POP 327 Wednesday 23 June 2010

Today's second POP is Max, reporter hat on!

I can see clearly now MIL-AN has gone.

POP took a hop skip and a jump over to pasta paradise Milan for S/S 2011 MENSWEAR and had a ruddy good time, returning bleary eyed late last night with just enough time to turn our underpants inside-out and pick the pizza out of our teeth for Paris, which kicks off tomorrow. (PLUS, how soon is too soon to start making jokes about the French World Cup team with a French man? POP will no doubt soon find out…)

Milan's RANDOM weather, rain one minute, sun the next, reflected a whole clash and mash of collections, but we've grabbed a few favourites and made up a list of our top 5 shows, plus some sexy highlight. ALL for YOU, the lucky reader.

P.S. When asking directions in Italy, it doesn't help if your chosen method of communication is just to speak loudly in English with an Italian accent. We ( I ) quickly found that out, just thought you should know.
 

1. Prada

Prada Prada Prada… like a foreign exchange student who gets off with all the girls, flirts with your mum, makes friends with your dad, snogs your sister, scores a hat trick in the playground at lunch-time, reads strange adult-looking books with long words, and wears clothes that your can't even get in this country, oh how we'd love to be the Prada man/boy. Ms Prada took inspiration from uniforms and contrasts in volume, and as usual presented one of the shows of the season. Denim hospital overalls anyone? Yes please. The set was good too. Underground sex club meets your average European car park.

2. Burberry

Good casting, good hair, good venue, good jackets, good trousers, good sandals, good studs, good vests, good boots, good knitwear, good merkins. Burberry was really really good. The studded biker jkt weighs a ton, but we still want one. Failing that, one of the sort of tudor-looking oval-studded leather waistcoat/merkin things. Alright?

3. Dolce & Gabbana

Celebrating 20 years of menswear Dolce & Gabbana stepped-up as usual and made us feel all Italian and coooooool. Let's face it, these guys OWN Milan, and they really made things happen this season. A collection of welcome classics, such as perfect washed-white silk suits, smashed denim and BIG pants, alongside a wonderful 20-year retrospective exhibition gala-thingy had us hoping we'd wake up the next morning with a six-pack, olive skin and a Tony Ward vibe. FYI, It didn't happen. We'll just look at the collection again then.

4. Giorgio Armani

Pyjama blazers, yellow leather, silk trousers and more db-classic Armani jkts than you could shake a shoulder pad at… Smooth, slick, and always needed, blue reigned supreme here, with occasional cheeky hints of check and bright yellows. Plus, is it just us, or does Giorgio Armani always do the best sunglasses? Shaded and super!

5. Moncler Gamme Bleu

ON YER BIKE! Thom Browne presented a show-stopping spectacle par usual, bringing broadway to Milan, basing Moncler Gamme Bleu's S/S 2011 collection around the ideals of track cycle racing. Cropped capes, perfect dusty pink zip-up skins and peaked caps featured at the Milan Velodrome as models walked then sped on bikes around the beautiful old stadium in clothes that flapped and clapped in the wind. PERFECTO!

Other highlights included: Marni's non stop march to the top featuring perfect windcheaters, cropped sweaters and yet again perfect shoes. YES PLEASE. Versace's rockabilly stand off, featuring geometic prints, tasseled fringing, killer jewellery, and bloody good hair. MORE! Frankie Morello's bonkers beach party-themed catwalk show featuring half naked Italian youth. FUNNY! Gianfranco Ferre's re-mixed Talking Heads Psycho Killer (Live) soundtrack. OUCH! Bottega Veneta's dusty camo suiting. BOOM! Calvin Klein's cropped t-shirts. SCHOOM! Gucci's perfect saddle-print stretch shirting. STRETCHTY! Jil Sander's AMAZING flower print tops and neon trousers. BRIGHT! Trussardi's leopard print jackets. EXCITING! Westwood's wigs. FAKE! Dsquared's American Gigolo interiors themed catwalk set. CLASSY! Moschino's CND studded biker jkt. TREND! Missoni's gentle garden line-up, featuring great colours, mega knitwear and lovely bowls of pasta. YUM! And finally, Johnny Depp as Cry Baby printed t-shirts at D&G. TEARS!