Saturday, February 25, 2006

Milan Designers Woo Clients With Choices

Milan Designers Woo Clients With Choices: Italian designers have learned a new trick: Don‘t impose, offer. Next winter‘s fashion allows women to pick and choose at their convenience, from feminist to feminine, raunchy to romantic.

"What counts is to make women look and feel great," echoed Domenico Dolce.

"Enough of the cutie look. It‘s time women showed some fight," the designer said backstage after her show, referring to recent seasons of sugar-sweet femininity on Milan‘s fashion scene.

Dean and Dan Caten, the hip Canadian twins who showed their D-Squared offerings Friday, combined sport and sex in a cheerful collection inspired by posh country living.

By night, their woman can choose to be demure in a pretty embroidered sheath adorned with strings of pearls. Or she can throw propriety to the wind in a pearl gray floor-length gown where silver chain shoulder straps meet a demure bow way below where a bare back is meant to end.