The Italian Job: the best A/W 2015 collections from Milan

Mary Jane Fashion looks at the renaissance of Italian style and design on the A/W 2015 runways

The Italian fashion industry is home to some true design icons: men and women who have been runway stalwarts for many years, dictators of refined and sophisticated style in Italy and beyond. Milan Fashion Week sees them come together in a grand celebration of a city that is steeped in the traditions of design and clothes manufacturing. This season was a season of flux for Milan, where we saw some changes in the creative directorships at some houses, with new designers being instated and others leaving for pastures new. We’ve rounded up and reviewed five of the best collections from some of Italy’s pre-eminent design houses.

1) Prada

Miuccia Prada is certified Italian fashion royalty. She took over her family’s luxury goods business in 1978 and turned it into one of the world’s premium fashion brands, launching her first ready-to-wear collection in 1989. This season, we were witness to some distinct heritage looks that were primped and preened to form a modern and captivating show. Prada adopted classic sixties forms, with heavy tweed coats, shift dresses, empire lines, elbow-length gloves and Mary Jane shoes, transforming them into contemporary ensembles through her specific use of colour. Her hues ranged from mustards, mossy greens, navy and royal blues, sugary pinks and popping reds, all of which were used to complement and contrast with one another. To ensure that the collection wasn’t too sickly sweet, Prada kept the models’ hair severe and their expressions blank and muted. As a result, the collection retains a sense of polish, with all the pieces looking instantly wearable.

2) Gucci

This season, Gucci saw former head of accessories Alessandro Michele create his first collection as creative director of the fashion house. Gucci is one of the oldest Italian design houses, having been founded in 1921, and is one of the most popular go-to shows in the Milan Fashion Week calendar. Needless to stay, stepping into those shoes must have been daunting for Michele, and we might have expected a collection that bubbled and fizzed with nervous excitement. His first collection at the helm, however, was sensuously relaxed and clean, keeping lines laidback but leaving traces of high-fashion finishing, with chic pussybow blouses, sheer shirts, calf-length skirts and rich artistic prints. The collection is undoubtedly sophisticated; however, it doesn’t verge on being high-maintenance. On the contrary, the success of the collection lies in traditionally polished looks being deconstructed for a lighter and more youthful look.

3) Versace

    You can always rely upon Donatella Versace and her team to deliver an eye-popping show. The brand originates from the 1970s and has produced some of the world’s most recognisable prints and dresses. In recent seasons, fashion has seen collections become minimalist and clean in tone, with ‘normcore’ becoming a hit with street stylers all over the world. This season, Versace brought big colour and big branding back with a bang, with statement dresses, jumpers and suits slapped with the Versace logo strutting down the runway. The popping collection certainly packs a punch, but never loses sight of the female physique it is dressing, using large belts to cinch in waists, thigh splits and asymmetric cuts that snake up the leg, and fit and flare dresses that are fun, flirty and flattering. This is perhaps why Versace has been a hit with many of the world’s most self-assured women for years, with Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Anna Dello Russo all fans of the design house. Shop similar figure-flattering styles worthy of Versace here.

4) Emilio Pucci

The A/W 2015 runway at Pucci saw creative director Peter Dundas’s last collection for the Italian design house. Pucci is famous for their geometric prints, creating kaleidoscopes of colour, and Dundas could not say farewell without nodding to this tradition. Instead of using bright and punchy colours as in previous collections, however, Dundas used a black background for his full-body prints injecting splashes of pink, orange, red and yellow in variably. Black featured prominently elsewhere in the collection too, incorporating striking monochrome looks in patterns of circles, plaid and stripes with textures like faux-fur, sequins and chiffon. The collection creates two camps with regards to hemlines, opting for either super short mini-lengths or long and sweeping floor-length hemlines for the trouser suits as well as the skirts and dresses. Overall, the collection is mature, a stern and fitting farewell that packs in drama but remains lovingly in-keeping with tradition.     

5) Emporio Armani

We can always rely on Emporio Armani to deliver a refined and sophisticated collection, channelling the very height of Italian glamour with sharp tailoring and clean lines. This season, Giorgio Armani, the eponymous head the worldwide fashion empire, ruffled his collection with more relaxed and deconstructed fits, privileging proportion play with increased drama thanks to heavy luxurious fabrics. His series of culottes in particular nod to this aesthetic, completed with wide legs and popping prints to emphasise their expansion outwards. Armani diverged from other designers by dropping waists slightly lower than normal, a fiendish trend to adopt but made wearable through brushed woollen coats; he counter-balances the low waistlines with turtleneck finishes and dramatic popping colours to help elongate the figure, making this trend easier than it looks to emulate. His last eighteen all-black looks are powerful, feminine and incorporate all of the previous looks’ slouchy-ness, kept polished by the lack of colour. The collection, with its contrasts and heady drama, is simply divine.

* sponsored post

OOTD: Knee high boots & fluffy pink sweater

ENG: Here is a new outfit post with my fave pair of skinny jeans (Hollister), cozy, fluffy sweater from H&M, and Zara coat that I bought ages ago!
I have rediscovered these black knee-high boots that I bought at the italian open market for only 10€, and I think they look pretty cool paired with skinny jeans, but also skirts, shorts...
My mini Celine lookalike is from www.buytrends.com, and some of you asked me if this exact model is still available on their web store...I'm sorry to tell you that I honestly don't know! I got it more than a year ago! The best thing you can do is to browse through their accessories/ handbags section, or contact directly their customer's service!
If you like to know more about this bag, you can watch my review here:

Sunny Sunday, I was off work. My hubby & I went out & about, searching the right location to shoot some outfit photos...
I find that, when I'm in Croatia, I have so much more cool locations where to shoot outfit photos...from coastal walks, to urban settings...here we have only fields, fields, and more fields! lol

HR: U danasnjem outfit postu nosim svoj omiljeni skinny jeans iz Hollistera, udobnu i mekanu H&M majicu i Zarin kaputic kojega sam kupila prije sto godina! :-)
Cizme su isto otkrice iz mog ormara! Kupila sam ih na talijanskoj trznici za samo 10€, model mi se bas svidja, super stoje uz uske traperice, ali i sa suknjicama i kratkim hlacicama!
Dobila sam par pitanja vezana uz ovu torbicu inspiriranu poznatim Celine modelom...Nju sam narucila sa www.buytrends.com web stranice.
Pitali ste me da li je isti model jos uvijek dostupan na njihovom web ducanu, ali na to pitanje zaista vam ne znam odgovoriti, jer torbicu imam vec vise od godinu dana! Najbolje sto mozete uciniti jest da pogledate sami na njihovoj stranici, pod accessories/ handbags, ili uputite pitanje njihovoj customer's service!
Vise o torbici mozete saznati u ovom mojem videu!

Suncana nedjelja, bila sam slobodna. Muzic i ja uputili smo se u potragu za dobrom lokacijom koja bi nam mogla posluziti za fotografiranje outfita...Shvatila sam da mi je u Hrvatskoj (u Rijeci i okolici) puno lakse naci zanimljive lokacije (od lungo mare, do urbanih lokacija...), dok ovdje imamo samo polja, polja i ...polja! hihi ;-)

COAT: Zara
SWEATER: H&M
JEANS: Hollister
SUNGLASSES: Promod
NECKLACE: H&M
BOOTS: Italian open market
BAG: www.buytrends.com

Youtube video:

Red heels in my shabby chic world...

Hello world!

This is the last outfit post I did in collaboration with SonMia Design.

I paired my favourite boyfriend jeans with, in this case, a T-shirt from SonMia's men's line!

My hubby was supposed to be the model for this tee, but he prefers being behind the camera...I can't blame him, because he shot these beautiful photos!

Because I was wearing so much masculine things (T-shirt & boyfriend jeans), I wanted to add a contrast to this outfit with a pair of red heels, mini messenger bag, and a statement necklace and make it more feminine, but still quite cool!

I hope I succeed in that!

What do you guys think?

We were shooting in my backyard and I absolutely love this place!

This shabby wooden "house" means so much to me!

My grandfather built it on his own, back in the '70.-ies, and he used to sleep there every once in a while, when he was supervising the work on our family house!

I have a lot of photos from when I was a kid, in front of this wooden cabin, with my Dad and other family members ♥

As far as my T-shirt goes, I'm still not sure whether I should keep it like this, or cut it into a tank top (you can watch my DIY- tutorial here)...

You can watch my styling video- how to wear boyfriend jeans (2 outfit ideas!), here!

T-SHIRT: SonMia Design, Italy (Order here!)

BOYFRIEND JEANS: Zara

SHOES: Zara

BAG: H&M

NECKLACE: H&M

Danasnji post zadnji je od outfit postova koje vam donosim u suradnji sa SonMia design brandom majica grafickog printa.

Majica koju vam danas predstavljam, inace je iz muske linije, a model je trebao biti moj muzic :)

Buduci da se on bolje snalazi iza kamere, posao modela opet je "pao" na mene...ne mogu se buniti, niti mu to zamjeriti, jer odlican je fotograf i slicice su mi se jako svidjele!

Odlucila sam dodati zenstvenu notu, ovom vrlo djecackom outfitu (boyfriend jeans i muska majica, zahtjevali su sexy, crvene cipele, malu torbicu i nesto asesoara!)

Nadam se da sam uspijela u tome!

Sto vi mislite?

Snimali smo u mom dvoristu i ovo je za mene vrlo posebno mjesto!

Ovu staru baraku (kako ju mi zovemo "sutica"), napravio je moj djed, jos u 70.-ima, i znao je tu cesto prespavati kada je nadgledao izgradnju i radove na obiteljskoj kuci.

"Sutica" odoljeva zubu vremena, a moj tata uvijek bi ju odrzavao jer puno je uspomena vezano za nju...ja imam u svojim albumima puno fotografija, kada sam bila vrlo mala, ispred sutice sa tatom i nasim mackama :) ♥

Neke stvari nemaju veliku materijaalnu vrijednost, ali sentimentalna vrijednost je neprocjenjiva!

Slazete li se?

Sto se majice tice, nisam jos sigurna hocu li je zadrzati u ovom obliku, ili cu je izrezati kako bi mi, mozda, bolje pristajala!

U jednom od mojih tutorijala pokazala sam vam kako mozete DIY izrezati majice, a tutorijal pogledajte klikom ovdje!

Ukoliko ste zainteresirani za SonMia majice, ovdje mozete pogledati sve modele koji su trenutno u ponudi!

Kako nositi boyfriend jeans (2 styling ideje), mozete pogledati ovdje!

Svima zelim ugodan vikend, nadam se da cete se dobro provesti i odmoriti...preda mnom su neke nove radne obaveze, tako da vas pozdravljam do ponedjeljka!

Midseason Sale Haul: H&M, Bershka & Italian Boutiques

Hello lovelies!

I have a fashion haul for you :)

I bought some really nice things at midseason sale in H&M, Bershka and some local boutiques here in Italy...

As always, I was excited to get such amazing deals, and most of these items, if layered, can be worn even in colder days of Fall!

Check out my fashion haul video here:

What did I buy?

Neon flower necklace from H&M
Great statement piece, can be worn on top of any simple T-shirt or top,
to spice it up a bit, and make it more interesting!

Grey dress/ black sleeves, from Young girl's dept. of H&M
(14+ years of age)
Suits me really well!
I love the silver threads this dress has, it's so sparkly!

Rose gold sequin skirt.
I love this item and I wanted to buy it ever since it first came in the stores!
At midseason sale, it was a great deal and I'm so happy with this purchase :)

Matching top, but I like to wear these two items separately!

Beautiful, floral print blouse from H&M

Floral print top, a bit oversized, I bought it to pair it with the military trend, that's so in style this season!
I actually quite like the contrast between the girly, floral print, and rough military style :)

I've been eyeing this top for such a long time!
I love the colour, and the tiny pearl detail on the back!
At 24.95€ it seemed kind of pricey, because I knew autumn is on it's way, so I won't be able to get a lot of use out of it now, but when I saw it on sale at 15€, I've decided to get it!

I'm loving this lace jacket, it was reduced from 39.95€ to 20€
You can wear it everyday, and style it in a casual way, but it's also a great piece for a night out :)

Another item I put on my wish list, ever since it first came in the stores...
I looove it!
Retail price 24.95€, it was reduced to 15€
It's very spacious & great for everyday/casual look.

Grey dress from Lana del Rey for H&M fall fashion campaign.
This wasn't on sale, but the retail price was really great, it cost only 19.95€
This got sold out in a matter of minutes, and I managed to grab a very last one: luckily, it was in a size S and it fits really nice!

Some things I got at Bershka's midseason sale:
Grey cotton/sweater type/ jacket

Grey, denim gilet with studded details.

From my local fashion store here in Italy:
Trendy & warm, wool cape!

To see how all these clothes fits me, don't miss out on my video!

In the second part of it, I'm trying the clothes on, just to give you an idea on how does it fit!

A few pics taken while filming my fashion haul...

The green blouse is from italian open market, and it cost only 3€, I love it! The colour suits me well, and the best part of this blouse is that it doesn't need to be ironed!

It's supposed to be all wrinkly! yeay for that! :))

Black skinny jeans are from Zara (from the past winter's sales) and they fit so perfectly, they're one of my favourite pairs of jeans ♥

Rose gold sequin skirt ♥

Mint green knitted top ♥

I hope you liked this haul!

Maybe it inspired you :)

Do let me know, which one of these items did you like best?

Please take a moment to vote for me in Starcentral's magazine FASHIONISTA OF THE MONTH Poll! It really means a lot!

You can vote for me every day :)The contest is open until November, 21st. 2012.

Thank you so much!!! 

CLICK HERE TO VOTE FOR ME (AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE)

Kisss from Italy,

xoxo S.