BEAUTY: Clothing--MP Massimo Piombo

Massimo Piombo's eponymous label, MP Massimo Piombo, continued a theme that we have seen for several seasons now...that of the eccentric traveler (previously here and here), a Westerner who has reverentially adopted his surroundings whether that might be an Indian kurta or a Peruvian blanket. His '19-'20 FW collection presented in a lookbook for Milano Moda Uomo featured a character who seemed like a wandering sadhu or some kind of hermit-holy man, alone in the forest wearing plaid blanket skirts, luscious overcoats, and extravagant retro-printed scarves. But this is one lucky hermit because his wardrobe consists of coats created from alpaca, mohair, and cashmere blends from Hungary or from Austrian wool. It's a lovely idea, being able to travel and to immerse oneself in other cultures, to take them into oneself instead of simply skimming the surface like a tourist..to go deeper into ways other than what we know of in the West. In fact, it's probably the fault of the floppy hat, but I can't help but flash on Jodorowsky's character in his film "The Holy Mountain" (previously here)...

https://www.mpmassimopiombo.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--MP Massimo Piombo

Moving on to our next stop for fashion season: Italy for Milano Moda Uomo.

When I last featured the work of designer Massimo Piombo here, the collection's silhouette was a mash up of Indian kurtas with Western blazers and jackets. And for his SS '19 collection at Milano Moda Uomo, he headed off in the same direction. An inveterate global traveler with a love for the exotic, Piombo set up a mustachioed, cowboy-adjacent character wearing black leather engineer boots in loose kurtas block-printed with Indian florals, or wearing and holding pashminas. It's kind of what summer is all about, really: vacationing in exotic locales and soaking up the beauty of another culture. I love the kurtas, and if a man in a horseshoe belt and motorcycle boots wants to wear one, more power to him!

http://mpmassimopiombo.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Milano Moda Uomo, SS '17

Before we move on to Paris, here is a wrap up of some miscellaneous details from the Spring Summer '17 Milano Moda Uomo shows.

MP Massimo Piombo took his lookbook to the Indian Subcontinent as did many designers so far including Alexander McQueen (here), Craig Green (here), Casely-Hayford (here), and Astrid Anderson (here). Piombo's color choices on his kurta tops conjure images of India.

Bottega Veneta showed a lookbook with some gorgeous, extremely full trousers out of a nylon-ish material (or perhaps waxed cotton?) that made me recall a garment I have been obsessed with since 1978: the enormous, olive green, very high-waisted plastic trousers cinched with a wide belt David Bowie wore on his Isolar II-Low/Heroes-Stage World Tour. Oh, I have coveted those trousers for nearly 40 years now...

Now on to shoes:

Dolce and Gabbana's collection, while fun, well-done, and full of the usual staggering variations on a theme, did not thrill me. But the shoes are another matter. The motif for their SS '17 collection was a 1950s jazz night club in Palermo (they have to get that Italian angle in there, bless them, and I can't blame them...I'm Italian too...) and the loafers, lace ups, and sneakers came in metallic, sequins, and animal prints. I'll take one of each , please...

Les Hommes showed a beautiful studded Roman sandal in black and white leather. They are simply cool, that's all...

http://mpmassimopiombo.com/
http://www.bottegaveneta.com/
http://www.dolcegabbana.com/
http://www.bottegaveneta.com/