Milan Fashion Week autumn/winter 2013: Day 4 Memo

CATWALK MOMENT
Last season we had Celine's 'Furkenstocks', so it was only right that this season something else odd would be made furry. Cue Ermanno Scervino and the furry headscarf, made all the more striking by its pairing with a beautiful beaded gown. Whatever next?

FROW-VERHEARD (or not, as the case may be)
Shoe-hoo... Listen up boys, if you want to be in fashion you'd better accessorise your brogues with some natty snaffles. The editor of British Vogue, Alexandra Shulman, has labelled these the official 'fashion boy shoe', spotted readily on the Milan FROWs.

Photo: @AShulman2

Billionaire Bottega...
Its revenues are just shy of Euro1bn a year, and in 2012 it profited to the tune of Euro300 million - yet Bottega Veneta is the biggest fashion company most people have never heard of. Where other labels sprinkle their clothes with Swarovski crystals and pepper their front rows with paid-to-be-there celebrities, this compulsively discreet Italian leather goods specialist has become a cheering anomaly. Yet even Bottega Veneta has to put on a fashion show - and yesterday's was one of the season's best so far. Tomas Maier, its terribly serious creative director, took the simplest possible ingredients - felt, flannel, and a little bit of cashmere - and rustled up a minor masterpiece. Suspended pleats extended from the sides of his flattering flannel skirts like flying buttresses. High-waisted 1950`s secretary sweaters finished the look, with softened crocodile bags and high heel boots. Instead of gems or gilding, Maier used emphasised stitching and purposefully roughened seams as his decoration. Very serious, but very beautiful too, this was one of the shows of the week. Luke Leitch

Inspiration station...

Photo: @ctilburymakeup
Make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury gave us a peek at the Aquilano.Rimondi moodboard that was backstage at the show yesterday, and it appears Alice in Wonderland was the sole inspiration. We love the cheeky Chesire Cat at the bottom.

New Choos...
Over at Jimmy Choo, changes are afoot. Sandra Choi, the niece of Jimmy himself, has been handed sole creative control of the shoe company made famous by Sex And The City. For this, her first full season in charge, Choi presented a collection that ticked all the brand's fundamental boxes; four inch spike heeled knee high boots? Check. Mink wrapped pom pom purses? But of course. Choi, though, says she also is interested in "a quieter type of glamour that accentuates the feminine body in a beautiful way, without necessarily exploiting it." A fearsome new Y-shaped heel, cute handcuff clasps on snakeskin ankle straps, discretely sunken decorations and some almost practical backless military style shoe boots all provided glimpses of the Choi-led changes at Choo. Luke Leitch

LOOKS WE LOVED

Photos: Vladimir Potop
Clockwise from left to right: Trussardi; Aquilano.Rimondi; Emilio Pucci; Ermanno Scervino; Roberto Cavalli; Jil Sander.

BEAUTY MOMENT: Emilio Pucci

Photos: Vladimir Potop
Peter Dundas gave his Pucci girls the perfect rock chick hair - slightly bed-headed with a heavy fringe, as modelled beautifully by Cara. It's almost enough to make us want to wear a winge. Pair that with a feline flick of eyeliner and, voila, a lusted-after beauty look is born.

STREET STYLISTAS

Photos: Vladimir Potop

RE-MODELLED: Joan Smalls

Photos: Vladimir Potop
The Amazonian beauty that is Joan Smalls perfected the party girl look Pucci, and went all sophisticated for Bottega Veneta yesterday.

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