MFW: Jil Sander collection brings life to a lackluster week

MILAN -- Thank goodness for Raf Simons. Just when the Milan shows were about to put us all to sleep, he showed some of the most exciting clothes of the fall season.

The first part of his collection for Jil Sander was a tribute to the 20-year-old label's powerful minimalist aesthetic, reminding us that something as simple as a cream turtleneck dress and oatmeal-colored double-face cashmere coat can shine, thanks to perfect cut and fabrication.

A clever black dress made to look like a jacket with lapels and pocket flaps, and a traffic-cone orange short sleeve shift with raised seams, further demonstrated the brand's timeless, spare beauty, while juicy-colored patent leather flats injected a small dose of up-to-the-moment fashion.

Then the music went down, colored lights started flashing and the real show began, the one where Simons let his imagination run wild. Inspired by the work of French ceramist Pol Chambost, Simons' sculptural forms with contrast color pieces peeling away from, or spiraling around, the body were thrilling to look at from every angle.

Neon yellow or green peeked out from the asymmetrical hem of a black skirt and the funnel neck of a black dress. A white coat with a single undulating lapel was strong and graphic, as was a purple shift with a curving, folded collar.

The concept got the better of Simons with a few awkward volumes and flying hip flourishes that disregarded a woman's figure.  Still, the creative impulse was electrifying.

-- Booth Moore

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Photo: A look from the Fall '09 Jil Sander collection at Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Giulio di Mauro/European Pressphoto Agency.  

MFW: Emilio Pucci's prints for party people

MILAN -- Another old house with another new designer. Norwegian Peter Dundas showed his first collection for Emilio Pucci on Saturday, injecting a young, sexy, '80s-tinged energy into the Florentine label known for its psychedelic prints.

He opened with a series of clingy dresses, in faded earth-tone Pucci prints, that were so short you almost saw more than you wanted to. Add to that over-the-knee suede boots and the message was clear: This is not your grandmother's Pucci.

Slinky, zippered biker pants in denim or snakeskin were clearly aimed at the nightclubbing set, paired with enormous fur chubbys, oversized thunderbolt-print blazers or squiggle-print silk camp shirts.

For evening, the prints were deconstructed into swirling, beaded embroideries on skimpy minidresses, some with graphic lace cutouts. It all made for a compelling package. But with so many brands already doing the rock star look (Gucci, Balmain, Alexander Wang), is there really room for another?

-- Booth Moore

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Photo: A fall '09 look from the Emilio Pucci runway show during Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Giulio di Mauro / European Pressphoto Agency

MFW: Gianfranco Ferre plays the future as stiff and severe

MILAN -- Jackets with "Star Trek" shoulders, skirts with boxy hiplines, and a surfeit of '80s-era Thierry Mugler references combined to make the second Gianfranco Ferre collection designed by young talents Roberto Rimondi and Tomasso Aquilano stiff and overwrought.

With drawn-on eyebrows and molded hairstyles, the models looked mean and militaristic in their sculpted uniforms. Things did soften up a bit for evening, with crepe ruffles curving around elegant black column gowns and sculptural bows sprouting from pleated white blouses.

Still,  it's difficult to imagine women embracing such a severe look in hard times, and even more difficult to imagine them embracing yet another new incarnation of an old brand.

Indeed, Ferre's future is very much in question following the recent financial trouble of parent company IT Holdings. If there is one thing this recession might be good for, it's convincing fashion powers that be that not every house needs to live on past its founder.

--Booth Moore

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A fall runway look from Gianfranco Ferre's women's collection during Milan Fashion Week. Credit: Alberto Pellaschiar / Associated Press

MFW: Burberry checks in with a nod to nostalgia

MILAN -- With the economic news growing more dire by the day, fashion in the lightning speed form as we have come to know it is in danger of becoming a dirty word. Even its most ardent supporters, glossy editors, are staying out of the stores. So it's no wonder many designers are banking on nostalgia to pull on the heartstrings and the purse strings this fall.

Few people have as much to draw from as Christopher Bailey at Burberry Prorsum. Gone were the hyper luxe (and hyper expensive) warrior studs and gilded feathers that have made the brand a fashion front-runner in the past few seasons. Instead, the classic wardrobe of British country life took center stage -- a wise business decision perhaps, but a bit disappointing aesthetically.

Comfort came under the cloak of oversized, blanket-like outerwear -- trench coats in doeskin, bonded cotton, or tweed, some with full skirts.

Underneath, there were white cotton bibbed shirt dresses, twist-front tweed dresses, Aran sweaters worn over faded plaid kilts, and menswear-inspired pinstripe pants and oversized white shirts. Lug sole wedge desert boots added an outdoorsy feel. 

Evening looks were very covered up -- paneled plisse dresses in regal shades of ink blue and plum, full-skirted dresses in gold tapestry florals or aristocratic-looking portrait prints.

Dormant for several years because it had become so copied, the Nova check reappeared like a long-lost friend, on large satchels and the inside of mink snoods. And when the models took their final spin, of course it was to Peter Gabriel's "Solsbury Hill." 

-- Booth Moore

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Photo: A look from Burberry Prorsum women's fall runway collection at Milan fashion week. Luca Bruno / Associated Press
 

Makeup tips to crossdress for success

Who better to get makeup tips than from a drag queen? They are constantly perfecting the art of contouring-thinning out the nose, arching the brow and shading in sky high cheekbones.

There’s no shortage of drag queens on "RuPaul’s Drag Race," the reality show competition that aims to find the man woman enough to fill the famous drag queen’s Size 12 stilettos.  The best part of the show is the sudden death elimination round in which contestants are told to “lip sync for their life” and then to “sashay away” if their performance was the weaker of the two.

Last week’s episode had contestants vying to be MAC cosmetics Viva Glam spokesperson for one day.  Drag queen and L.A. native Ongina won the post.  She kindly shared her favorite makeup secret with us:

“I use M•A•C PRO Shaping Powder in Emphasize under my eyes and in my T-zones.  It brightens your face and gives the perfect glow,”  says Ongina.

Here are a few other tips from Ongina’s fellow contestants:

“My M•A•C favorite is Eye Shadow in Carbon.  This little black eye shadow let’s you shape the eye and create different effects.  To make an eye look more deep-set use M•A•C Brush 228 and apply from the outside corner of the eye to the brow bone.  Start with just a little color and increase as you go so you can control the intensity.”
Nina Flowers

“For killer lips that will last all through a rockin’ night at the club, first line your lips with M•A•C Lip Pencil in Redd and then fill in with Russian Red Lipstick.  For an extra bit of shine that will make heads turn, apply just a hint of Lustreglass in Venetian on top.  It will put the disco balls to shame and add hot loving to your game.”
Tammie Brown

--Melissa Magsaysay

Photo: Winner of the MAC spokesperson competition, Ongina/MAC

MFW: D&G takes in the theater - from seat cushions to Callas

For their lower-priced line D&G, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana went to the theater, drawing on everything from the band leader's jackets to the velvet seat cushions, which they fashioned into bustiers paired with Swiss Dot ballet skirts or skinny jeans.

Elaborate bustier dresses, puffed up by internal petticoats, came in rich velvets and brocades with gold tassel belts. Pony hair capelets were printed to look like ocelot fur, and platform velvet pumps were piped in gold or scattered with crystals.

Stepping off the stage to the street, there were also less costumey things to wear -- T-shirts with the image of Maria Callas or vintage opera bills on the fronts (Callas recorded "Norma" in 1954 in the very theater where the runway show took place), jeans with gold braiding down the sides, quilted velvet coats, tapestry-print chiffon blouses, cardigan sweaters and ballet flats. It all made for a very clever show.

Hopefully, D&G's divas-in-training know who Callas is.

-- Booth Moore

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A look from D & G's fall '09 runway show Friday during Milan Fashion Week. Credit: EPA/Giulio di Mauro

MFW: Giorgio Armani does an '80s time warp

"Dynasty"-era sculpted jackets, strange millinery (black patent beanies cocked to the side) and dangling earrings combined to make Giorgio Armani's fall collection an '80s time warp in the worst way.

At the base were wrap-front skirts worn with opaque black tights, and shiny, unflattering tight black pants. Add to that all manner of knit shawls and cape coats in a spectrum of grays, plus the hats and jewelry, and you didn't get a playful homage to the go-go decade, as so many other designers have done this season. You got something as old and musty as Sophia Loren's Oscar dress.

Speaking of gowns, for fall, Armani's are tea-length,  crystal-dusted sheaths, shown with matching crystal-dusted flat boots and velvet turbans. Zero sex appeal.

There were a few great jackets, as there always are -- draped and gathered into a single button closure, or ruffled at the collar.  And thankfully, he did spare us the usual controversial pants silhouette. But a note about the production -- why must Armani send his models out in twos, hands on hips, like the spooky twins in "The Shining"? It's such an odd distraction.

The best thing about the whole enterprise was the Tina Turner soundtrack. What did Armani take his bow to? Choruses of "Simply the Best," what else?

-- Booth Moore

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Photos: Giorgio Armani's fall 2009 women's collection on the runway during Milan fashion week. Credits: Matteo Bazzi / European Pressphoto Agency (top) and Luca Bruno / Associated Press (bottom).

MFW: Missoni's fall 2009 women's collection

MILAN -- It's not often that I really want to snuggle up to a collection, but such was the case with the lusciously layered, sunset-hued Missoni collection shown today. Let's start with the cashmere leg warmers in Missoni's signature tonal knit patterns. Any legging-wearing woman worth her salt will be lusting after those come winter. They are the Milan season's first must-have, or must-want. 

Where the styling was a downfall at Emporio Armani, it was a highlight here. Because even if you can't afford Missoni's tonal peach, blush, camel, gray and cerulean blue knits for fall, you can crib from the way they were put together on the runway.

Leggings were layered under short sweater skirts  or cowl-neck sweater dresses. Cropped mohair cardigans were worn over longer cardigans. Spidery metallic mohair coats topped tweed blazers.

Ankle-skimming fringed scarves were draped around the neck in twos and threes, along with long gold chains. And they weren't just plain scarves; there were hooded scarves and cardigan scarves (a cardigan with a scarf attached), too. Berets, camisoles, even knit shorts in flame-like designs, shot through with metallic thread, rounded out the mix.

This was knitwear to the max, with varying weaves and weights blending seamlessly into the next, like paint in an artist's palette. About as close to irresistible as clothes can get. Now, if only the Missoni store under construction in Beverly Hills would hurry up and open already.

-- Booth Moore

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Photos: Missoni's fall 2009 women's collection

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Photo credit: Alberto Pellaschiar / Associated Press

MFW: Emporio Armani's fall 2009 women's collection

MILAN -- David and Victoria Beckham's Emporio Armani underwear ads are plastered all over the city of Milan, inviting the world to the Beckham bedroom. But when it came to the Emporio Armani show today, the couple was nowhere to be seen. Nor were any other famous faces, a rarity for the celeb-loving designer.

Chalk it up to the more subdued mood emerging in the early hours of this Milan Fashion Week. The focus here, as it was in New York, is business.

Gen Art/BOXeight join forces for L.A. Fashion Week

What the upcoming fashion week in Los Angeles will look like came into a little sharper focus today as Gen Art announced it was joining forces with BOXeight "to revitalize L.A. Fashion Week" with a trio of runway shows by local designers on March 13 at the Los Angeles Theatre at 615 S. Broadway in downtown L.A.

"In light of the economic situation, it made sense to join forces with BOXeight," Gen Art representative Shana Glick told me this afternoon. "It would have been difficult for us to have the same event we are used to having." Glick also said that the size of the venue would allow the groups to sell close to 1,000 tickets to members of the general public (from $40 to $75 and available at www.genart.org or by calling [323] 782-9367).

The evening's schedule is set to include a reception at 7 p.m., a seated runway show at 8 -- featuring designs by GRAI, Raquel Allegra and Society for Rational Dress -- and an after-party scheduled to kick off at 9.

That evening marks the start of BOXeight's fashion schedule, which that group's founder, Pete Gurnz, says will include two more days of runway shows featuring at least 16 extra designers. "We're discussing some other possible content on additional days," Gurnz said. "But that's not finalized."

According to its website, a separate event, dubbed Downtown LA Fashion Week has two days of yet-to-be-announced fashion events scheduled for Wednesday, March 18, and Thursday, March 19, and has reportedly secured space at the Geffen Contemporary at MOCA. Its organizers told us this afternoon that they would be announcing full details shortly.

Gurnz told us back in December that he had no intention of making BOXeight the de facto standard-bearer of L.A. Fashion Week, so we asked him again today if he felt the same way.

"Let's put it this way," he said. "That was never our goal, but we're ready, willing and able to accept that responsibility with open arms."

Sounds like the man needs a fashion week group hug. Anyone?

-- Adam Tschorn

Photos: (top) a look from Maxine Dillon's collection that showed at Gen Art's Fresh Faces in Fashion show in Los Angeles on Oct. 10, 2008. Photo by Ann Johansson/For The L.A. Times. (Bottom) a look from Yotam Solomon's BOXeight show in L.A. on Oct. 17, 2008. Photo by Michael Robinson Chavez/Los Angeles Times.