MILAN, Feb 17, 2008 / FW/ — Gaetano Navarra likes his women to be mysterious, even unconventional. Hence, for Fall 2008, he combined the eccentricity of the 1930s with the refined de rigueur of the 1940s creating modern sculptured silhouettes that are innovative and romantic.
Case in point, the plum mini-dress with a bubble skirt, the waist emphasized, the whole bodice done in plum sequins while the neckline is made up of an oversized braid of yarn, that concept repeated on smaller scales on the sleeves and on the skirt.
Though the silhouette hides the figure, it also liberates, as Navarra played with volume and proportions. Take the ‘windbreaker coat dress’ for example. Voluminous long sleeves that are gathered at the end by a shoelace emphasize the slim torso and waist. The skirt flares carefully to mimic a bubble skirt yet it ends like the hemline of a windbreaker, gathered and cinched by a string.
Details like 3-D breast pockets, asymmetrical hemline and stoles that are ‘sculpted’, done via microstructures sewn in by warming the cloth give an art deco feel yet very futuristic.
The collection follows lead and hazel tones. Black and white is used to emphasize subtle nuances of pale grey and animal prints.
And as Gaetano Navarra plays with volume and proportions, the coats of soft marine cashmere cloth became austere with military lines but rendered feminine with tulip collars, with pellet eye sheep skin
The harshness that comes with suits and tailored trousers melt into the eccentricities of the surreal little hats and refined accessories. Trench-parka in nylon faille, gives it a taffeta sophistication, like clothes in crepe marocaine.
The jersey, in cashmere hand knitted in a reinterpretation of the traditional “hardanger” Norwegian style; with a touch of embroideries that reflex the style of the 30s with strange sculptural forms are like the blouses in organza of the “adventurers” that are three dimensional and explode in waves of micro ruches and billows of frills and pleats.
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(Photos courtesy of Gaetano Navarra, click on image to see bigger photo.)
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[...] Gaetano Navarra Fall 2008: Sculpted, Baroque & Surreal [...]