Of course, all of the big names strutted their newest designs for 2012 at the weighty Milan Fashion Week, but it was capped off with some fresh talents, including Turkish designer, Erkan Coruh Milan Fashion Week ended on Tuesday after showcasing the best of Italy's veteran designers and emerging young talent on the final day. MILAN FASHION WEEK TRENDS There was plenty of retro inspiration sashaying down the runways from the 1920's to the disco era. Flapper dresses and drop waist dresses falling just below the knee were featured in many collections, with Etro, Gucci, Emporio Armani and Antonio Marras all finding inspiration between the world wars. The 1950's and early 1960's found new expression with hotrod looks from Prada, Fendi's sophisticated ladies and Dolce & Gabbana's festive southern Italian belle. Salvatore Ferragamo plumbed late 1970's and early 1980's style with vivid halter dresses as well as strapless and off-the-shoulder looks and flowing skirts. Satin silk prints made a number of collections notably Dolce & Gabbana's final collection and Ferragamo appear like a sea of scarves. There were fringe trimmed frocks for Moschino's cowboys and ruffles for the line's flamenco dancer look and plenty of fringe and ruffles visible in Missoni's gypsy dresses. Colours ran the hues of the rainbow, from pastels to nude to vibrant, jewel-like hues. Despite the vast variety evident at the 74 shows, truly casual looks were scarce. Collections were about dressing up, looking like a lady, from Versace's pastel sirens to Ermanno Scervino's futuristic lace suits. Precious fabrics - silk, embroidery, crystals, sequins, feathers, exotic leather, fur - were out in force, whereas cotton was rare, and denim seemingly non-existent. NEW TALENT: CHICCA LUALDI BEEQUEEN SHOWS GEOMETRY AND LINEAR STYLES Chicca Lualdi BeeQueen kicked off the last morning of Fashion Week with minimal, linear styles warmed with colour. Chicca Lualdi's runway collections only date to autumn/winter 2009, but they have made the editorial pages of Glamour and Elle magazines, and the clothing racks of top luxury department stores Saks Fith Avenue, Isetan and Harvey Nichols. Lualdi's collection for spring/summer 2012 was geometrical and minimalist. She sought the clean lines of Mondrian, borrowed textures from Cubism, and the balanced volumes inspired by architects Hitoshi Abe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Antonio Citterio. Colours were powder, khaki and white offset with touches of colour - a palette borrowed from Paul Klee's "Flora on the Sand." CHRISTIANO BURANI: GRAPHIC COUTURE WITH SPORTY SPIRIT Cristiano Burani, whose three-year old label debuted its first solo runway show Tuesday, showed long, fluid, black trousers with fluttering slits up the thigh, strong geometrical inserts, and black striped trompe l'oeil and peek-a-boo transparency. Chiffon, crepe and georgette mixed with python halter necks, buckskin, and black-striped elastic. "My inspiration is graphics. It is a bit of the world of the 1970's mixed with sport and couture," Burani told ANSA. ERKAN CORUH: TRANSPARENCY, TATTERED HEMS AND MYSTERY Turkish designer Erkan Coruh, who won the CNMI sponsored "Who's On Next" award for women's wear in 2010, surprised spectators with deconstructed looks that crossed Islamic and Gothic seriousness with plenty of sex appeal. Coruh said he was inspired by the Peter Weir film Picnic at Hanging Rock, the story of the disappearance of several school girls and their teacher during a picnic on Valentine's Day in 1900. Long conservative black and white dresses covered the body from neck to toe, but often with utter transparency, revealing everything including the models' underwear. Variations on the Islamic veil added mystery to the runway. There were tattered hemlines on long slinky gowns. Ruffles were made from tattered fabric. Some skirts appeared to be simply a piece of organza skillfully tied and strategically positioned to cover private parts of the body. Some skirts were formed from dresses half-removed, the unbuttoned top adjusted in back to form a sort of bustle. Many models went barefoot. "This collection plays with dream and reality, East and West, lightness and heaviness," Coruh told ANSA. UP AND COMING DESIGNERS AT THE COLLECTIVE N.U.D.E. SHOW The Italian National Chamber of Fashion (CNMI) showed Mauro Gasperi, Francesca Liberatore, and Sergei Grinko at the 16th edition of its talent-scouting N.U.D.E show, which stands for New Upcoming Designers.
