For Spring 2014, Milan Designers were heavy influenced by the work of famous artists from around the world. From the painterly abstracts of Alighiero Boetti, and Paul Gaugin to the dreamy sketches of Jeanne Detallante from France, along with photographs of ancient ruins, designers dramatically emphasized their admiration of their favorite artists onto dresses and skirt ensembles.
Antonio Marras who is an artist in his own right exemplified the theme in his whimsical collection of hand-painted dresses with watery pink and black brushstrokes on a white background inspired by the sculptures of Kathy Ruttenberg. His lovely sleeveless dress flaring out at the waist, and embellished with perforated pink patent leather and beading, acted as a three dimensional canvas.
At Blumarine and Dolce & Gabbana, lean pencil skirts hugged the hips and evoked the life-affirming embrace of womanhood. Blumarine’s lovely white pencil skirt embellished with delicately sketched flowers at the waist is worn with a skin baring, polka dotted tulle blouse. While Dolce & Gabbana’s, iconic black lace top over a visible lingerie bra top is tucked into a skirt printed in a sepia toned photograph of ancient Roman ruins.
Designers accentuated casual staples like the shift dress and T-shirt dresses with great works of art. Jil Sander used primary colors on a sleeveless, knee grazing dress to highlight the bold painterly prints of Italian artist Alighiero Boetti. At Versace, colorful, abstract motifs stood out on a blouse tucked into a high slit skirt. Missoni upped the ante with a shirtdress that featured mountains in sunset colors inspired by the imagery used in Japanese comics. Aquilano.Rimondi incorporated Paul Gauguin’s dramatic Tahitian paintings of Polynesian women onto a mini, silk satin T-shirt dress belted at the waist. The look is an instant classic for summer.
Most coveted of all is Muiccia Prada’s collection inspired by the political wall art of Diego Rivera and other Mexican muralists. Her collection of statement dresses were dramatized by powerful portraits of women by six different artists from around the world. A pale pink, sleeveless shift dress hand drawn with a portrait of a woman is worn with a bejeweled gold bustier bra and accessorized with football style green leg warmers. “I saw them as strong, visible fighters. We need to be fighters in general. There is this debate about women again, and I want to interpret it. My instrument is fashion. I use my instrument to be bold. I had this idea that if you wear clothes so exaggerated and out there, people will look, and then they will listen, ” stated Prada.
