The Leftovers: Milan Fashion Week FW13

My relationship with Milan Fashion Week has always been shaky. There are a number of reasons. Firstly, the tenor of the clothes that come out of the city rarely fills me with excitement. Reading through my past posts on the subject, the city and its collections always seem to leave me "waiting for Paris". Recently I think the lack of new blood has more to do with my distaste than any other factor. Every season in London, and to a lesser extent in New York, there are names that I haven’t heard of, new voices expanding the fashion conversation. With a few exceptions (Prada, No. 21, Marni), Milan feels stale season after season.

The clothes for Fall/Winter 2013 stuck pretty close to the party line. There was fur lining sleeves and hoods and adorning full coats.

At Marni

At Prada

At Trussardi

At Blumarine

At Alberta Ferretti

The color story only had two real players. Black.

At Alberta Ferretti

At Prada

At Max Mara

At Jil Sander

At Marni

At Bottega Veneta

At Gucci

And white.

At Francesco Scognamiglio

At Marco de Vincenzo

At Genny

At Gianfranco Ferré

At No. 21

At Dolce & Gabbana

At Luisa Beccaria

Herringbone, glenplaid, windowpane, and their various relatives were featured on everything from coats to skirts to child-like rompers.

At Trussardi

At Marco de Vincenzo

At Dolce & Gabbana

At Gucci

At Aquilano.Rimondi

At Alberta Ferretti

And boxy shapes figured more heavily than they had been in the previous cities.

At Marni

At No. 21

At Max Mara

At Iceberg

At Antonio Marras

At Etro

However, the suits began to fade into the background.

At Missoni

At Blumarine

At Roberto Cavalli

At Moschino

It’s an unsurprising development. The narrative around femininity in Milan is very limited. Its primary focus is the stereotypical and superficially sexy, and menswear-inspired tailoring does not fit into the story that is told again and again in the place.

Once again, I wait for Paris.


Photos via