MILAN — Clean, sophisticated looks seen on the runways here were echoed in the fall 2006 collections that filled the halls of the 12th edition of the White ready-to-wear fair.
The show, held here from Feb. 23 to 26, has grown steadily in the hands of its new Florentine organizers, Pitti Immagine.
The fair, at Superstudio Più on Via Tortona, attracted 179 exhibiting brands, 18 more than last year. Organizers confirmed 7,597 visitors attended White and its sister fairs, NeoZone and Cloudnine — and 24 percent of them were international buyers, up 3 percent compared with February 2005.
Pitti Immagine chief executive officer Raffaello Napoleone said he considered the fairs a success.
“We were worried that perhaps earlier dates for the rtw fair MilanoVendeModa would affect visitor numbers for us, but we had really positive feedback,” said Napoleone.
Fashion’s new mood — unembellished, sober, unfrilly — that was seen throughout fall rtw collections here and in Paris, London and New York, was reflected at White. Many of the offerings were created from a mix of natural fabrics, including wool, linen and silk.
Miriam Baluga, director of
d-cln, in Capri, Italy, said her firm had put more focus on materials used in the collection, which featured knitwear in mohair and alpaca mixed with fluid silk gunmetal gray dresses and winter-weight linen Bermuda shorts.
“Trends are definitely cleaner this season,” said Baluga. “There are fewer details like sequins and ribbons that decorated recent collections. There’s a real return to natural fabrics and softer colors like gray, cork and porcelain.”
Hood also used fall linens. The Ancona, Italy, brand inserted a touch of masculine tailoring to its line, which included a linen-hemp mix in pinstriped jackets and black lace-like mohair V-neck knits. Director Rita Cappannini said new buyers from Hong Kong and the U.K. visiting the stand had selected some structured fall pieces made from noble fabrics.
Susanne Tide-Frater, creative director at British retailer Harrods in London, came to the fair “looking for edgy brands, and White is a good hunting ground. There are always one or two brands here that can make a difference to the store’s floor,” she said.
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Footwear brand L’Autre Chose showed its third rtw collection at White. The line, led by outerwear in previous seasons, was rounded out for fall by knitwear, silk blouses and dresses, all Fifties-inspired. A light gray dress with rounded collar, tie waist and puffed short sleeves was done in an extra-fine Loro Piana felted woolen fabric and in printed silk.
“This is our first real collection, and we have had a lot of interest — the cashmere knits with suede elbow patches and the silk dresses are the sort of thing buyers are looking for now,” said Manuela Massa, marketing director of L’Autre Chose.
After launching its four-year-old collection from its established knitwear line, Appartamento 50 showed a more complete look for fall, including knitted hats and necklaces. Appartamento 50 has 500 retailer clients, with a turnover of $5.3 million, or 4.5 million euros at current exchange, which the brand hopes to increase by 30 percent by yearend.
“American and Japanese markets for us are growing steadily, so it’s important that we produce merchandise geared toward them,” said director Sabrina Baroni Chbeir. Using its knitwear expertise, Appartamento 50 created a collection that included knit coats in light chestnut and superfine silk jersey tops in duck-egg blue with chocolate lace accents and appliquéd flowers.
Accessories line Aristolasia, of Florence, garnered the interest of Japanese and American buyers with a new collection of bags inspired by gangsters. Vintage tan leather gun holsters were stitched onto the outside of soft black bags, and a pair of sequined pistols was appliquéd on another model. The company used details like tiny mirrors inserted into linings and supersoft leather in rich tones of forest green, violet and smoke gray.
Eight-year-old forte_forte, based in Vicenze, Italy, and showing for the second time at White, returned to the fair as part of a plan to expand the company, which has 400 retailers. “We are really enthusiastic at the response from White — we saw new clients from Japan and from Los Angeles,” said sales director Silvia Galvan. The Forties-styled line included a red wool coat with bone buttons and double-front-pleat tweed pants. Accessories included white enameled flower hair combs and detachable lace collars.
Barbara Kramer from Designers & Agents, based in New York, was attracted to forte_forte’s blend of Victorian and masculine details.
“It’s my first time here and it’s good to see new energy from Italian designers. I loved how collections like forte_forte had taken embellishment down a notch, but they still have handiwork in them,” said Kramer.