Milan Fashion Week: Marni S/S 2012

Milan Fashion Week THERE’S no better way to start a Sunday than with head-to-toe gold sequins (thanks Anna Dello Russo), or, as Consuelo Castiglioni did at Marni, with a new take on the ladylike look. “It’s

innocence out of context – with a twist of classic. It is childlike and pure,” explained Castiglioni of her inspiration backstage after the show. “The naive colours and embroidery running through it are all part of that twist.”

But it’s fair to say it was a cleverly disguised twist – the girls with their teased Bardot beehives looked decidedly grown-up, just as their autumn/winter 2011-12 counterparts had, but it was in the shape – stiff and structured and graphic – that the fun came to play.
Beneath A-line shapes were sheaths of organza underskirts and peeking out from prim shirts were colourful psychedelic floral collars. In fact, where everyone else has been stepping back in time to the Twenties in Milan, Marni’s girl – ever one to be kooky and off centre – has found herself sitting comfortable in a mix of the Fifties and Sixties – one part glamorous housewife to one part Mary Quant Mod.

Shorts were shapely and cute and dresses cut-out to reveal panels of skin amid their geometric floral prints – in purple and red and more. Skirts came anchored with huge snowflake-shaped sequin discs – in black and white – and beads of chandelier style at hems. It was a collection of contrasts – to portray the Marni girl’s dreamy yet conservative side all at once. Just as much as she likes something simple in her wardrobe she wants something that says "look at me" too.