Fashion took a dive into the deep blue on September 24, drawing inspiration from sea-faring myth and hyper-trendy beachwear for summer collections that revealed as much as they covered.
Skin will be a huge part of next year's wardrobe if Roman haute couture cutter Gai Mattiolo and Austria's Ines Valentinitsch have their way, with belly buttons and barely covered breasts abounding.
"Reading the newspapers, life can get really depressing. People need a little optimism ?they want to care for their bodies and show them off,?Mattiolo told reporters before his 1980s-inspired show at Milan fashion week.
To wear Mattiolo's spring/summer 2003 collection, you might want to start the sit-ups now.
Stark black or white swimsuits had huge circles cut out from the sides or V-necks that plunged below the navel, with a narrow band tied tight around the bust.
The sporty look that dominated last week's fashion shows in New York wove through Mattiolo's show with psychedelic pink and lime leggings.
Alternatively, there were sensible black suits and dresses with beige go-faster stripes or "Fame?inspired eveningwear, with bottom-skimming chiffon dresses worn over teetering diamond-studded sandals and leg warmers.
There was an altogether more subtle look at Valentinitsch's show which drew on Homer and Plato's tales of sirens singing unsuspecting sailors to their deaths.
Valentinitsch, who has wooed Milan's fashion crowd with bold prints that turned pinstripes into tracks left by tiny-skiers or decorated skirts with silhouettes of diving women, took a gentler tack this year.
"I had a baby 10 days ago and I think the pregnancy changed my collection, made it more feminine, gentler, less aggressive,?the 29-year-old told reporters.
Certainly chiffon found a new home on Valentinitsch's rail, draped ancient-Greek-style from a neck band and tied close to the torso with thin ribbons.
But there was still a little playful aggression there, with dominatrix-like thigh boots tied criss-cross up the front or a cleavage-revealing breastplate of gold and silver discs like mermaid-tail scales.
The scales also made their way below the waist in a quirky take on the perennially popular asymmetrical skirt, covering just one thigh and leaving both bottom and breasts bare.
More conventional, but with a fair share of siren sexiness, were candy-striped Capri pant suits or a 1950s-style ruched jacket printed with little blue mermaids.
"As ever, it's a fun collection but if it rains as much next year as it did this summer, we're not going to want much reminding about water,?joked Caterina, a guest at the show.
(Shanghai Star October 11, 2002)
