MFW Day 1

It would be a really great idea if the fashion gods could decree at least half a day’s break between different fashion weeks. At least then, you’d have time to actually fly to the new one, unpack and sort out your schedule. No such luck, I landed in Milan at 10 am Wednesday morning and 2 hours later I was seated in a fashion show.

Technically, the first thing I did was attempt to pick up an Italian sim card I had prepaid for, I thought it would be simply a matter of showing up at the nearest store, presenting my voucher and be on my way. Ha after visiting 3 shops, 1 of which said they can’t do it because I already paid for it and it is a small shop, another was closed and the third had an approximate hour-long queue, I gave up and stuck to my Maltese sim for a while longer.

I missed the first show – Genny – it was at 11 am and a bit impossible to reach. The first show I managed was Simonetta Ravizza who presented an interesting collection – beautiful earth colors and some interesting styling concepts using hats and different layers. The collection does have a lot of fur in it so for those people who aren’t too comfortable wearing it, they’d have to pass. If you do wear fur though, it looked very modern and fresh, none of that old, overwhelming way of wearing it.

Lunch at the press lounge was definitely my next appointment – mmmm pasta full of cream and cheese and a selection of creamy desserts – are we sure it’s fashion week?

Next on the schedule was Alberta Ferretti who as she generally does, presented her fairy-like dream world to us. Romanticism and nostalgia and two key words that sum up her work. Beautiful and mesmerising are another two you would use to describe this collection. The elegant chiffon dresses which have possibly become a trademark of the brand were present. There were also some silk pyjama -style jumpsuits that were very interesting and reminiscent of the fifties boudoir diva. Soft lines along with earth colours and a feeling of lightness are all key elements. An enchanted forest was projected onto the screen as the models sauntered past the audience.

Slight update change to the outfit for the evening

After the show, it was 6.30 pm and I still had no data on my phone so I decided to go back to the store and queue up. Yey, no queue but alas the guy doesn’t know what to do with a prepaid voucher. Who would have thought prebuying something would make life harder rather than easier? Half an hour later – I had data.

At that point, I was rather hungry and tired and decided to grab a pizza before the next show Francesco Scognamiglio.

Five minutes before the show was due to start, I realised that I had the wrong address. It wasn’t actually as close as I thought I was. I had to hightail it to the new address. Got there in what should have been the knick of time but of course, the show is running rather late – why did I bother hurrying? Also, it seems like we have a new problem, the e-invite I received by email should apparently also been sent as a hardcopy to the apartment I’m staying in, now they’re confused. I must wait, apparently for a while, a rather long while.

The show was fabulous though and well and truly, worth waiting for (my poor feet dispute this). There’s something about Italian designers, they present ready-to-wear clothing as though it is couture, dresses that are the stuff of fantasy and use models so pretty they look like china dolls. The collection features ruffles, off the shoulder slip dresses, lace creations, blouses paired with tailored trousers and my favourite of all – an oversize bomber jacket with flower embroideries.