Office Wraps Milan Fashion Week FW23
This is our roundup of Milan Fashion Week. Read on for our star moments.
GCDS
Big yellow eyes tick-tocked back and forth, scanning the latest GCDS collection. Not the beloved Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, but the cat of Founder and Creative Director, Giuliano Calza, Kittho, who intended to “reduce the distance between his perceived public persona, and who he really is.” His beloved cat drew us closer to home in the Fall Winter 2023 collection. At Palazzo del Ghiaccio, Calza presented tactile yellow gowns, pink tweed suits, tailored dress shirts, and blazers with an attitude of sophistication and an air of playfulness similar to that of a cat.
Jil Sander
Luke and Lucie Meier, inspired by their formative years, presented their latest Jil Sander collection “cross-contaminated” where they — and all of us — are today. Bjork’s “All Neon Like” soundtracked the show as models appeared from an extra-extra large garage door at the back of the show space. Out of pitch black, models came riding dressed with balaclavas paired with tailored blazers and jackets reflecting the minimalist approach Jil Sander is known for. Subtle textures, including coats and dresses, added softness to clean-cut silhouettes. In an ode to what is "simple and positive," cherries and candied motifs were stamped across tops in an attempt to recover a child-like hopefulness — even when it’s hard to.
Prada
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons gave essential workers their flowers with their Fall Winter 2023 women’s collection. Uniforms respond to the political environment of war, health, and economy, through the mode of evening-wear in the season’s most modest show yet, Taking Care. A moving ceiling — in notion to the men’s show – at Deposito of the Fondazione Prada extended and reduced with beams roped with floral decorations. Skirts arranged with white petals proposed to sweaters in “sartorial representations of care and responsibility” as a gesture to anti-glamour. But where we would expect classism, Prada acknowledged the care nurses, teachers, and cleaners offer with cashmere capes, epaulettes and functional pockets as a uniform for their jobs, even in daily crises. The song, “In Every Dream Home A Heartache,” harmonized the emptiness of glamour but with affection towards their atelier and the detailed care they give — like to handcrafted calico flowers — which is why they well-deserved their bouquet.
Gucci
In the midst of the transition from Alessandro Michele to the new Creative Director of Gucci, Sabato De Sarno, the latest Fall/Winter 2023 collection is all thanks to the Gucci hub. Puce green carpeting gave way to a 1970’s conversation pit-like stage filled with influencers as models descended from stainless steel elevators to grace the floor. What was most eye-catching were the celebrities front-row like A$AP Rocky, Florence Welch, Xiao Shan. The star-studded audience kept their attention on the looks that came down the runway, such as the eye-catching heart-shaped faux fur-collared coats. To close the show, the design team took their final bow in place of the usual Creative Director.
MM6 Maison Margiela
Backstage on-stage left models exposed throughout the MM6 Maison Margiela presentation. As we were guided into an all-black room, long and thin, we were presented with a classic runway, tried and true. For the Fall Winter 2023 co-ed collection, there was no barrier keeping the audience from seeing the models being styled and then directed to prepare for their runway walk. Although all was seen, all was not what it seemed as modular pieces erected the improbable through deceptive construction methods. Lined with mirrors, the show space in Navigli played on surfaces and perception to add to the illusion of height — on top of us having to look up to view the collection. Familiar garments were presented in new contexts including the Numeric Bag with a silver foil finish and Japanese Bag with triple handles. In the classic MM6 group of three method, “unexpected fabric textures and treatments are irreverently spliced, disrupting preconceived associations of particular garments, textiles and silhouettes” were each designed in three variations.
Moschino
The memory of cheese melting in the sun distorted a familiar theme synonymous with Moschino: Tropes. Creative Director of Moschino, Jeremy Scott, showed classic elegance but with surrealist alterations in his “aristocratic punk” Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Inspired by Salvador Dalí, hems melted off of classic tweed skirt-suits and leather-cut little black dresses with moto detailing. The roc’n’roll edge was amplified by Hairstylist, Paul Hanlon, in his installation of the spiked-dos (where did he install the spiked-dos) over the span of three months — he even pressed his son’s hair into each “shattered glass” style.
