Roman fashion a challenge within a challenge

Donna Sotto Le Stelle Fall/Winter 2002/03 season by Italian designers sees a resurgence in sophisticated and classic lines

In the history of fashion, Rome has always played two important roles: keeping up the high standards of craftsmanship in tailor-made suits, and launching new talents.
In the Fifties, the up-and-coming bourgeoisie were dressed by Milan designers, but Roman tailor shops run by members of the aristocracy triumphed abroad, as nothing attracted American women like the scent of Old World nobility. Luxurious dresses were worn by blue-blood heiresses such as Princess Carafa, Princess Roccagiovane, Mimosa Pignatari, Vivina di Montezemolo, Marella Caracciolo; and bore the brand names of Carosa, i.e. Giovanna Caracciolo; Simonetta, i.e. Simonetta Colonna di Cesarò; and Irene Galitzine, i.e. a princess who had started out as mannequin.
This year's edition of Alta Moda a Roma not only confirmed these roles but also brought back luxury, an element that seemed all but disappeared in the past few years. It became a veritable renaissance for an event unjustly seen as spent.
For 2003, Roman designers propose an image of women as sophisticated, charming and millionaire ladies. They prefer luxury and wear crystal vortexes on breathtaking dresses previously seen only on television in Dynasty.

THE COLLECTIONS
Roman catwalks displayed an exceptional colour sense this year, unlike anything seen in the recent past. Surreal metropolitan warrior women advanced clad in long coats with well designed shoulders, or wrapped in ample, Tuareg-like cloaks. For the night, cloaks can become precious, made with a special technique that employs no less than 15 different kinds of brocade, inlaid in a sort of patchwork, like the one designed by Balestra. They hide geometric tops peppered with precious stones, corsets in tulle and satin over skirts either fringed ethnic or asymmetric and clinging. Dresses with organza and lace skirts dance along, shining with flowers, leaving the legs exposed. Dresses like artwork painted directly on the bodies of the models, made of coloured details, pendants, transparent veils, webs of embroideries, golden threads. Modern, sophisticated female dervishes advance on towering heels, sporting wide yoked skirts and well-designed corsets. Their silhouettes are veiled by impalpable, long dresses strewn with scintillating flowers.
Designers competed in capturing light within their creations, much like Monet with his water lilies. Lorenzo Riva, sophisticated fashion designer from Milan, remarked that "high fashion is like a painting by a master."
In the dark of the night, elegant women appear as in a dream, dressed in glares and transparencies: ethereal.

FALL/WINTER 2002/2003 TRENDS
Everything is lightweight and mixed with genial irregularity. Fabrics range from impalpable crepe to satin, chiffon to organza, cabochon lace to tulle overlapped in length or in flounces. There is also openwork leather, enriched with jet, embroideries and inlays. Some new matches have been presented, such as chiffon and patent leather, or tweed and flower-printed fabric. The great protagonist is the rose.
All colours are represented: a lot of white and red, and then black, pink fading to plum, face powder, ecru, azure, and burgundy. Afternoon dresses include crystals and diamonds. Nightdresses include gold.
Bright red is also displayed in fox furs, often worn over the shoulders, frequently matching the colour of the dress and enriched with rhinestones.
Capes and cloaks are making a comeback; for the evening, they are very long and made in precious fabrics. Dresses sport asymmetric hems, playing with different lengths, and petticoat dresses in chiffon with small tails elicited applause.
The focus is on the accessories, especially shoes: veritable works of art, like those presented by Diego Dolcini. It is not by chance that this sector deserved its own Future Fashion Award 2002, organized by Region Marche with the participation of some of the most prestigious brand names: Balestra, Curiel Furstenberg, Grimaldi & Giardina, and Riva, to mention but a few.

THE FUTURE OF HIGH FASHION IN ROME
Roman fashion received new lustre from a calendar thick with cultural events, a new glamour created by Italian designers, but also a three-year project by Alta Roma aimed to re-styling Rome as a capital of High Fashion.
"I had little time to prepare," said untiring Stefano Dominella, VP of the agency in charge of the project. "I began in early May and followed two main directions: on the one hand, highlighting the great fashion houses that represent the memory of Italian High Fashion, thus preserving the last remnants of an art that was being forgotten; on the other, making room for young designers, who nowadays do not want to start from the bottom. We should not forget that we live in the age of the Internet, and young people feel more attracted to those fashion houses where they can manipulate models with the aid of a computer."
"In general," continued Dominella, who's president of Gattinoni and director of the European Design Institute, "young people love fashion, but care little for research, study of art history, and the manual craft it entails. This is a cultural trait, a matter of generations. Maybe there should be an entrepreneur who managed to feel the wind and give credit to the most deserving young designers."

Publication Date: 2002-08-04
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=1637