Left: A model presents a creation for fashion house Etro as part of the spring/summer 2014 ready-to-wear collections during the fashion week in Milan on September 20, 2013. ©AFP PHOTO / OLIVIER MORIN. Right: Versace spring/summer 2014 ©AFP PHOTO / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE
Etro fashion house offered an array of loose-fitting hippy chic clothes with new variants of its signature paisley prints and Denim, leathers and chains were the look at Versace's show at Milan Fashion Week on Friday September 20.
The Etro show at a former skating rink in Italy's business capital was inspired by the foliage of Indo-China and Ottoman metalwork, Etro explained in a note.
The paisley patterns of the dresses were arranged in a splintered patchwork - like exquisitely tailored quilts.
The fit was loose and baggy and the collection had waistcoats, sleeveless vests and kaftan-like overcoats.
Designer Veronica Etro said she was aiming to create the mood of "a voyage that is layered with exoticism, femininity and luxury, and that literally shines with summer's optimism."
The big innovation was the use of metal with hand-hammered metal squares embroidered onto tulle or knitted onto suede, cotton and satin ribbon.
Bold colours like lemon, coral and navy blue were mixed up with more earthy ones like khaki and sage, giving the impression of a blend of land and sea.
Over at Versace, the family-owned brand looks for a possible investor to buy a stake.
The company this week said it wanted a minority investor to pump finances into the brand and help develop it further.
Its collection for the Spring Summer 2014 season was characteristically over the top, edgy and verging on kitsch.
"Twenty-first century Versace is boldness, energy, rock and casual luxury," it said in a note after its catwalk show in Milan's fashion district.
Designer Donatella Versace was going for a mix of the glamour associated with the brand and a more "street style".
"I wanted everything to look casual but with a street toughness," she said.
Fluorescent colours gave the collection a youthful look, along with high-cut leather jackets and skinny jeans.
There was even a black T-shirt with a heavy metal theme in the collection, which Donatella herself wore when she came onto the catwalk after the show.
The use of metal mesh was particularly striking in various forms - as a neck scarf, a pocket and as part of a dress.
A source told AFP this week that Versace hopes to select an investor next month to invest around 250 million euros for a stake of 15 to 20 percent.
Italian daily Il Sole 24 Ore said one possible investor for the company, which is still 100-percent family owned, could be Qatar's sovereign wealth fund.
Brand founder Gianni Versace was murdered in 1997 outside his Miami Beach mansion by spree killer Andrew Cunanan.
The Mediterranean-style seaside villa was sold at auction earlier this month for $41.5 million. - AFP RELAXNEWS