New York sheds gloom-and-doom for colour

Italian houses Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, and Versace come alive in the Big Apple's Spring/Summer 2004 shows

Enough of the gloom-and-doom spirit that permeated the fashion market in both styles and sales after 9/11. Italian designers are in the mood for change.
Like at New York Fashion Week last month, the spring/summer 2004 preview showings were full of flirtatious, flimsy, colourful clothes that have little to do with urban fears and frustrations.
"It's time to reintroduce joy into our lives," Stefano Gabbana of Dolce & Gabbana told the Associated Press. The designing duo's second line D&G collection was an ode to good cheer with its myriad of costume clothes ranging from a mini kimono dress to shimmering astronaut outfit.
Giorgio Armani's Emporio collection featured workout outfits in radiant fuschia pink and pistachio green. Sequined short shorts, fluorescent scuba jackets, shimmering tank suits, and bathing caps to accessorize evening wear tell the tale of a muscle-flexing girl who perspires but never sweats.
In her latest Emporio outfit, Ms. Armani can go straight from the gym to the new disco club for members only in the basement of the designer's mega-store in downtown Milan.
Miuccia Prada, never one to let her imagination run wild, has her feet firmly on the ground for next summer. The minimalist designer shies away from flounces and frills to present an impeccably dressed lady woman who chooses denim over chiffon and muted shades over neon brights.
Prada's colour palette mingles rust reds with bottle greens and cobalt blues to create a tie and dye effect even for the silk evening wear. Garish shades would never do for Signora Understatement.
Until Sex and the City picks up for its final season in January 2004, those pining for a glimpse of urban glamazons can satisfy their needs by combing through Diane von Furstenberg's spring collection. Who knows better how to dress the Samanthas and Carries of the world but von Furstenberg, whose savvy at combining sex appeal with serious flair has made her a commercial force to be reckoned with (she's just added cosmetics to the DVF empire).
This season, von Furstenberg and creative director Nathan Jenden were inspired by the original Sex symbol, the twenties flapper. They jazzed her up for the present day, though, cutting floaty chiffon dresses close to the body, cropping a tennis skirt into a mini (and producing it in perforated leather), and dip-dying a pair of white sailor's trousers in rainbow colors. The designer is known for her love of bold prints, and she sent out a baker's dozen, from abstract shapes to an Egyptian-inspired ibis motif. Of course, dressing for nightlife has been a top priority for the fashionably inclined of every era, so von Furstenberg provided a parade of gowns in body-hugging chiffons and slinky jerseys.
Donatella Versace trotted out an eye-popping spectacle of colour and print. Versace's multihued petal power overflowed with hothouse citrus, turquoise, pink, and violet - all those shades that look best in the sun, on utterly bodacious bodies.
Using a combination of stretchy draped tops, thigh-hugging pedal pushers, and a huge rush of floral gowns, Versace reprised something of the exuberant eighties optimism for which her brother Gianni was known. (Linda Evangelista walked the show as a reminder of those high old days.) There were halternecks, bra tops, and flouncy rumba blouses. A turquoise suit - if a jacket and a pair of micro shorts qualifies for such a description - came printed with magenta daisies. Tiny chiffon ruffles trimmed everything from plunging necklines on trailing evening gowns to provocative bikini bottoms. There were some calmer moments, like white suits and a couple of tooled leather, frill-embellished jackets and coats. But as the models strode up and down, big hair bouncing and curves outlined to the max, this looked like a collection aimed directly at divas.

Publication Date: 2003-11-09
Story Location: http://tandemnews.com/viewstory.php?storyid=3328