veers off into the history

Art girl gang treatise. There always is with Prada. But that won’t be the takeaway come February when we start seeing these clothes across Instagram and beyond. Of course, Versace has always catered to the “look at me” types. The brand has never made clothes for wallflowers. For spring, Donatella Versace took her label on an imaginary world tour. From last season’s punk to stadium rock, she looked back to her head-banging days at Gun N’ Roses concerts. There’s little subtext here but there’s a lot Miu Miu outletto look at with that same Insta-desire, particularly the chain-mail sleeved rock tees, the Medusa-ridden harnesses, and the raffia woven denim pieces.

Here the story veers off into the history  f “wax,” vibrant cotton prints worn across West Africa. Their original roots lie in Java, however, in the batik the Dutch transported, first back home, then to the Netherland Antilles in the Caribbean and thence to Africa with Helmond, Holland-based textile giant Vlisco, the dominant wax trader from 1846 to this day. Miu Miu handbag“We think wax comes from West Africa. The slaves sent to the Caribbean islands came from West Africa. Yet wax is European, like me. No one ever believes I am Italian, but I am,” says Stella Jean. Having witnessed her sophisticated global mash-up in a group show in Rome, last July, Suzy Menkes became an ardent champion of Stella Jean. And rumour has it that it was she who whispered in Armani’s right ear as Vogue Italia’s Franca Sozzani was whispering the same name in his left. Whatever the facts, the designer herself had no clue.

 “I was on the expressway when a miu miu bags salefriend called and told me to pull over. Then I was screaming, ‘Is it for real?’Breaking Bad star Anna Gunn, nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama, graced the scene in a strapless Romona Keveza gown, Irene Neuwirth jewelry, Jimmy Choo heels and a Kotur bag.” Calmer now, she describes Armani’s offer as “a giant giving a hand to a new name. It’s not just for me. It is a symbolic act that gives hope to my generation.” Much was made in New York over show settings (the box at Prabal Gurung, the burned-out beach at Marc Jacobs) that seemed tailor made to be “Insta-bait.” In Milan designers seem to be asking, why not bait consumers wit