Italian Designers True to Their Roots for Spring/Summer 2008

Ten years ago the public held their breath while they waited anxiously to see if Gianni Versace’s sister, Donatella, was going to disappoint fans of Gianni’s aggressive and confrontational sexy style. Since then she has failed to disappoint, showing a new, fresh Versace that borrowed from the best of what Gianni had to offer in the late nineties and pair it with the classic elegance of other Italian labels such as Armani. Despite Versace’s success underneath the direction of Gianni, the label was still going strong in the era that followed as older, more established labels such as Gucci and Christian Dior dominated the fashion scene late nineties and earlier part of the twentieth century.

These days Donatella continues to offer that same classic Versace style but has toned down the color scheme a bit while retaining a bit of the shock value that the label has always been known for. The spring 2008 season, on display in Milan on Saturday offers connoisseurs with a nice arrangement of classic slim suits against that luxurious sheen that one can only find with a label such as Versace. Donatella has also enlisted Alexandre Plokhov, a confident menswear designer who has actually made a name for himself in menswear, to help this time around, and the results are nothing short of amazing. Donatella’s style, paired with Plokhov’s experience at Marc Jacobs and Cloak is sure to take the label well into the future.

At the same time, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce offered up a more serious take on their classic fashion kitsch with well worn military designs challenging the metrosexual status quo to embrace a rugged masculine aesthetic we haven’t seen in over 15 years. We’ve always enjoyed their fresh approach to fashion despite the kitsch factor. You got to give credit to anyone who can craft military gear in luxurious silk and make leather jackets appear as they’re made of materials no one else had ever thought to use before.

These two labels have shown us some of the best that Milan has to offer, and serve as a nice entry point into glamorous but sophisticated Italian design; reminding fashion devotees exactly why everyone is busy talking about Italian labels in the first place.

- Chris Kendalls