Industry | 2010.02.26
Milan's shortened fashion week weathers Anna Wintour blow
Versace adds a defiant display to Italian fashion hit by media snubs, poor sales figures and a traffic wrangle
Milan fashion week may have hit a bumpy patch, but Donatella Versace is not one to be cowed. She will face this crisis the same way she has faced so many others: in tight leather trousers and very high heels.
Italian fashion is reeling from the simultaneous blows dealt by disappointing sales figures, an apparent snub by Anna Wintour and distinctly unglamorous wrangles over traffic policy, but on the Versace catwalk there were floor-length Oscar gowns, tiny party frocks studded with rhinestones, and lashings of backcombed blond hair. Business as usual, in other words. The London Fashion Week star, Christopher Kane, who designs the house\'s less expensive Versus line, said it reminded him of "Barbarella, or the women from Russ Meyer\'s film Supervixens".
"It was pretty hot," he said from his front-row seat.
However, a low mood pervades Milan fashion week. Issues which may appear no more than tantrums and tiaras to the outside world highlight a deeper issue here. Milan, which until the middle of the last decade could claim to be the most powerful of the fashion capitals, is felt to be losing its influence.
The recession has weaned the fashion industry from its dependence on major brands as shoppers have become less willing or able to spend purely on the basis of a label. This has weakened the position of Milan, which has relied for its status on the same big-name brands for decades, and has failed to produce any new fashion stars in recent years. The appointment of Christopher Kane to Versus has been a lone spark of forward-thinking by the house of Versace.
The Camera della Moda, Italian fashion\'s governing body, has released figures showing that 2009 saw the most dramatic drop in sales in 20 years, with revenues estimated to have fallen by 15% to €56.5bn (£50.6bn). In October, Versace announced plans to cut up to 25% of its workforce; the Camera estimates that 50,000 jobs are at risk in the Italian fashion industry. Gianfranco Ferre recently announced itself bankrupt, and there was more bad news for the industry yesterday when Roberto Cavalli announced a 22% decline in sales for 2009, year on year.
Milan\'s problems were reflected and compounded when the hugely influential Wintour let it be known she did not plan on spending more than four days in Milan this season. With all the major designers insisting on catwalk slotsduring her stay, Milan\'s seven-day schedule was cut by almost half.
Wintour has attempted to play down the row, telling reporters at the London fashion shows last week that she was looking forward to her trip to Italy. But Franca Sozzani, Wintour\'s counterpart in Milan as the editor in chief ofItalian Vogue, described the situation as "embarrassing" in the Corriere della Sera newspaper this week.
The shortened schedule represents a significant loss of face for Milanese fashion, in an industry where perception of status is hugely important, and creates practical problems as a tightly packed schedule bursts at the seams. Bylunchtime today, shows were already running 40 minutes late – a stark contrast to London last week, where a new slick attitude and rigorous organisation resulted in punctual, well-run shows which delighted busy international visitors.
Milan\'s troubles were exacerbated by a recent decision by the city\'s mayor to ban traffic on Sundays in an attempt to reduce pollution. However, after lobbying by the fashion week organisers, the town council granted special permission for journalists, buyers, models, make-up artists and others attending Sunday\'sshows to travel by car.
But there is much-needed good news – albeit from an unlikely source – for two Milanese labels. The pop singer Lady Gaga has asked Armani and Prada to design stage costumes for her tour, guaranteeing them both huge publicity and a link to the cutting edge of style which much of Milan desperately lacks.
Miuccia Prada has designed an 18th century-inspired hoop-skirted dress in the plastic-coated jersey debuted on her catwalk, while sketches released yesterday by Giorgio Armani show a full-length black shiny trench coat, and a shoulder-padded blue sequinned leotard, complete with matching sunglasses and ankle boots.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2[...]lan-fashion-week-wintour-storm
Instagram is adding automatic in-app text translation - The Verge views: 1530
Here’s a ‘Brand-New’ Massive Multilingual Dataset for Machine Translation views: 1527