Italy : Stage Set For Milan Fashion Extravaganza

Five days jammed with space-age designs - not to mention a lot of Christina Aguilera skin -- have brought London fashion week to a close and set the stage for Milan, the next stop on the fall 2003 fashion docket. The Italian proceedings officially start Monday February 24, giving the fashion flock ample time to recharge before for the 100 shows and 80 presentations that are scheduled over the nine-day period.

There has been quite a bit of sniveling over the drawn-out Milan calendar -- isn't this a fashion "week" after all? Many international press and buyers, taking matters into their own hands, are scheduling their arrivals for Friday, February 28. This is unfortunate news for the smaller designers whose shows have been unceremoniously clumped together in the first three-day block.

Those willing to arrive by Thursday, February 27 though will be still be able to catch D&G, Byblos, Nicola del Verme and Dean and Dan Caten's DSquared, which is presenting its debut women's collection on a suped-up runway. For those who can't make it to the Catens' show, however, the twins will be hosting a cocktail press preview on March 1 in the Presidential Suite at the Principe Hotel. It won't include the blow-out party being staged post-show at Alcatraz on Thursday night, however. That late night extravaganza will be vying for the allegiance of the uber-cool with Tom Ford at Yves St. Laurent, who is hosting 700 VIPs for cocktails and music at the newly opened YSL boutique in Via Montenapoleone.

On Friday, with afternoon shows by both Prada and Emporio Armani, the week's unofficial starting guns will fire. Both labels, in addition to Dolce & Gabbana, Gianfranco Ferre, Jil Sander and Giorgio Armani, are staging back-to-back shows to accommodate the overspill of buyers and press in their limited spaces. The double show times, which take up two slots, are another point of contention plaguing Milan's Camera della Moda as it struggle to condense the calendar.

Newcomers to Milan this year include the house of Cerruti, which is cutting ties to legendary designer Nino Cerruti (who sold his company to Fin.part in 2000) and showing on Italian soil for the first time since its first fashion presentation in Paris in 1976. Also debuting in Milan is the Roberto Capucci prêt-a-porter collection, a revamped take on the Roman designer's haute couture roots as conceived by the design team of Bernard Wilhelm, Jutta Kraus, Sybilla, and Tara Subkoff. Capucci is showing the collection in a surprise format 20 times daily throughout the week in the company's new headquarters in Via Lomazzo.

Brand new to the runway this season will be "Just Cavalli," Roberto Cavalli's strut-your-stuff secondary line. After the 9pm show on Saturday, Cavalli will strut his own stuff over at his leopard kaleidoscope and dog-grazing glass shrine in the park, the Cavalli Cafe, for a late night of partying with all the models and VIPs in town. Word has it that the designer has Terence Trent D'Arby already lined up and is looking to nab Sarah Ferguson and Stephanie of Monaco for his signature show on Monday.

Other full-scale parties include Versace's post-show celebration on the final night of the calendar, which the company says will feature all of its usual decadence and at least one fabulous star, still to be confirmed. This season, Donatella has eschewed her Via Gesu palazzo for a giant studio space, "Spazio Antologico," which can accommodate all 1,000 guests in one showing of both the Versace and Versus lines.

Armani also promises to have a glittering front row for both its Emporio and signature collection shows, although the company is keeping a tight lid on prospects. Two things, however, are for sure: it will be significantly toned down from the front row mayhem that kept the show delayed nearly two hours last season, and -- this may be a shocker -- Clooney isn't coming. Armani is also hosting a cocktail party in his top floor Via Manzoni store Friday night to inaugurate a Rankin photography exhibit from the British photographer's book "Celebritation." Rankin, a co-founder of Dazed & Confused, will be on hand to bond with Armani over their shared celebrity connection. Additional exhibitions during the week include Ter et Bantine's inauguration of American contemporary artist Pae White, Roman fashion photographer Albert Rizzo at Corso Como 10, and Vogue Gioelli's "It Jewels- 30 stilisti per Oro d'autore" in Palazzo della Ragione.

The constant stream of new store renovations is also always a great excuse for a fashion week party. In addition to the St. Laurent event, Krizia will be opening the doors to its revamped store in Via della Spiga after its Saturday show and Gianfranco Ferre is cutting the ribbon on his revamped men's and women's store in Via Sant Andrea, which was expanded to 500 square meters and features an adjoining day spa. Ferre will be hosting a party in the new store Sunday March 2, in addition to a cocktail party on February 26 at the Piccolo Teatro of Milano in honor of the Biennale of Valencia. That evening's affair will attract key participants in the Spanish Biennale, including film writer and director Mike Figgis, architect Will Alsop, and film-stage actress Irene Papas.

Other party-worthy venues include the neon-trimmed restaurant Light, where Anna Wintour is hosting a dinner for Vogue staff on Sunday night, and where Missoni will stage its usual fashion week dinner party.

Everyone will be busy this week, but none quite so pressed as over-achiever Alessandro dell'Acqua who will take a final bow at three different runway shows throughout the week, one for each of the collections he designs: La Perla, Borbonese and his signature women's collection.

Other designers have opted to take things down a notch, however, like Samsonite Blacklabel and Stephen Fairchild, who have chosen to stage intimate presentations instead of full scale shows this season.

Milano Moda Donna starts Monday February 24 and runs through Tuesday, March 4.