All you need to know about Milan Fashion Week is that Donatella Versace shut it down with a stitch-perfect tribute to her late brother Gianni Versace commemorating 20 years since his tragic passing. The show included an epic and tear-inducing finale featuring an iconic reunion of 90s supermodels Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni and Helena Christensen. All bias aside, MFW Spring 2018 has been quite the ride. From Lucie and Luke Meier showing off their “same old” debut collection for Jil Sander and Angela Missoni serving a “very unexpected and sexy” Missoni show to Miuccia Prada desperately needing to clean house and start over (as suggested by our forum members), Milan has been the hottest ticket in town. Now that everyone’s departed the Italian city, our honest and opinionated forum members give us the lowdown on all the hits and misses of the week. See you in Paris.
[ Next: All the Hits (and Many Misses) From NYFW Spring 2018, According to Our No-Holds-Barred Forum Members ]
Images: Imaxtree
MFW Hits & Misses
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HIT: Max Mara
"Very sharp and chic. I love the cut of the pants, especially - it really elevates the whole look." [StoneSkipper]
"Love the simplicity of this collection." [333101]
"Perfect styling from Carine Roitfeld. Fabulous simple clothes and beautifully styled. What more can I say?" [Lola701]
See all the looks from the Max Mara collection. -
MISS: Dolce & Gabbana
"Remember when people used to look forward to D&G shows? I can't with them anymore. I look forward to them bringing back all the sex, but they serve me a disappointing salad instead." [AnaD]
"Another repetitive collection by the Sicilian Tourism Council (aka Dolce & Gabbana)." [jeanclaude]
"Same old same old every season. Next." [zoom]
See all the looks from the Dolce & Gabbana collection. -
HIT: Bottega Veneta
"The colours are so fresh and bright, absolutely perfect. This collection just oozes luxury, it's so frank with its use of quality materials and its superb construction, but it's so imaginatively designed that nothing looked contrived or overdone. It's just beautifully done." [AnaD]
"It's really good, easily his best in a while. You can tell that he put more effort into it this time." [GivenchyHomme]
"Love this collection. Beautiful clothes and beautiful cast." [mepps]
See all the looks from the Bottega Veneta collection. -
MISS: Marni
"I used to love Marni but this is just a super big ugly mess." [anlabe32]
"Is this Marni, the super beautiful, arty, extremely modern and fresh brand we all know? No. Is it trying hard to be directional, fashionable, trendy but without having a clear idea of how these women dress? Yes." [donyan]
"It makes me truly sad to see what they've done to this brand. I guess it's better than least season, but everything is so undesirable, frumpy, often downright ugly...the exact opposite of what I've always known Marni to be, as a costumer and as a fashion lover." [mistress_f]
See all the looks from the Marni collection. -
HIT: Versace
"I was practically vibrating with excitement watching the livestream. Donatella threw down the gauntlet this season." [lelaid]
"Best show (not collection, although it was also good!) of the season so far! We needed this! Not just fashion, but the world! We needed that unapologetically-glamorous jovial moment in these dark times, and that finale hit the nail on the head!" [ToniOrtega]
"LOVED this collection!! Even though most of the pieces are exactly what Gianni put out in the early 90s, it all still looked super wearable and lovely. There are so many pieces that I want! Also that ending with the Supers was iconic." [bluestar]
See all the looks from the Versace collection. -
MISS: Gucci
"Horrid, as per usual there's nothing to understand, everything's so obvious and heavy-handed." [YohjiAddict]
"He’s just predictably bland and blatantly lazy at this point. There are a handful of those sequinned gowns/dresses from the women’s that are so-ugly-they’re-awesome tolerable — although they’re all just editorial-bait." [Phuel]
"Michele's seasons all blend into one. Spring/summer/autumn/winter...they're all one giant season. It's pure laziness. He's a stylist. Not a designer." [billiejbob]
See all the looks from the Gucci collection. -
HIT: Missoni
"Very unexpected and sexy. There are some misses here and there but I like it overall. The sheer flowing pastel dresses that opened the show are great." [AnaD]
"Stunning!!! Missoni is back." [gossiping]
"One of my favorite collections from Milan this week." [Sensation]
See all the looks from the Missoni collection. -
MISS: Jil Sander
"This collection is a big fat disappointment. It's good, but for all that hype they had tried to create we could expect something fantastic. This isn't even that original since I can see a lot of Celine and Valentino in this collection. Even that colour palette isn't exciting at all, it's basically just black, white and navy. There's nothing surprising in that." [perhydrol]
"It just looks like some jackets thrown over nightgowns. I see so much Celine, Marni, and Valentino here that I can't see anything that actually reminds me of Jil Sander." [AnaD]
"Same old same old, which, at this point is not enough to save this brand from sliding further into irrelevance." [donyan]
See all the looks from the Jil Sander collection. -
HIT: Etro
"Stunning use of prints, embellishment, and fabrics, the clothes are absolutely gorgeous! This is easily one of my Milan favourites." [AnaD]
"Superb collection! Enjoyed every minute of the livestream! It's just such so rich of a collection, in every sense of the word! This collection has the class, exuberance and the identity that is unfortunately lacking in Pucci and Cavalli these days!" [ToniOrtega]
"Totally unexpected but I can't keep looking at it. Not usually a fan of Etro but what those siblings managed to do this season was rather good! Like an overgrown maximalist version of Dries." [RedSmokeRise]
See all the looks from the Etro collection. -
MISS: Prada
"Oh dear. I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel for her. Pack it in while you can love. I mean as with any Prada show the styling is immaculate, but the clothes? Absolutely irrelevant. There's no bearing the world we're in and I'd go so far as to say she's firmly stuck in the heyday of Prada which sadly passed years ago." [Benn98]
"I think she needs to clean house and get rid of her head designer and design team...they're running this brand into the ground. As I've said in most Prada threads for the last several years - the styling is just beyond obnoxious at this point. It's so not sophisticated. Cartoon fashion is so over." [dior_couture1245]
"Messy. Pity after that wonderful resort show." [anlabe32]
See all the looks from the Prada collection. -
HIT: Giorgio Armani
"I think this is his best mainline collection in a little while. It's fun, I love the colors, there are some streamlined pieces, and it doesn't feel as old and musty as the Armani woman tends to look these days." [StoneSkipper]
"Good collection!" [liberty33r1b]
"It's very wearable and simple, yet very well-made. Frankly the styling is refreshing as most of the shows nowadays are over-engineered to have way too many layers." [Caffeine]
See all the looks from the Giorgio Armani collection. -
MISS: Salvatore Ferragamo
"This collection lacks an identity and Ferragamo is lacking direction. If someone told me this was from NYFW, I would believe you." [reese06]
"This is so bland and boring, literally the only things I paid attention to are the bright red pieces and it's solely because of their colour, they're not even particularly attractive pieces. This feels like it could have come from any of a handful of *American designers* it's so plain and casual looking. There's no sense of the glamour or sexiness that's associated with Italian design, and as for the luxury factor, I have yet to see it here." [AnaD]
See all the looks from the Salvatore Ferragamo collection. -
HIT: Sportmax
"The knits and leather pieces are great, and I really like the coats with the crossbody chest straps." [AnaD]
"Great dresses!" [liberty33r1b]
See all the looks from the Sportmax collection. -
MISS: Roberto Cavalli
"Oh no... See, Cavalli is all about charisma, attitude, a sense of location, earthiness. This has none of that. It's like he just ran through a checklist and picked up some Vuitton by Ghesquière on the way. Completely dry and witless. This wouldn't work even for Just Cavalli." [StoneSkipper]
"How someone can make Cavalli boring and dull is beyond me. That takes a special set of skills." [lelaid]
"This looks more like a boring Italian house. It doesn't excite or do anything to you. A bad Cavalli show, even at its most tackiness, it has soul and feeling and excitement. This is just watered-down corporate clothing." [TaylorBinque]
See all the looks from the Roberto Cavalli collection. -
HIT: Krizia
"He managed to bring back Krizia, move it forward, make it relevant again, and turned out a SS/18 best in season contender in the process! Bravo." [zoom]
"Well, this guy's taken more than a few pages out of the Marni handbook (seriously, even the location)...but I'll take it. It's nice, sharp, well-executed, and brings a much needed freshness to this brand. I love the way these clothes fall onto the body, too." [StoneSkipper]
"This is beyond good! He did volumes beautifully." [Lola701]
See all the looks from the Krizia collection. -
MISS: Moschino
"Perfect for a Halloween cocktail party." [maxlinden]
"It reminds me of a John Galliano Dior show, but in a cheaper way." [OllieJE]
"Those bootleg Dior Fall 2010 couture pieces look so poorly constructed and make no sense with the rest of the collection." [orchidee]
See all the looks from the Moschino collection. -
HIT: Fendi
"Finally a show that's worth watching in Milan. I love the young and fresh vibe that Karl delivers at Fendi, chic, wearable but not boring." [Koibito]
"What an effortless and chic collection...all the pieces are TDF..." [Zposen]
"Lovely colour palette, the clothes were sophisticated yet playful and incredibly desirable throughout. The matching tights were a clever touch and they looked beautiful in motion along the sheer tailoring/dresses. What I admire the most from them is the choice of prints, it's always the right density and size, they never feel overwhelming." [YohjiAddict]
See all the looks from the Fendi collection. -
MISS: Fausto Puglisi
"This guy first pretended to be Gianni Versace's bastard son. It didn't work. Now he pretends being Riccardo Tisci! Can't he get an identity of his own??" [jeanclaude]
"Where the f*** is the color?! Where the f*** are the prints?! What the actual f***?!" [Spike413]
"Is he on a budget? That's pretty much the only explanation I can think of. I mean, it's certainly less offensive to the eye than whatever he was doing previously, but that's not saying much, is it?" [StoneSkipper]
See all the looks from the Fausto Puglisi collection. -
HIT: Alberta Ferretti
"Love the bathing suits. Beautiful show!" [gossiping]
"I find this collection to be decent, inoffensive and beautiful. It's very simple but maybe from the success of the weekday sweaters, she wants to go with this direction and I don't mind it." [TaylorBinque]
"This is an incredibly simple collection - all very high quality, no doubt, and extremely wearable, but also very basic in terms of design. I suspect that's why the big names were cast - all those famous faces do distract a bit from the simplicity of the clothes. They add their own inherent glamour and personality to the looks." [happycanadian]
See all the looks from the Alberta Ferretti collection. -
MISS: N°21
"I somehow don't like it. The colours are great but silhouettes are not and it's sad because I know he can do way better. Personally speaking I prefer his Spring 2017, that collection was pretty Prada-ish, too but it felt fresh. This time something didn't work." [perhydrol]
"This one is neither here or there for me, there are some good things and some that just seem lifted out of Miuccia's sketch book. The colour palette is good, as is the construction, but overall the look feels very played out." [AnaD]
See all the looks from the N°21 collection. -
MISS: Emilio Pucci
"This wasn't even worth showing. These are the kind of pieces that are already going to be offered in the store pretty much but as a presentation it's not going to generate interest in the brand. This just looks like a department store private label collection for the most part." [reese06]
"You knew who the Pucci woman was under Dundas - his collections may look similar but you knew the silhouettes, the girls who brought the vision to life. This is just a passable attempt at using Pucci prints for Hamptons beachwear." [ash92]
"This is pitiful... I feel like this single show totally destroyed everything they have done in the past 15 years." [Lola701]
See all the looks from the Emilio Pucci collection.
