The Lure of Ombre

I arrived in Milan over the weekend, and I am pleased to report that the weather is warm and sunny. Everyone is all smiles.

The shows have been compressed into four days and so between the runway presentations, showroom appointments, store openings, story deadlines and trying to get in a respectable amount of retail research -- aka shopping -- every hour is accounted for.

I'm going to tell you right now that I'm obsessed with a Prada tote in gray ombre leather. It is highly practical and I am lusting after it. I refrained from marching over to Prada to slap down a credit card for fear that American Express's head honcho, Mr.Ken Chenault himself, would call me up for a personal reprimand. But I have been lying awake at night and the cause is not jet lag. Ombre, baby. Ombre. Perhaps it will be a reward after all deadlines have been met.

In the meantime, I checked out the new collection from the designer Graeme Black who used to work for Giorgio Armani and is finishing up a stint designing the womenswear collection at Ferragamo. His own collection is only a few seasons old and he's still figuring out exactly how to define his point of view. It's great to gain experience working for other design houses, he said, but sometimes that makes it hard to step out on your own. You're used to boundaries and suddenly, you don't have any.

His spring collection was inspired by basket weaving, and there are a lot of featherweight leather woven jackets and dresses with intricate knotting. The collection is pretty and grown-up and is meant to appeal to actual customers rather than fashion editors. Thus, it is wearable. What a quaint idea!

I also checked out a new kid on the block named Christian Weber who is Austrian by birth, based in Los Angeles and showed his collection in Milan. He was inspired by Spain and Salvador Dali. His work isn't as polished as the more experienced Graeme, but it has some interesting features, namely his mix of masculine and feminine ideas by way of toreadors and flamenco dancers.

As usual, the champagne is flowing freely, which makes me very happy. But I would argue that if you're going to have a little cocktail party with bubbly and fancy hors d'oeuvres before your show, Mr. Burberry, it would be nice if the only loo option was not a porta-potty. That sort of ruins the mood, if you know what I mean.

By Robin Givhan |  September 25, 2007; 7:36 AM ET Milan
Previous: "Forever Wanted" | Next: Old Houses and New Designers

Posted by: jjtwo | September 26, 2007 8:38 AM

Posted by: Prashant | November 16, 2007 11:15 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.