Crystal-covered T-shirt dresses mingled with hiking sandals and flats, shoulder bags were back, and pyrotechnic antics flooded Instagram
*"Pure glamour" is a thing*
Think of Gucci and most people think of the Tom Ford era: thigh-high splits in satin, wetlook eyeliner and logos shaved into pubic hair. Current designer Frida Giannini neatly sidestepped all that decadence this season with a collection that was still about dressing up, but doing it in a more pared-back way. See T-shirt dress shapes covered in crystals, and low heels, a look she called "pure glamour". Other designers got behind the trend too. See Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta and even – well, a bit – Versace.
*Shoulder bags are back*
You know how we told you just last season that shoulder bags are out, and only a scrunched clutch will do? Well, designers have done an about-turn and deemed that having two useable hands is suddenly chic again. Of course, practicality isn't entirely front-row centre. Instead, shoulder bags are worn not bumping against your hip but slung over one shoulder, like one strap of a rucksack. At Prada and Emporio Armani, it's similar to the shoulder-robing styling trick: one to practise before instigating IRL.
*Hiking sandals aren't just for girls*
Fashion blogger Bryan Boy, AKA Bryan Grey Yambao, is hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to clothes – one recent look we loved was Givenchy floral shorts worn over cycling leggings. But the top prize has to go to his interpretation of Prada's spring/summer 2014 womenswear collection, which featured both knee-high legwarmers and hiking sandals covered in crystals. Yambao took the look wholesale and combined it with co-ordinating pedicure. He also photobombed the finale at the Just Cavalli show – pulling faces behind the models. What's not to like?
*Fur is a hot topic*
On the front row, on the street and the catwalk, fur was everywhere this season. Fendi – a fur house, of course – featured fur trousers (there's something you didn't know you needed) while Roberto Cavalli had it on every look, prompting protests from animal-rights groups outside his show. Miuccia Prada, always one step ahead of the game, ditched the fur-heavy look of her last collection for shearling. She called it "poor fur" but, in Prada's hands, it looked very luxurious indeed.
*The jumper and skirt is your look next winter*
If the Milanese taste has, in the past, tended towards a glitzy frock, there were signs that something a little more casual is in the post for when temperatures drop in 2014. Enter the sweater and skirt look, long championed by London designers such as Jonathan Saunders and Richard Nicoll. Now even the most glamour-hungry designers here – Roberto Cavalli, Donatella Versace – were on side. Salvatore Ferregamo's roll-neck jumper and striped skirt was memorable. It could have jumped from the catwalk to the front row in the blink of an eye – and that's a sign of a trend with legs.
*Catwalk stunts show Instagram is firmly on fashion's radar*
Roberto Cavalli's show was less an introduction to his latest collection and more an event fit for a rock star – it had pyrotechnics and a water feature. Such antics show how fashion is now taking Instagram-baiting seriously. This photo op is aimed at the photo app and other brands are getting in on the act too. Fendi's show featured not only drones flying above the catwalk, but Cara Delevingne carrying a fur doll of designer Karl Lagerfeld to open the show. It all led to a very now sight: fashion editors with their phones in the air, straining to get that picture.
*Flats aren't a trend – they're here to stay*
Gucci sent models down the catwalk in low-heeled boots – rather than the 6in spikes that usually come as standard at the brand – on the first day of Milan fashion week. It was a sign of things to come. Flats were everywhere: at Tod's, Jil Sander and Maxmara, where they were rather fabulous gold Chelsea boots. Marni – a label that has always known how to do a jazzy flat – excelled again. Their pointed brogues with shiny bits suited the look that feels dressed-up but has freedom of movement. In fashion, that is a new and exciting concept.
*Binx is the new Cara*
Fashion loves a model with a signature hair cut – see the Karlie (named after Kloss), a sort of grown-out bob, or the Freja (Beha Erichsen), shaggy wavy layers. Enter Binx – and her undercut. American model Leona Binx Walton has been the girl of the week and expect to see more of her, and her EMF-worthy do, this year. With 12,000 followers on Instagram despite only posting 137 photos, she's coming for Cara's model-with-personality crown.
*Joan of Arc is having a moment*
Dolce & Gabbana's Sicilian fairytale included nods to the usual suspects – Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White – and real characters too. Joan of Arc's chainmail armour looked to be the inspiration for the balaclava headgear. A bit Grimm brothers, a bit kick-ass medieval teenage knight, the result had that typical Dolce charm in spades. To channel this, it's probably best to focus on Ingrid Bergman in the 1948 Joan of Arc movie rather than the teen Joan's turn in the mall for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
*SpongeBob SquarePants is still fashion's favourite cartoon*
Marc Jacobs has a tattoo of the Bikini Bottom resident on his bicep and once carried a bag with his distinct spongy image on the Louis Vuitton catwalk. Jeremy Scott, in his first collection for Italian brand Moschino, went one further. He put SpongeBob's goofy visage on jumpers, bags and puffa jackets this season. Put together with skirt suits in McDonald's Golden Arches colours and ballgowns made out of Hershey's Kisses wrappers, and club kid style romped home in Milano. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.
*"Pure glamour" is a thing*
Think of Gucci and most people think of the Tom Ford era: thigh-high splits in satin, wetlook eyeliner and logos shaved into pubic hair. Current designer Frida Giannini neatly sidestepped all that decadence this season with a collection that was still about dressing up, but doing it in a more pared-back way. See T-shirt dress shapes covered in crystals, and low heels, a look she called "pure glamour". Other designers got behind the trend too. See Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta and even – well, a bit – Versace.
*Shoulder bags are back*
You know how we told you just last season that shoulder bags are out, and only a scrunched clutch will do? Well, designers have done an about-turn and deemed that having two useable hands is suddenly chic again. Of course, practicality isn't entirely front-row centre. Instead, shoulder bags are worn not bumping against your hip but slung over one shoulder, like one strap of a rucksack. At Prada and Emporio Armani, it's similar to the shoulder-robing styling trick: one to practise before instigating IRL.
*Hiking sandals aren't just for girls*
Fashion blogger Bryan Boy, AKA Bryan Grey Yambao, is hardly a shrinking violet when it comes to clothes – one recent look we loved was Givenchy floral shorts worn over cycling leggings. But the top prize has to go to his interpretation of Prada's spring/summer 2014 womenswear collection, which featured both knee-high legwarmers and hiking sandals covered in crystals. Yambao took the look wholesale and combined it with co-ordinating pedicure. He also photobombed the finale at the Just Cavalli show – pulling faces behind the models. What's not to like?
*Fur is a hot topic*
On the front row, on the street and the catwalk, fur was everywhere this season. Fendi – a fur house, of course – featured fur trousers (there's something you didn't know you needed) while Roberto Cavalli had it on every look, prompting protests from animal-rights groups outside his show. Miuccia Prada, always one step ahead of the game, ditched the fur-heavy look of her last collection for shearling. She called it "poor fur" but, in Prada's hands, it looked very luxurious indeed.
*The jumper and skirt is your look next winter*
If the Milanese taste has, in the past, tended towards a glitzy frock, there were signs that something a little more casual is in the post for when temperatures drop in 2014. Enter the sweater and skirt look, long championed by London designers such as Jonathan Saunders and Richard Nicoll. Now even the most glamour-hungry designers here – Roberto Cavalli, Donatella Versace – were on side. Salvatore Ferregamo's roll-neck jumper and striped skirt was memorable. It could have jumped from the catwalk to the front row in the blink of an eye – and that's a sign of a trend with legs.
*Catwalk stunts show Instagram is firmly on fashion's radar*
Roberto Cavalli's show was less an introduction to his latest collection and more an event fit for a rock star – it had pyrotechnics and a water feature. Such antics show how fashion is now taking Instagram-baiting seriously. This photo op is aimed at the photo app and other brands are getting in on the act too. Fendi's show featured not only drones flying above the catwalk, but Cara Delevingne carrying a fur doll of designer Karl Lagerfeld to open the show. It all led to a very now sight: fashion editors with their phones in the air, straining to get that picture.
*Flats aren't a trend – they're here to stay*
Gucci sent models down the catwalk in low-heeled boots – rather than the 6in spikes that usually come as standard at the brand – on the first day of Milan fashion week. It was a sign of things to come. Flats were everywhere: at Tod's, Jil Sander and Maxmara, where they were rather fabulous gold Chelsea boots. Marni – a label that has always known how to do a jazzy flat – excelled again. Their pointed brogues with shiny bits suited the look that feels dressed-up but has freedom of movement. In fashion, that is a new and exciting concept.
*Binx is the new Cara*
Fashion loves a model with a signature hair cut – see the Karlie (named after Kloss), a sort of grown-out bob, or the Freja (Beha Erichsen), shaggy wavy layers. Enter Binx – and her undercut. American model Leona Binx Walton has been the girl of the week and expect to see more of her, and her EMF-worthy do, this year. With 12,000 followers on Instagram despite only posting 137 photos, she's coming for Cara's model-with-personality crown.
*Joan of Arc is having a moment*
Dolce & Gabbana's Sicilian fairytale included nods to the usual suspects – Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White – and real characters too. Joan of Arc's chainmail armour looked to be the inspiration for the balaclava headgear. A bit Grimm brothers, a bit kick-ass medieval teenage knight, the result had that typical Dolce charm in spades. To channel this, it's probably best to focus on Ingrid Bergman in the 1948 Joan of Arc movie rather than the teen Joan's turn in the mall for Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure.
*SpongeBob SquarePants is still fashion's favourite cartoon*
Marc Jacobs has a tattoo of the Bikini Bottom resident on his bicep and once carried a bag with his distinct spongy image on the Louis Vuitton catwalk. Jeremy Scott, in his first collection for Italian brand Moschino, went one further. He put SpongeBob's goofy visage on jumpers, bags and puffa jackets this season. Put together with skirt suits in McDonald's Golden Arches colours and ballgowns made out of Hershey's Kisses wrappers, and club kid style romped home in Milano. Reported by guardian.co.uk 19 hours ago.