Surprise ! The 2000’s are back again. Two seasons since Milan gave pride of place to this decade, all in low waists, cargo pants and crop tops… With amazing consistency, the Italian fashion capital continued its work of reminiscence during this spring fashion week. -summer 2023, which took place from September. 20 to 26.
It started with Diesel, a brand founded in 1978 in Veneto but really taking off internationally in the 2000s. Glenn Martens, the 2020 appointed artistic director, saw things in a big way: 4,800 guests at the Allianz Cloud Arena, including 1,600 fashion students. In the center of the space, the largest inflatable sculpture ever made (already a Guinness World Record), depicting entangled naked bodies. Around him, models in jeans, since it is the specialty of the house. The denim is laced, embroidered, washed, decorated, and serves as a canvas for a sexy-trash look reminiscent of the all-over denim looks worn by Britney Spears in 2001.
Fendi, the crazy logo
For Fendi, Kim Jones went straight to the brand’s archives, between 1996 and 2003: “I am interested in immersing myself in the work of Karl [Lagerfeld, directeur artistique de la maison romaine de 1965 à 2019] and look at how we can deepen it, from a visual and technical point of view », explains the English designer. The 2022 millennium version is a mix of a minimalism inherited from the 1990s and the pop sensuality that dominated the following decade. Thus, on the one hand, we find wonderfully sober pearl gray cashmere sweaters, cream-colored knitted dresses that wrap perfectly around the body; on the other, fuchsia satin cargo pants, openwork dresses that reveal the skin.
In this flashback that goes back twenty-five years, we also find the Kim Jones touch, through nods to Japan (a floral print or a flat kimono-style knot), highly constructed outfits based on patchwork of materials, and an incessant play of the logo. The “double F” acts as a button closure on pants or jacket pockets, it’s also printed on the platform soles of shoes, Fendi is written in full on the leather of a crescent-shaped bag or on the lining (apparent) of a sweater. After all, the madness of the logo is also what characterizes the 2000.
at[person]’s house Andreadamo, here’s the gelled spiky hair, low-waisted cargo pants, and even shorts we thought were buried. That nostalgia of a designer in his thirties for his adolescence does not prevent him from presenting a very successful collection. In a small cobblestone plaza with shallow pools, models splashed their wedge sandals at guests in the front row. Water is the central element this season, inspired by Famara beach in the Canary Islands, a strip of sand and volcanic boulders facing the Atlantic. Surf culture shines with tight-fitting fishnet suits and bright colors. The movement of the waves is suggested by the work on the frayed, torn, unfinished fabric, with long threads that undulate around the body. Very beautiful knit pieces, which should retain their clientele of influential stars like Dua Lipa or Julia Fox.
Paris Hilton in Barbie at Versace
For MM6, Maison Margiela’s second line, the studio didn’t look to the abundant archives of the brand, which, in the 2000s, was still run by its brilliant founder, Martin Margiela, for inspiration. But we find in the clothing experiments loved by the house some small touches of the time: battered/faded/ripped jeans, low waist, visible lingerie. The group, presented in an auditorium where the guests are installed on the stage and the musicians in the seats, is not lacking in poetry.
Poetry is out of the question at Blumarine, where designer Nicola Brognano imagines a “gothic mermaid” that looks like something out of a vintage Christina Aguilera music video Dirty (2002). This amazing creature wears flared craspec pants, goggle sunglasses, rhinestone logo t-shirts, low waist to show low pubic hair, micro pigtails and glitter in her hair.
at[person]’s house versace, house that knew the heyday of the 2000s, Donatella Versace also drew on the goth side of this period, offering black lace babydolls, leather miniskirts, purple latex jumpsuits, cargo pants and oversized boots. Chokers, platform shoes, low-rise pants and zebra prints complete the range. Show highlight: American heiress Paris Hilton, a key figure of the 2000s, closed the show, dressed as Barbie in a pink, beaded minidress.
Way of Thinking, a series of great interviews with creators