range gave more than a nod to the terrible wildfires that raged all over his native Sardinia over summer. Antonio Marras deliberately filmed his show against the eery, charred backdrops of the landscape at Santu Lussurgiu, Sardinia, to make the point. The results are eternally touching: a nostalgic patchwork of vintage-inspired creations, antique flimsy lace and rose prints in crisp cotton, embroidered sleeveless tailored jackets, prairie dresses and cowboy boots, appliqued roses on a turquoise jacket and an eclectic mix of transparent and opaque, see-through and dense. All-in-all, this is a beautiful, anthropological mix of the typical must-have pieces we’ve come to expect from this stalwart designer.

Watch the video of Antonio Marras’s show here:

A patchwork knit-collage in this ecru/turquoise cardigan – at Antonio Marras

Roses collaged over a turquiose jacket and camouflaged animal prints – at Antonio Marras

A nostalgic vintage-inspired prairie dress and cotton & lace shirts – at Antonio Marra

A transparent lace dress and rose-collaged sleeveless tailored jacket – at Antonio Marras

A patchwork cardigan over a lace dress; cowboy boots – at Antonio Marras

Vintage-inspired lace and antique crisp cotton contrast with a scorched backdrop in Sicily to illustrate climate change – at Antonio Marras