The Top 5 Milan Fall 2017 Collections

Today’s memorial for Franca Sozzani, the ItalianVogueeditor-in-chief who died in December, brought Valentino Garavani, Donatella Versace, Sarah Burton, and Christopher Bailey to the Duomo, among many other designers, models, colleagues, and friends. But if Milan’s fashion shows were tinged by sadness at her recent passing, the week was also marked, as my colleague Sarah Mower

argues here

, by an invigorating sense of verve.

See videos of all the best of Fall 2017 Ready-to-wear on the Milan-fashion-week:

http://www.vogue.com/article/milan-fashion-week-fall-2017-ready-to-wear-top-5-collections

You saw it in the nascent collections of journalists (J.J. Martin’s LaDoubleJ) and street style stars turned designers (Attico, Alanui); in Marco Zanini’s colorful comeback at Santoni; and on the runways, which were more diverse than ever in Milan. What’s more, designers seemed actively engaged with current events and a world in crisis. Miuccia Prada conjured her radical ’60s and ’70s past, and Angela Missoni staged a Women’s March complete with house zigzag pink pussy hats. At Moschino, meanwhile, Jeremy Scott had a long, hard think about waste in the fashion industry and in life in general, then spun an engaging collection that left us considering it, too. Here, in chronological order, are our top collections of the week.

Gucci Photo: Indigital.tv

Gucci

Alessandro Michele is setting the fashion agenda in 2017. We see his influence on local runways and distant ones, and he arguably spearheaded the trend for combined women’s and men’s shows with his endorsement of androgynous clothes. With both genders on the Gucci runway this season, Michele had the longest show so far, which makes it all the more remarkable that he repeated himself exactly zero times on his Fall runway. From the deconstructed T-shirts and cutoffs to the exuberantly embroidered gowns, each look was unique yet could have only sprung from his mind, his hands.

Fendi Photo: Getty Images

Fendi

Last July, Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi conjured a

90th anniversary show

in Rome that was truly magical. The models walked on water! In the Trevi Fountain! This week, the Fendi duo was after something more down-to-earth, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t bowl-’em-over chic.

Lean printed midi dresses, silk blouses, and knife-pleat skirts, and Prince of Wales tailoring were all grounded by sexy-as-hell red over-the-knee boots. And don’t forget the furs, starting with that intarsia number worn by Frederikke Sofie. As Lagerfeld told me last July, “No other fur house in the world does it, or could do it.”

Prada Photo: Indigital.tv

Prada

The postered walls at Prada headquarters told stories if you spared time to look. (Mrs. P., publish a catalogue, please!) On the runway, Miuccia Prada told her own story, finding timely inspiration in the off-handed, casual way student radicals like herself once dressed before cycling through many of the signatures she’s established for brand Prada over the years, from a and b to y and z. When she lingered for longer than usual at the entrance to the runway, she got the biggest and loudest applause of the season so far.

Bottega Veneta Photo: Indigital.tv

Bottega Veneta

On Saturday morning Tomas Maier invited us to Via Brera for the week’s and the brand’s second combined women’s and men’s show. Fittingly, he made tailoring the central thrust of his Fall message, cutting suits for women with strong shoulders that conjured the 1940s for some, and Yves Saint Laurent’s ’70s heyday for others. Either way, they were sharply, elegantly made and would be a boon in your wardrobe for years. But the pieces that we left talking about were the weightless, scintillating nipped-waist ’40s dresses and Oscars-worthy gowns. They didn’t make it to L.A. in time for last night’s ceremony, so the question’s still out: Which lucky actress will get to wear the liquid gold finale dress?

Dolce & Gabbana Photo: Getty Images

Dolce & Gabbana

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana are Milan’s master showmen, with a preternatural sense for what’s crowd-pleasing. In the age of Instagram, that means not just enlisting social media stars to walk your runway, but also granting your best customers and good pals their own 15 seconds of fame. As they expected, we the audience ate it up, clapping for the our friends on the runway, and working our iPhones just like proud mamas Pamela Anderson and Christie Brinkley. The clothes were signature Dolce & Gabbana: sexy, massimalismo, a little kitsch. Fun.

(Vogue)