Fur realz - Fall/Winter 2011/2012

The European Fall/Winter 2011/2012 menswear season is off and running in Milan. After a day of shows, what are the early trends? Military detailing, velvet, drop-crotch trousers and a surprising amount of colour for a winter season. Of note, Burberry's tangerine and cyclamen pink pea coats, duffle and puffa jackets and Jil Sander's skinny knits, parkas and colour-blocked suiting in an eye-popping palette, which creative director Raf Simons looks to have carried over from his womens' spring 2011 show. Not to mention fur. This time last year we noted a preponderance of shaggy glam rock mens' coats in various fabrications. And although this season, Dolce e Gabbana used faux fur and Roberto Cavalli's patchwork fur coat had almost a vintage vibe, the luxury ante was definitely upped by Burberry, which showed a number of rabbit, lambskin and patchwork Finnish mink jackets, including one spectacular two-tone mink for a cool US$27,000. 

The biggest name in the mens modelling business right now, Serbian Australian Andrej Pejic - who debuted at number 40 on models.com's Top 50 Male Models list last month and then suddenly jumped to number 17 in the past week - was conspicuous by his absence.

Although Pejic briefly touched down in Milan last week to attend some early castings and is so far only confirmed for Tuesday's Neil Barrett show, a "money job" in London saw him up stumps and head to the UK for several days. He is due to arrive back in Milan today.


Images:
1, 2, 3, 4: burberry/getty via daylife
5, 6: dolce e gabbana/dolce e gabbana
7: roberto cavalli/ap via daylife

Gail Sorronda gets the Dolce e Gabbana treatment

Who needs Roberto Cavalli when you’re being mentored by Dolce e Gabbana? Overnight, Brisbane native Gail Reid popped up in this video interview on Dolce e Gabbana’s Swide website. Reid's five year-old Gail Sorronda label is one of 21 labels that were hand-picked by the Italian luxury titans for their brand new fashion incubator retail concept in Milan, Spiga2. “I love Gail Sorronda. It’s my taste” Stefano Gabbana told The Wall Street Journal last month. It has been a very big year for Reid. In March, she told frockwriter that she was being considered for a freelance consulting gig at Roberto Cavalli’s studio. By July, that had yet to transpire, but that month Reid was one of seven finalists in the 2010 edition of Who Is On Next, an emerging talent showcase in Italy that is jointly organised by Alta Roma and Vogue Italia. Great to see major fashion names supporting newbies although that said, it’s a little odd to see included in the Spiga2 lineup Paris-based Australian expat Martin Grant, who has been showing on schedule in Paris for a number of years. Grant established his label in Melbourne in 1982, when he was just 15.