Milan Fashion Week Round-up: Let there be brights

Milan fashion week had more than a few surprises up its sleeve. At Prada, models toppled like drunks after a few pints too many at the pub as they tottered in sky-high platforms. In other news, Sasha Baron Cohen, the newly-minted comedian who struck gold with his hit faux-docu flick Borat, took to the runway like a renegade model, attired in what appeared to be castoffs from the Salvation Army. Was Borat pulling a Blue Steel? Not quite.

The funny man is apparently taking to his other alter ego, Bruno, a gay fashion-obsessed Austrian, with verve.

Cohen was apprehended by Milan’s immaculately-attired polizia and brought to the station, but not before there was a kerfuffle on the catwalk. One man in a suit attempted to grab Cohen as he made his turn before the photographer’s pit. Not since Giselle Bundchen’s runway episode with PETA fanatics (they accosted the Brazilian supermodel with signs declaring her an animal killer and fur lover on the runway) has fashion week seen such goings on. Of course last year’s PETA episode with Anna Wintour was hard to forget. While heading to a show at Paris fashion week, the unflappable Vogue editor was creamed in the face with a pie by a PETA member, who immediately scurried away but not before tossing out a few epithets about Wintour’s fur-wearing ways.

But the catwalks weren’t about protests or even equilibrium-challenged models but a marked return to a determined optimism. Not quite like the ladylike florals of last season with its pretty sedate flora and fauna prints. Instead this mad mix, with many taking their cue from last season’s Dries van Noten, was made up of spunky, bold foliage. Imagine a verdant garden on an acid trip — with some von Trapp family prints thrown in.

Blumarine boasted electric florals, with a healthy helping of neon yellows and greens juxtaposed against crawling wisteria with blooms in an electric blue. At Roberto Cavalli, maxi dresses took on an African turn with eclectic geometric prints in sheer material mingling with kaleidoscopic zoomed-in views of vivid blooms. Gucci’s savoir faire was readily apparent in their travel-ready suits with cropped pants in bright hues.

Not every collection took on the hyper-realistic approach to botanical prints, whether it was Gianfranco Ferre’s sculptural pieces or Burberry Prorsum’s muted, achromatic collection.

But there was no doubt that Milan’s shows were rife with controversy and a dash of color.