Milan Deconstructed via Horyn

Was reading Cathy Horyn’s review of the BOTTEGA VENETA, GIORGIO ARMANI and BURBERRY shows in Milan this week and couldn’t help but wondering if Milan was going the way of New York though in it’s own way. The thinking is the more successful designers seem to be catering to a commercial, but distinct crowd. Whereas in New York, the commercial crowd means those who can afford some mass produced item, Milan seems to go in the direction of uber Luxury for those who aspire and want to be in that echelon for the sake of being there. Naturally it must be stated that we’re not using a broad brush to paint ALL designers that show in the city’s fashion week, we’re simply looking at the ones that generate the most ink (or pixels?). So Horyn posits:

Giorgio Armani and Burberry are major brands, and more and more their collections reflect the appetites of the luxury consumer rather than the pursuit of interesting design.

Christopher Bailey began his career at Burberry with an offbeat English look that used military tailoring and, inevitably, the trench coat. Yet in the last three or four seasons, his clothes have become more complicated, more ornate, with expensive embroidery and dressy effects like pleating that you formerly associate with Gucci, where Mr. Bailey once worked.

Read the full reviews here.