MFW Day 2: Intersection of Nature and Woman at Anteprima

Somewhere in this dress is a kimono. Photos by Venturelli for Getty Images.

HOW to describe the Anteprima Fall 2013 collection ... Dowdy? Chic? Dowdy chic? That’s it, dowdy chic!

For Fall 2013, Anteprima designer Izumi Ogino believes women and nature are “so alike.” They are “tender, deep, mysterious, provoking. Full of beauty and joy, power and discovery …,” the poem in the program notes asserts.

Somehow, that brings the conversation around to the universe of things: color, fabric, patterns, lines, silhouettes – right down to shoes and gloves. Perfect, since a fashion collection embodies such universal considerations.

In nature, reds and tans have their place.

Did Anteprima have a universal triumph on Day 2 of Milan Fashion Week? Shape, silhouette and color drive the collection, though the color scheme skews mainly toward black and gray, despite talk of navy, khaki, olive, red and purple.

The black/gray tableau serves the collection well because the dresses and skirts that tend toward dowdiness are saved by the dark hue and occasionally by beading and fabric, usually wool.

Anteprima is a collection of very simple designs. The mind is constantly thinking and rethinking each piece or ensemble, trying to determine the depth and breadth storyline. In fact, some pieces are so simple that some minds might wonder where the design is. It is a fair observation. A gray, jewel-collared wool dress with half sleeves is shown with belt and gloves. Without these accessories, it is little more than a hospital gown with a hole through it for the head.

Not quite old-fashioned, thanks to beading and a slouched collar.

But another wool dress in dark gray that is belted with cinched waist and three-quarter sleeves is simply and superbly tailored; it is no doubt a variation on the kimono. The effect is simplistic chic. It is also timeless, as it much of the collection, as it IO’s aesthetic.

She has created a collection that undulates, expands, contracts and mystifies. It is very much like nature.

Visit http://www.cameramoda.it/en/ to learn more about Milan Fashion Week, including show information and videos, as well as  all shows streaming live. Rx