News directly from the Pitti Bimbo catwalk shows at Fortezza da Basso in Florence, Italy
Miss Blumarine opened the Autumn/Winter ’10/’11 catwalk presentations here to a bustling fair that was far busier than the Spring/Summer ’10 shows.
There was an optimistic air with most stands reporting good business and an encouraging outlook. The UK was well represented with buyers making the journey on Wednesday’s early morning flight from Gatwick.
The first day was crammed with shows, which concluded with a catwalk presentation by Il Gufo at 9.30pm - and a delicious buffet to finish off the day.
Miss Blumarine
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Il Gufo |
Calvin Klein
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The season's main trends seem to be following and expanding on the themes seen last year, with voluminous skirts and dresses as well as coats with multi-layered skirts, tulip and cocoon shapes. Girls trousers are varied from straight leg to harem and gathered styles or skinny leggings layered under everything.
Favored fabrics this season are tweeds, tartans, brocades, metallic weaves often decorated with beading, sequins and applique finishes. Knits are also popular with plenty of layers and oversized cardigans in chunky Aran patterns for jackets. Cabled or wide ribbed knit hats go to either extreme – tight to the head or in a floppy beanie style.
Monnalisa
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Roberto Cavalli
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Roberto Cavalli
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Throughout the collections, the most popular colourway is grey – in many different tones – but there are also classic autumnal berry tones, cream, mint and soft pinks. Pillarbox red was also prominent.
Shoes are chunky biker boots, suede cuffed muskateers or flat pumps – highly beaded and decorated for girls; converse-style high-top casuals for boys.
There’s also an emphasis on collar and neckline details with ruffles, bow ties, brooches, lace decoration, rosettes, capelet shrugs and draped scarves decorating shoulders and collars.
As always in Italy, fur is a huge winter feature with dozens of coats, bags, jerkins, collars and boots cuffed, trimmed and lined in skins. While this is not unusual here, its popularity has been growing in recent years. However, UK buyers will often order in a faux version, which some manufacturers supply as an alternative.
Miss Grant
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