SINCE complaints about the dictates of fashion have become so commonplace of late, there really shouldn't be any surprise when designers transform themselves into military dictators. Such at least was the impressions given in Milan last week, with models stepping out at successive shows looking like fashion storm troopers kitted out in well tailored army surplus.
Leading the attack was Gianni Versace's Istante label which appears to have adopted khaki and olive green as its house colours for next autumn/winter. Even the most elaborate evening wear wasn't safe from this assault: a dainty shirt of olive green lace came stitched onto a base of camouflage print silk while a short, satin dress in the same colour, its waist nipped in precipitously tight, was decorated with epaulettes and patch pockets on both the bust and hips.
For day, Istante's model army will be on parade in dark green ribbed polonecks with flat fronted slim pants (often ending in crisply pressed turn ups) or khaki satin trouser suits festooned with button downs pockets. Coats are cut with military precision, worn to just below the knee and tightly belted with a generous inverted pleat at the rear. Only an outburst of red and mauve among the lace evening slips - suggested this collection hadn't been designed for next season's fashion police.
Who would dare militate against such a strong movement? Evidently not Callaghan, where the mood was similar to Istante but even more sombre. In addition to the olive green square shouldered, ankle length leather coats with single vent at the back, there were deep grey gabardine army capes and black wool greatcoats all of them entirely covering the body. Suggestion of underlying form was given with bitter chocolate wool jersey zip fronted tunic tops and matching flared pants. For evening, however, Callaghan did so somewhat with black silk jersey poloneck dresses that clung to the torso before falling in seductive ripples down to the floor.
MaxMara was another label marching to the same tune this season with a range of wool and cashmere military coats buttoning tight to the waist and then flaring out thanks to vents at the back. Length again consistently hovered around the ankles while colours stayed within the favoured palette of the moment; chocolate, cafe au lait, black and grey. Belted trouser suits were served in milk chocolate wool or brown pinstripe, the jacket of the former coming with patch pockets on the front, while the latter buttoned right up to the neck; trousers in all cases fell into the category of straight and narrow as befits members of fashion's new militant wing.
Black wasn't overlooked at MaxMara, or indeed anywhere else otherwise the army really would have had to be called out to put down a riot. Aside from coats, it appeared for wool crepe button through collarless tunic tops with matching pants - another, of next season's universal pairings. And for those who don't want to make too loud a statement, MaxMara offered distinctly - understated black trouser suits, tailored in the current masculine mode with hardedged close shoulders and high fastening jackets over straight pants.
Don't imagine uniforms necessarily imply uniformity. Over at Krizia, Mariuccia Mandelli showed her own take on the military but looking eastward. A few years back, Krizia produced a collection inspired by China's terracotta army and that relic of an imperial mausoleum again seems to have served as a starting point this time. Not only had the house organised a battalion of Chinese models to show off the clothes, it also regularly presented what appeared to be examples of ancient oriental warrior attire. Black leather coats, for example, were tightly pleated as though to ward off assaults, while even the daintiest sequin evening shift dresses had the dulled sheen of chainmail. Over filled with inventiveness, the range included such delights as shaggy Mongolian lamb coats reversing to nylon sateen and lightweight waterproofed crackling paper jackets pumped full of cotton quilting.
In the midst of so much eastern extravagance, Krizia still found space to include more familiar western elements, not least well tailored pinstripe and black wool. Mannish associations made these cloths irresistible even to designers who didn't join the army of names heading down the military path for next season. American Lawrence Steele, for example, included one of the week's innumerable black wool trouser suits in his collection: like so many others, it had severely squared shoulders, wide lapels, a single high vent at the back, darted waist, close fitting sleeves and unpleated narrow pants. Here, as elsewhere, also there was a decided preference for grey next season together with brown. So Steele produced a demure little fitted jacket and matching knee length skirt in charcoal flannel, as well as a chocolate silk crepe belted safari shirt with ankle long a line skirt.
The emphasis on clean tailored lines was universal and turned up also in Luciano Soprani's latest collection where yet again trouser suits and long lean coats both dominated the collection. But while there was still plenty of black, grey and brown. Soprani was among the designers who just couldn't help breaking out into more joyous colour. In his case, turquoise was a particular favourite; after so much darkness it looked wonderfully refreshing when used for yet another military style double breasted and belted greatcoat. Soprani was also one of the relatively few Italians this season to use checks: a bold black and white Prince of Wales for jacket and short skirt with single vent at its back and a more subtle black and grey for a double breasted trouser suit. But those zesty colours kept breaking out; lime green satin for jackets, and mauve and orange beaded silk crepe for sleeveless poloneck evening dresses.
Similar shades turned up too at Genny: alongside the sensible grey flannel trouser suits, there were plasticised mock croc short raincoats in pink, green and salmon as well as above the knee shirt dresses in orange. Byblos opted for lime green and orange as well for suits and coats, together with aubergine panelled satin short shift dresses and even an electric blue and mauve leotard print for little skirts and jackets.
AS EXPECTED, there was lots of fun to be had with colour at Moschino Couture: although the designer may be dead, his mischievous spirit was apparent in the plastic inflatable dresses suits in transparent red and green, their nozzles sited at a critical place on the bust. For anyone who still hadn't had enough bright colour, Moschino could provide an orange tweed coat to the knee with big patch pockets. teamed here with a short wrapover skirt in canary yellow tweed; alternatively, the collection included a crushed raspberry shantung swing coat and, just to show that even here the military spirit hadn't been entirely overlooked, a leaf green shirt jacket with patch pockets and the statutory epaulettes.
Moschino also offered prints, one of the very few houses to venture out of monochromatic colour. Another label that cheerfully ignored every current trend was Dolce & Gabbana, this season celebrating its tenth anniversary. The show was delayed 45 minutes for the arrival of Woody Allen and his present partner Soon Yi, neither of them hitherto known for any great interest in fashion nor even displaying much sartorial awareness on this occasion. As an introduction to the business, Dolce & Gabbana's new collection must have seemed particularly baffling since the pair of designers have evidently taken their inspiration from Italian film stars of the 1950s such as Anna Magnani. Luscious silk floral print dresses were cut tight around the hips and low at the bust to expose flesh coloured corsets beneath. A preoccupation with what used to be known as foundation garments soon became clear; strapless or backless dresses exposed bra straps while some whale boned corsets were simply extended into knee length skirts.
The pity was that so few of the wafer thin models had the requisite curvaceous figures to show these clothes off to best advantage. They looked considerably better in the mannish pinstripe trouser suits that Dolce & Gabbana also included, along with drop shouldered coats with three quarter length sleeves in black and white hounds tooth tweed. For evenings, however, it was back to basics: more underwear barely covered by penny or leopard print chiffon shifts. Obviously determined not to sign up to the new any craze, after a decade climbing to their present high position Dolce & Gabbana prefer to march to a distinctive beat.