MILAN (AP) — Kim Kardashian took Milan by storm Saturday, curating a new collection for Dolce&Gabbana that was inspired by 20 years of archive looks.
It was a day of debuts in Milan, including Maximilian Davis, a 27-year-old British designer with Afro-Caribbean roots, at the creative head of Salvatore Ferragamo and Filipino-American designer Rhuigi Villasenor at Bally, as the brand returns to the catwalk ·the. for the first time in 20 years.
Some highlights from day four of Milan Fashion Week previews of mostly womenswear for the upcoming spring and summer:
KIM KARDASHIAN AND DOLCE & GABBANA: THE STORY
Kim Kardashian’s love for Dolce & Gabbana goes way back, and the affection shown in her curation of his latest collection, based on archival looks from 1987-2007.
She remembers growing up watching her mother dress in Dolce & Gabbana for date nights with her stepfather, recalling that she “always looked so smart and so strong.” One year, Kardashian borrowed one of her mother’s black Dolce & Gabbana dresses with a built-in bra and choker to wear for a family Christmas card, a look she said, “I’ll never forget.” .
When Kardashian and her sisters owned a store, she borrowed her father’s credit card to buy a bunch of D&G dresses, jeans and belts before her paycheck arrived.
Even the family dogs were named Dolce and Gabbana. Gabbana was a black labrador, Dolce a small chihuahua.
“It is very close to reality,” said Stefano Gabbana at a presentation of the new collection.
But no matter how hard they tried, even deploying their mother, Kris Jenner, to help make their case, the designers refused to open their files. “The past is the past,” explained Domenico Dolce. “We try to move forward with the new generation.”
That is, until Kardashian proved she had the right stuff.
When Kourtney Kardashian married Travis Barker in Italy, social media was abuzz with the vintage Dolce & Gabbana dresses she and her sisters wore. They were all from Kim Kardashian’s private collection, which she amassed with the help of a book of more than 100 coveted Dolce & Gabbana looks that she and her stylist compiled years earlier.
“Everything looked crazy. It was so much fun,” Kardashian said of the wedding look. “I think (the designers) were surprised that I came with all my stuff and that I had been collecting it for years.”
Dolce said the wedding photos persuaded them to be in the archives and approached Kardashian about the project.
“We were afraid that vintage dresses would look old. Instead, they were still contemporary,” Dolce said.
And so the new Spring-Summer 2023 collection was born, with the designers selecting looks from the past that they loved, many with fond memories of working with models like Linda Evangelista and Monica Bellucci. Kardashian curated from there.
“After all these years, these are all the things we would wear today,” Kardashian said. “As a designer, I would think it’s great to see everyone trying to emulate the look. And why not do a full collection, obviously with some new pieces in there, but just reimagined in a way that we would wear it today, which is so similar to how it was shot and worn back then.”
_____
HASHTAG HELLO, KIM AT DOLCE & GABBANA
Designers Dolce and Gabbana presented their Spring-Summer 2023 collection curated by Kim Kardashian against the backdrop of a film showing Kardashian, styled like a star, sensually eating a plate of pasta.
And indeed, Kardashian’s treatment showed her full embrace of Dolce & Gabbana’s Italian roots.
“You just don’t take anybody’s shit when you’re here wearing Dolce & Gabbana,” Kardashian told reporters. “You feel powerful, strong and sexy all at the same time.”
Underwear strongly inspired the collection. There were built-in corsets, bras and bodysuits, employing all the designer’s best tricks, from stiff boning for structural elements, to beautiful lace and eye-catching crystals. They were worn with garter stockings and long gloves, or under pretty wraps.
Kardashian stuck to a mostly neutral palette: black, gray and beige, with a hint of burgundy. And she drew the line at prints, completely rejecting the brand’s fruits and florals, prompting Gabbana to lament: “She killed me. I said ‘Noooo!'”
But she went all in the leopard.
“I would say the boys took the leopard out of me,” Kardashian said. “I think you’ll see that for me, the color is the crystals.”
The collection was designed with women of all ages and shapes in mind, Kardashian said, with the goal of simplifying the designs to help make some of the more ornate pieces feel less intimidating.
“If you simplify it, more people can feel confident wearing it. And I think we’ve really achieved that in the show,” he said.
Kardashian’s mother, three of her children and sister Khloe sat in the front row. Proud mom Kris Jenner filming the entire show on her phone.
JIL SANDER’S TRANQUILITY
Jil Sander created an island of calm at the chaotic Milan fashion week, filling a temporary show space in a distant field with a thicket of wild flowers and herbs, along with soothing pastels and indulgent silhouettes.
The collection lends itself to easy layering and defies all gender stereotypes. Creative directors Lucie and Luke Maier continued to dabble in embellishment, adding sequins, feathers and metallic accents to the brand’s minimalist silhouette.
Sleeveless dresses worked for all genders, and men wore long pastel skirts with button-down shirts. Knitwear was distressed, with rough edges and slits, in both tops and dresses. The designers chose a single print, with blurred points of light.
Models carried umbrellas to protect their looks from the seasonal rain, inconvenient for an outdoor show, but welcome in Italy after months of drought.
THE NEW ALBADA OF FERRAGAMO
Maximilian Davis created a vermilion red backdrop for his Salvatore Ferragamo debut in the courtyard of a 17th-century baroque and neoclassical palace, all the better to highlight the fashion house’s new direction.
The 27-year-old British designer worked strong silhouettes and simple elements, such as tank tops and leggings, or full bodysuits, to better highlight the bag of the season, large bags cut out of highly polished leather with a canvas interior. Dresses were slinky in solid colors or flowy chiffon with gradient prints; a combination of red pants and skin-tight top with crystals. Strappy sandals featured a signature circular heel.
The masculine silhouette was challenged with an off-the-shoulder shadow-dyed top, the colors a tribute to the California sunset. Davis tapped into Ferragamo’s leather heritage with boyish leather shorts paired with a leather blazer. Any male divo can make a red carpet entrance with an off-the-shoulder silver top that flows dramatically into a scarf.
The models stepped on the red sand that covered the entire courtyard, a reference to Ferragamo’s origins in Hollywood near the beaches of California and Davis’ Caribbean heritage.
The sea and the sand are for him “a place to go to reflect and feel like one”, he said. “I wanted to show that perspective, but now through the lens of Ferragamo.”
Supermodel Naomi Campbell appeared in the debut.
BALLY Restarted
Filipino-American designer Rhuigi Villasenor, best known for his streetwear label in the U.S., is looking to drive a transition at famed Swiss brand Bally, founded in 1851.
His debut collection paid homage to the brand’s heritage of quiet elegance, while introducing an edge. She wore a V-neck swimsuit with snakeskin boots, while a long beaded skirt featured a slit at the waist and was casually paired with a denim top. For him, a flashy reptile fur jacket was worn with a mesh top and jeans, but there was also a dark blue double-breasted suit for more formal business occasions.
Villasenor said he was inspired by “the brand’s codes around art, graphic design, architecture and nature.”
BOTTEGA VENETA’S TROMP L’OEUIEL
For the uninitiated, Kate Moss looked downright dressed down on the Bottega Veneta runway in loose jeans and a checkered shirt. But that’s the genius of designer Matthieu Blazy, who revisited a trick from his first season, showing leather pants that replicate the look of jeans.
Every piece in Blazy’s sophomore collection was strong: from intarsia knits with ice blue and red taking center stage, to dresses and leather jackets with unexpected pleats, skirts and frayed leather dresses and transparent dresses embellished with velvet. floral applications.
At Bottega Veneta, leather is king. Bags range from beautifully crafted fishing bags that fit snugly around the body in either plain leather or basket weave to bucket bags worn over the shoulder.
Blazy collaborated with Italian architect and designer Gaetano Pesce on the sculptural resin runway and 400 unique chairs, some hand-drawn, used for guests at the fair and destined for Design Miami.
