Milan Fashion Week: Versace and Fendi’s joint show had an unexpected twist – and critics went crazy for the luxury brands’ ‘power of collaboration’
Milan Fashion Week drew to a close on Monday, September 27, a day after Versace and Fendi shared the catwalk in a collaboration that saw each artistic director playing with the codes of the other house.
Dolce & Gabbana’s glittery, disco-glam Milan Fashion Week show
But some critics regretted a return at the week’s events to the old norms of ultra-slim, very young models compared to the more recent use of more mature models of varied sizes.
The fashion world knew that Fendi and Versace would be putting on a joint show. What they did not know was that the two creative directors, Donatella Versace and Kim Jones, would switch roles – Versace creating a Fendi collection and Jones one for Versace.
The resulting “Fendace” show creations will be in the shops by spring of 2022.
But some commentators expressed unease at a return to super-young, disturbingly thin models at other shows.
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While fashion hubs such as New York had made efforts to move on, “in Milan the models are once again very young and very thin”, wrote the The New York Times.
Mini-skirts, bras and bikinis were all back on the podium for next season’s big thing, suggesting a need to free the body and party.
Next year’s spring/summer collections will feature bras or bikini tops worn under very ample, fairly masculine tops, such as the blazers in the Fendi collection, Prada’s leather jackets and Missoni’s trench coats.
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Dolce & Gabbana and Versace both drew their inspiration from the early 2000s including bikini tops and swimsuits that flirted with lingerie.
After several seasons in which the dress or midi-length skirt – above the knee – has been the norm, the miniskirt is back in favour.
- Pop star Dua Lipa, Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss and her daughter, Lila Grace Moss-Hack, flaunted Donatella Versace and Kim Jones’ new party-starting creations
- While the runway show featured models of different ages and sizes, critics bemoaned other fashion houses’ reverting to ‘super-young’, ‘ultra-slim’ girls