Milan Fashion Week: Gucci revisits past to pave new way, sober looks at Tod’s, blooming flowers at Prada

MILAN — Italian luxury label Gucci drew from its past to present an eclectic mix of looks at its womenswear show at Milan Fashion Week on Friday, paving the way for the next chapter as it awaits its new creative director.

The brand’s creative team revisited Gucci’s glamorous and colorful looks of the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s — nodding to silhouettes and creations by past designers like Tom Ford and Frida Giannini. (See the show here: GUCCI Fall Winter 2023 Women’s Collection Fashion Show | GUCCI® )

Gucci parted ways with its star designer Alessandro Michele last November as sales lagged competitors, and the prized brand of French luxury group Kering will welcome its new creative director, Sabato De Sarno, later this year.

A model wearing a tiny metallic bikini top, long black satin pencil skirt and gloves opened the show. Androgynous trouser suits followed as did plenty of faux fur coats in lilac, blue, fuchsia, and yellow. There were furry lapels, oversized knits, footwear, and bags. One coat dazzled with sparkling silver fringes.

“The Gucci Fall Winter 2023 Women’s Collection connects the creative cultures that cross-pollinate the history of the House in an evocative but contemporary proposal,” show notes read.

“A free expression founded in collective memories that blur the lines of time, it is an illustration of the beating heart of Gucci: the ecosystem of designers and artisans whose shared understanding of the House has passed down and evolved from creative to creative for over a century.”

Slim trousers were slit at the bottom front while bustier dresses had exaggerated sides. One model wore a crumpled shirt tucked into a miniskirt, others were dressed in coats with voluminous shoulders.

There were plenty of see-through designs: white embroidered sheer shirts and skirts and black transparent dresses.

Tights were red, orange, lime and pale blue. There were new offerings of the Gucci loafer and the brand’s famed handbags.

At the end of the show, Gucci’s creative team came out to loud applause. Mr. De Sarno will present his first collection for Gucci in September.

TOD’SAt Tod’s, creative director Walter Chiapponi offered a sober collection in earthy tones that played with tailoring. (See show here: Women’s Looks – Autumn-Winter 2023/2024 Collection | Tod’s (tods.com))

Models wore pea coats as well as long oversized coats, and also appeared in parkas and cropped aviator and elongated bomber jackets. Zipped ribbed tops had leather detailing while round-collared shirts had slightly voluminous shoulders.

Dresses were belted or had draped shoulders.

Called “Italian Feeling,” the collection came in hues of brown, dark green, camel, and cream. Mr. Chiapponi ended the show with several pinstripe looks.

“The idea was to go back to sobriety, with a certain rigidity in the construction,” Mr. Chiapponi told reporters.

“In a way it’s a very masculine show. The feminine touches are the skirts, embroideries… high heels.”

PRADAFlorals bloomed on skirts, shoes, and from the ceiling at Italian designer label Prada’s Milan Fashion Week show.

Designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons turned wedding dresses into everyday looks, opening their autumn/winter 2023-24 catwalk presentation with a range of long and short white skirts embellished with white flowers and paired with knits. (Watch the show here: FW 2023 Womenswear | PRADA )

Utility suits became long shirt dresses with trains, while large boxy jackets were matched with slim ankle-length trousers in mainly dark shades.

Models wore shirts with stick-out shoulders, knits and jackets with colorful inside collars, and pastel-colored cigarette trousers paired with ribbed tops.

Kitten heels in a range of colors bore cut out floral patterns.

The collection also featured white puffer and dark asymmetrical miniskirts, colorful printed dresses, buttoned capes and a range of duffel coats.

Last month, the Hong Kong-listed fashion group 1913.F said it had appointed a new chief executive, Andrea Guerra, taking the place of Patrizio Bertelli and Miuccia Prada and easing a transition to the next generation of the founding family.

FENDI, ALBERTA FERRETTIMilan kicked off its leg of the month-long catwalk calendar with Italian luxury labels Fendi deconstructing masculine tailoring and Alberta Ferretti opting for dark colors at their womenswear fashion shows.

At Fendi, designer Kim Jones added pleated skirt aprons and trains to tailored trouser suits as well as shoulder-baring sleeves to waistcoats. (Watch the show here: Women’s Fall/Winter 2023-24 Fashion Show (fendi.com) )

There were also boiler suits with skirts, slashed knits with halternecks, draped and ribbed dresses as well as Mac coats adorned with sparkling sequined lining.

In show notes, Jones said he was inspired by the way jewelry designer Delfina Delettrez Fendi wore her family label’s archive items. Mr. Jones works alongside Delettrez’s mother and the founding family’s scion Silvia Venturini Fendi, who looks after menswear and accessories at the Rome-based label.

“It’s deconstructed but luxurious. There’s a little nod to punk and my admiration for DIY, but moved on towards something chic,” Mr. Jones said in the notes.

“The first day that Delfina walked into work, she was wearing blue and brown and I thought she looked so great. There’s a chicness but perversity to the way she twists Fendi, which is what I love.”

Mr. Jones’ color palette mainly stuck to pale blue, greys, cream, brown, and black. He added dabs of bright colors with pink and orange dresses.

Accessories included thigh-high boots, a trend also seen at Alberta Ferretti, who opened her show with a strapless grey gown. (See the show here: Alberta Ferretti Boutique Online Ufficiale )

Further grey looks, often paired with long shiny black gloves, followed — from trousers suits to short dresses.

Models wore long velvet gowns, checked or corduroy suits, belted coats and jackets as well as sheer sparkling dresses.

Ms. Ferretti used mainly dark colors — burgundy, black, and brown with bursts of red on some outfits.

Evening looks were all black: sparkling jackets, sheer dresses as well as matched tops and skirts.

Milan Fashion Week wraps up on Feb. 27. — Reuters