There were those who don't succumb so easily to trends - the classicists. At the Swiss label Bally,
spider man costume the soft leather blazers and pleated skirts and sheared -fur pullovers, all shown with the most covetable luggage, were perfect for the chic Concorde traveller, brought bang up to date with its interpretation of the Japanese trend through obis. MaxMara did its usual thing, and even though Jil Sander was better than last season, it still hasn't recaptured its former glory.
Depending on which side of the fashion fence you sit, the designer is either in a league or a world of his own. Indeed, it was on the Armani- dominated day of shows that his very antithesis, Roberto Cavalli, showed what was the most fashion-fabulous show of the week, even if it was subdued by his own standards. No, this wasn't revolutionary fashion, and how many women will be wearing this stuff outside of Tackyville remains to be seen, but it was like taking a huge dose of gold -plated diamond-encrusted antidepressants after the dullness of Armani.
Giorgio Armani, the world's most famous classicist, seems to be stuck in fashion limbo, neither a
spider costume cutting- edge designer, as he was, nor a style deity beyond reproach, as Yves Saint Laurent is. There is no questioning the fact that Armani was one of the most revolutionary designers of the 20th century (by building the working woman's wardrobe) but his place in the 21st seems uncertain. Of course, he has his supporters - among them an Armani-clad Sophia Loren and Lady Helen Taylor, both seated prominently in the front row.
From the gold-leafed catwalk lit with crystal chandeliers, to the tights, tops, and dresses printed with baroque brooches, Cartier's famous bejewelled cats, and trompe l'oeil swags of pearls, this show was as high-octane as glamour gets. In bejewelled zentai suit so high that
spiderman costumes even Cindy Crawford, coming out of retirement for Cavalli, had trouble walking in them, girls sashayed in the kind of glamour we haven't witnessed since Gianni Versace's Supermodel era.
