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Logan's Style Watch
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SPRING-SUMMER TRENDS FOR 2001 (Part I)
by Logan Bentley Lessona
ROME, February 5, 2001 -We've had an unusual cold and rainy spell here in Rome and the shops are still full of sale stuff but fashion magazines are already showing bikinis on the covers so it's time to talk about the new trends for next spring and summer.
It's been said that there's nothing new under the sun and that applies to fashion, too. I saw an interview with Anna Sui when she showed her collection on CNN's "Style" and she basically said the same thing, and explained how she was reinterpreting the eighties and even the forties in her last collection.
Having said that, it's off to the races! Italian women are pretty stylish, we all know that, and I wonder if they have an advantage because of the many monthly and, yes, weekly women's magazines published here. Unless you subscribe to Women's Wear Daily the news you see in Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, Glamour, Elle, Marie Claire and so on has been written some two months earlier.
Italy has the same monthly magazines and even more, but there are also slick colorful weekly magazines such as Anna, Amica, Donna Moderna, Grazia, and Gioia, not to mention the weekly women's magazine supplements to Corriere della Sera (Io Donna) and La Repubblica (D Donna), the leading Italian newspapers. So Italian women have really up-to-date news.
Plus, twice a year, at the beginning of the seasons, most of these magazines have either a separate supplement or some 40 inside pages dedicated to photos taken on the runways of the Italian, British, French, and New York ready to wear shows. They are usually divided in sections according to trends, day, evening, beach, coats, and so on, but they have a distinct advantage of letting you see the designer's vision, exactly as he showed it on the runway.
Maybe you have to do a little bit of editing, in some cases stripping away the crazy makeup and hairdos and accessories which make a statement and the headlines to get to the real stuff. Franco Moschino was famous for his gags long before John Galliano and Alexander McQueen appeared, but his clothes were extremely made (by the company that Alberta Ferretti owns) and wearable.
Fashion today is so free and there are so many looks that any woman, no matter how old or young, fat or thin, should be able to find something flattering and wearable. The ladylike look is still holding strong, as well as waves of the eighties and the forties. Circle skirts cut on the bias with gathers at the waist and stopping just above or below the knees were shown in lightweight fabrics by Versus (Versace), Moschino, Prada (mud-color chiffon with an unsual matching twin set), D & G (Dolce and Gabbana), Max Mara (they always have a version),and Blumarine, among others.
The safari look and suit has never really gone out of style since Yves St. Laurent introduced it some 30 years ago. The color is sand, from the palest to the darkest shade. Celine brings us a long shirt dress with pockets and epaulettes in a darker shade over paler cigarette pants. Paul Smith's shirt, without the buttons down the front, is a mini and has the hem cut like a shirt. Emporio Armani's version comes in a three-piece pants suit with a transparent chiffon shirt and wide-cut pants.
Antonio Fusco's wrap-around jacket comes almost to the knee, over flared pants, Jill Sander's dress had kimono-cut sleeves to the elbow, buttons down the front, and stops at the top of the knee. Maska, Fendi, Byblos, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Krizia, Kenzo, and Strenesse all have versions, but the most sophisticated is Ferre's. Made of nubby beige silk and fringed at the bottom of the low-cut flaring pants and long sleeves of the semi-wrap top that stops at the bottom of the ribs, it is accented by a wide hipslung dark brown belt.
What would spring and summer be without flowers? Oh, that I could still fit into some of the old dresses I still have! Big colorful splashy flower prints are everywhere, and make anybody happy who sees them. Versace, who has always offered bright colors even when they were considered OUT has a pretty and sophisticated evening look with his royal blue long silk dress printed with enormous tulips and anemones, one shoulder bare, the other shirred to below the elbow. Those handy with a needle could even copy this dress but a really good fabric is a necessity or it won't work. No polyesters, please.
More flirty flowers come from Paul Smith, Mariella Burani, Blumarine, Ungaro (who never abandoned them), Moschino, Vuitton, Kenzo (another flower faithful), Emporio Armani, Martine Sitbon, Ralph Lauren, Prada, Strenesse, and D & G. Mostly used for dresses, bathing suits, and pareos, the dresses are often with decollates and halter necks and full or bias skirts. If you look hard enough you'll probably find something in your closet. I have a Suzy Perette that belonged to my mother with a sweetheart neck, pointed bodice, and full skirt to below the knee made of white silk splashed with huge pink roses. How I wish I could wear it!
P.S. Some of the Italian magazines mentioned above are online, a list appears under "Magazines" on my web http://ciao-italy.com with a description in English. You can also subscribe, or check the newsstand in your area that sells foreign publications. The issues with the runway collection photographs usually come out the beginning of January and July.
© 2001 Logan Bentley Lessona
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