Moncler Gamme Rouge: Desert sand

How many shows has Giambattista Valli produced this season? Four! Two in Milan and two in Paris – if you count the Moncler Gamme Rouge collection today, the last day of the French fashion season.

And the wonder of his output is that it never looks staid or dull. Roll out the rocky scenery! Set up the video of blue sky and undulating hillocks! Take Moncler’s symbolic red, white, and blue stripes – and off we go.

Valli’s shows do not fall far from the tree. The designer might have presented a similar show before of a Swiss Miss in Heidi country – but that didn’t matter. There were all sorts of new fabric effects, especially a silvered on a cape with red embroidery on its back. The touch of silver ran through from flat sandals to metallic leather shorts or even sparkles on a lace flowered coat.

The designer always has something to add to the brisk, sporty clothes. This time it was drawings, executed with a fine nib to create the effect of Piero Fornasetti’s meticulous handwork. There is nothing complicated about the Moncler vision, but Valli always has a story to tell. This time I read it as the French Foreign Legion crossing the desert. The clothes, with their small, neat shapes, definitely had a French vibe. But whatever was in the designer’s mind, he presented it with panache.
Miu Miu: The life aquatic

Miu Miu – or rather the show’s models – seemed to be having a bad hair day, from the first not-quite-beach outfit in black decorated with cross-stitch.

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Old fashioned swimming caps, decorated with rubber flowers were on offer, while some of the other headgear had a sci-fi look or might even have been a digital device. But mostly they just seemed like accessories to brighten up tailored outfits – add a scarf with graphic leaves or a coat covered in a similar print, and there was Miu Miu’s summer look.

The show seemed slight as well as light – but then came colours to match the bold blocks painted on walls and floor. The dresses or trouser suits in geometric patterns gave a burst of summer in their green and turquoise, orange, brown, and pink, or checkered patterns showing hazily through nylon. So what was the conclusion about the swimming caps? Just a decorative flourish to brighten up the show.