Daily Front Row

2008 September 22

Just Cavalli - Milan Spring 2009

Just Cavalli Spring 2009
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(MILAN) Champagne--and Coca-Cola Light in Cavalli-designed bottles--was ready and waiting when the fashion set arrived at the Milano Fashion Center for Milan's inaugural event, the Just Cavalli show. After entering the tent, guests found themselves...sinking. And no, the Veuve wasn't to blame. "It's sand," an editor pronounced quizzically. But it was an inspired choice of runway material, given Cavalli's focus on beachy getaways, which were superimposed on a 3-part screen (framed in faux marble) behind the runway. Even in Capri, leopard print still abounds--but this season, it comes in sleekly fitted trousers and cheeky shades like lemon yellow. Garish? Quite the opposite, in fact. One particular miniskirt--fitted through the hips, only to ruffle out teasingly for a few inches below--is best-seller material. It comes in black and beige perforated leather, but our money's on the denim. Breezy chiffon frocks, cobbled together from a modpodge of multicolored printed pieces, played with transparency. Luckily, high-waisted bloomers kept things R-rated. Octagonal sunglasses and cage-heel suede wedges in black and white (with pops of neon pink, yellow, and green) were bona-fide crowd-pleasers, but serious types nodded approvingly at the prim structured handbags--endowed with wide stripes of neon, of course. As Kelly Rowland said after the show, "Gorgeous, fun, and sexy. So Cavalli!"