Queen of the Milanese catwalks Miuccia Prada put on a faultless show of flamboyant sixties graphic prints for the third day of the Male Spring-Summer 2013 collections in Italy’s fashion capital.
Tailored uniforms featured a sash rising from the ankles to loop under the models’ legs in the style of alternative smoking trousers
Prada models sashayed down a bright white catwalk to the soundtrack of Jean-Luc Godard’s cult 1960s film Contempt (Le Mepris) wearing immaculately tailored uniforms with a sash rising from the ankles to loop under the models’ legs in the style of alternative smoking trousers.
The Italian fashion house finished its T-shirts and shirts with white rounded collars and kept suit jackets short with padded shoulders.
Blocks of eye-catching colour – green, aviator blue, white and bordeaux – were paired with shoes and sandals in varnished leather, worn with black socks.
Over at Bottega Venega it was the turn of the humble pullover to grab the limelight, “an item of clothing that is part of traditional and contemporary cultures worldwide”, said creative director Tomas Maier.
Chocolate-coloured jumpers had a zip on the back or sides and were teamed with slim trousers and loose tunics embellished with Maier’s customary attention, which this time included tassels and laces around the collar.
While Bottega Venega did experiment with playful layering of luxurious organza and silk, hoods flying in the breeze and cropped sweaters that gave its models the look of Spanish toreros, the house stuck with its more sober classic leather accessories.
More colourful was Salvatore Ferragamo with an acid range of David Hockney-style pigments – fluorescent pink, bright blue and mint green tinted collars and shoulders while a zesty orange raincoat with white stitching gave a feeling of being by the sea.
British designer Vivienne Westwood meanwhile imagined a very English picnic look, inspired by Manet’s ‘Luncheon on the Grass’ (Dejeuner sur l’Herbe) painting, but with a touch of fantasy.
Her collection combined knitted tunic-style dresses with plunging necklines, wrap-over cardigans and bling gold chains fit for a rapper.
Bermuda shorts paired with dainty short-sleeved shirts, bow ties and cotton suits with fine white and blue stripes were reminiscent of pale-skinned English college students sheltering under straw hats.
Closing the show, Roberto Cavalli spiced things up with his favourite leopard prints and metallic rock-star suits worthy of the Rolling Stones that also featured in the collections of Versace and Burberry.