The runway is back on fire

Let’s face it. Following a fashion show via a laptop or a mobile phone screen is as satisfying as eating a bean sprout salad while a chef creates a gooey chocolate hazelnut cake. Fashion is an emotion, best experienced live. More than 15 months after the pandemic hit the fashion industry, luxury houses are slowly returning to the catwalk. Over the past two weeks, three of 47 brands that participated in the Milan fashion week—Dolce & Gabbana, Etro and Armani—offered live events for their spring/summer 2022 shows.

Dior, too, returned to a live audience showcase, with a firework-punctuated presentation of its 2022 Cruise collection in Athens at the Panathenaic stadium. Whether we return to the traditional fashion week calendar remains to be seen, given the increased conversation on seasonless fashion, for now let’s relive the live shows.

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DIOR SPEAKS PERFECT GREEK

Presented at the site of the first modern Olympic Games, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in attendance, the collection showcased designs inspired by antiquity and the traditional Greek dress. Mostly in black, white, gold and blue, the garments combined heritage and contemporary inventiveness.

ARMANI GOES EASY

At the recently concluded Milan fashion week, Giorgio Armani presented “Back To Where It Started”, his spring-summer 2022 collection. It was full of easy-going looks, in navy, white and sand, best fit for casual get-togethers at the seaside or a garden party.

DOLCE & GABBANA’S ‘LIGHT THERAPY’

Inspired by southern Italy’s lighting installations, the designers’ first live show since pandemic at Milan was all about bright colours. Their signature black suits, sheer tops, distressed jeans, knitwear and silky bomber jackets were either bedecked with colourful stones or embroidered in gold thread for a baroque touch, challenging gender norms.

ETRO GOES RETRO

Exploring the theme of nomadism, Kean Etro presented his retro spring-summer collection as a tribute to the late Franco Battiato, one of Italy’s most prominent singers. The show, featuring shiny hip-huggers and louche blouses, was staged in a disused Milanese train station.