milan fashion week: roberto cavalli
(images via ny mag)
fringe was, again, the name of the day at roberto cavalli, his s/s 2011 girls exuding the singular vision of the bohemian pot smoker, complete with long, flat hair and a lot of skin showing (she kind of reminds me of surfer girl from ‘californication’).
this was a part of the designer’s 40th anniversary celebration (going on the whole of this year) and represented his return to the glam-and-trash he so loved and has lately been moving away from in favour of something a bit more refined.
however, for this day, he seemed to combine some of his latter-day knowledge with the pieces of yesteryear, giving them a sleekness, even in their overbearing sexuality, they didn’t have perhaps a decade ago.
that isn’t to say these are particularly sophisticated looks, or anything most of us are going to be able to wear outside of a party, strip club, or kate hudson’s house. it simply means that, for this season, he seems to be at peace with the realization he’s not going to sell most of us a trussed-up snakeskin/leopard print blazer in the form of a “work” outfit & think we’re going to buy into it.
no, this season is about overt sexuality, and that alone. and, as the designer seems to know what his fans want and has, in recent years, at least, been restraining himself, i am going to give him a pass.
in other words, it’s not a brilliant show, but at least he hasn’t been overusing the aesthetic for the past several seasons, trying to sell it to us as if it’s new. the girls wear it well, and there is a market for this, which seems to gradually be turning many a house into seventies/early eighties redux machines, flinging samples at us like so many costumes from a beyonce concert.
also worth a note is the show’s cast. it’s not interesting for diversity of ethnicity or body type, but simply because he got a few of the modern-day supermodels, such as natalia vodianova, laeticia casta, and erin wasson (below) to show up, making it one of the spicer (in terms of models) for the season.
although it’s not really his fault (at least he’s not inconsistent), i will take a moment to vent & point out that while fall’s runways shows hints of promise, it’s kind of depressing to back to the same rank-and-file as a year ago. where is the evolution?
the same place, i suppose, as many of the designs. if models are expected to look a certain way, so are the owners of the garments. imagine anyone not cut just like karolina kurkova (below) trying to cram themselves into that sucker. remember, ladies, the spring season isn’t about things like work or dinner, it’s about getting your ass to the gym so you can attend all the faaabulous soirees in your skintight gear. ain’t fashion grand?
(see the full show here)
