YSTYLE Trend Report: MFW S/S 2017

If It Ain’t Baroque

Dolce & Gabbana

MANILA, Philippines - Hot on the heels of a troupe of Neapolitan street performers, Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana parlayed their signature Southern Italian style with their spring/summer 2017 collection dubbed “Tropico Italiano.” The mood was military band jackets overlaid with baroque ornamentation — denims dripping with gilded passementerie and floral embroidery. Fifties-style dresses were printed with iconic Italian motifs for a cheeky spin; sequined skirts were paired with light-up heels — mostly styled with tiaras and piles of fruit on turbans.

Flights Of Fancy

Prada

Miuccia Prada voyages away from last season’s vision of female vagabonds and departs for a much more mundane world: the present. For spring/summer 2017, the designer pares it back with a collection of signature Prada classics, a throwback for a more consumer-driven collection; the opening look of a tank dress paired with criss-cross sandals sets the tone. A lineup of nylon trench coats set against Miuccia’s favored art deco motifs on separates and accessories; smart separates, sportif cardigans and short sheathes round out the collection. What tied it all together? Lining skirt slits, stoles and cuffs — a delicious application of marabou feathers was confected throughout. 

The Haunting

Gucci

Alessandro Michele’s maximalist vision for Gucci is on a relentless tack, season after season. His agenda of hi-shine meets geek chic frippery continues for spring/summer 2017 with a ghostly phantasmagoria of Lurex-wrapped dolls and Elizabethan ghosts. This season’s menagerie teems with gilded snakes and oriental-inspired dragons; accordion-pleated silks and chiffons (styled with tufted bicorn admiral hats and sky-high platforms); sparkling shifts dripping in fringe, luscious brocades and layered tulles make the grade. As with every Gucci collection under Michele’s purview, the genius sits in the hodgepodge of urbane references.

Sleepwalkers

Fendi

Fresh from their recent couture showing in Rome (recall the resplendent showcase of models walking on a clear runway on top of the Trevi fountain?), Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini’s Fendi returns for spring/summer 2017 with a more street-ready fantasia. This season’s woman is a “modern rococo muse” in silk lingerie paired with gathered silk trousers; the novelty of a sexier pinafore dress with a utilitarian undertone with oversized pockets and workwear-ready jackets. The references make for an ingenious mix that is so distinctively Fendi (or Lagerfeld?) in execution — rugby stripes meet boudoir dressing, baroque embellishments on utilitarian shapes.

Pocket Monster

Marni

Consuelo Castiglioni shifts her attention from last season’s sleeve to a pocket fixation (oversized and utterly utilitarian) for Marni’s spring/summer 2017. Her austere opening salvo of crème-colored looks was a mixture of ovoid shapes and deconstructed silhouettes — from drawstring-hemmed trench coats to D-Ring belted shirts and dresses. Castiglioni’s cut and segmented treatise on structure eventually made way for her signature prints and her artful use of color.