Versace's Versus collection is one of the opening highlights of the Milan spring collections but it was difficult for the audience to concentrate on the catwalk. Donatella Versace is a rock chick at heart and has an innate understanding of the sexy, young look her customers expect of her, whether it be the sassy, raspberry suede biker jacket, cropped to reveal a well-toned waist or a skinny pair of trousers with a sexy bow erotically placed at the base of the spine. Versace is synonymous with sexy, clingy shapes that get a girl noticed, so it was a surprise to see the puff-ball skirt make a comeback on her catwalk. The look, however, was more 1950s than the bold and brash 1980s version. The puff-ball made an appearance earlier in the day at Alberta Ferretti's Philosophy collection in gentle gathers of jersey and then was reworked by Versace with stiff frills overlaid like petals.
Philosophy is also a second-line collection.
It is a slightly more youthful and marginally cheaper extension of Ferretti's main line but is infused with the same whimsical prettiness. Her Blumarine spring collection, which was unveiled yesterday, began life as a knitwear label but now embodies all that is pretty and feminine about Molinari's creativity. Even Armani succumbed to a gentle lyrical prettiness for his younger Emporio collection. Armani sent out young couples, who romantically canoodled as they walked along the catwalk, wearing clothes in a palette of misty blues and greys. The girls looked graceful in single-breasted jackets and widelegged trousers or fluttery chiffon skirts, while the boys wore singlets, baggy trousers and jackets with a buckled strap fastening on the collar, a feature that also appeared on the girls' jackets.