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MILAN - Bottega Veneta gave texture to plain black and grey wools with designs inspired by its classic intertwined leatherwork for its winter 2008-09 womenswear show today.
Bottega Veneta, owned by the Gucci Group of French company PPR, stayed away from patterned prints seen at other shows this week and relied on the fabric to lift plain colours.
Designer Tomas Maier whirled black wool into stand-proud spirals to cover a jacket, or used curled up strips of material to decorate the shoulders of a dress.
A raspberry wool felt sheath dress was complemented by high red suede shoes and matching tights. A green version had matching leather gloves, suede shoes and woven belt.
Exaggerated epaulettes topped an iron-grey tailored jacket and trousers. Wide sleeves on a simple wool dress placed it somewhere between artist's smock and school pinafore.
Maier, whose designs often feature streamlined looks and soft materials, used ultrafine wool weaves for dresses that looked like swathes of material tied up with tiny drawstrings.
And satin-look evening gowns had diamond backs that ended in an elegant train.
At Blumarine, designer Anna Molinari warmed up her winter womenswear collection with salmon, pink and turquoise.
Molinari swirled pale pink silk into a skirt that looked like a rose and teamed it with a dusky pink Aran knit jumper.
For evening, dresses were made of gathers of chiffon cinched at the waist in flowing grey or leopard print fabrics.
Models in her lingerie line wore negligees in coral silk with lace hem and bodice under fluffy coral long wool wraps.
A turquoise silk slip with spangled side panels was covered with an equally arresting soft shawl coat.
- REUTERS
