At Milan Fashion Week, the Kardashians and Low-Rise Jeans

Balancing that “real-life” flow and consistent, calming luxury is a buzzword in the multibillion-dollar fashion industry, and even more so in an old-school city like Milan. In the year It’s a theme that has permeated ready-to-wear collections in the Italian capital for the spring of 2023, all against the backdrop of the country’s contentious general election and ongoing fears of a global recession.

Classic houses, very few of which were still under the creative direction of their original founders, looked to new designers, “curators”, marketing plans, brands and audiences to make themselves more relevant. All without alienating the traditional customer – the one in the cardigan and the practical pumps walking her little dog through Monte Napoleon.

Kim Kardashian cozies up to Dolce & Gabbana

Unlike sharks and pilot fish that brush their teeth, the Kardashian family and designer Dolce & Gabbana have formed a symbiotic relationship that benefits everyone. This summer, Kourtney Kardashian married Travis Barker in a stunning wedding hosted by Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce in Portifino, Italy. Almost all attendees wore Dolce & Gabbana, including Kourtney’s mom Kris Kardashian and sisters Kim, Khloe, Kendall and Kylie. The brand did not change any money at the time. It may not have been an officially sponsored wedding, but it certainly raised the family’s profile, which needed no encouragement, as well as its decadent design duo.

During the wedding trip, Kim Kardashian asked to see the records of the house. In a press release, Mr. Gabbana said he was surprised, because “we’re not looking back.” Mr. Dolls suggested that the three work together on a collection led by archive pieces. The result was a collection of Kim-produced recordings from the years 1987-2007. In the 90s pieces, with a heavy emphasis on black and beige, very few of Dolce & Gabbana’s prints were represented (“She killed me!” joked Mr. Dolce. Ms. Kardashian, who grew up with dogs named Dolce and Gabbana, was struck by the relevance of the first pieces. “After all these years , that’s what we’re wearing today,” she said.

The backdrop of the runway show was a giant black-and-white film of Ms. Kardashian whipping up a plate of pasta. Some showgoers wondered if the brand would evoke a much-publicized misstep in 2018, when a deafening video of a Chinese model struggling to eat Italian food with chopsticks was released at the show in Shanghai. Mr. Dolce and Mr. Gabbana canceled the show and apologized.

New blood in classic houses

Swiss brand Bali and Italian stalwart Ferragamo haven’t been particularly hot tickets in recent years. Bali hasn’t even staged a runway show in years. But the arrival of two newcomer creative directors—Rhuigi Villaseñor at Bali and Maximilian Davies at Ferragamo—sparked excitement at both brands.

Mr. Villaseñor is a mini-mogul on his way to becoming a household name. After moving with his family from Manila, Philippines to Los Angeles as a child, he went on to launch the brand Rhude in 2015, which he says will reach $30 million in sales by 2021. A sleek mix of Tom Ford-era Gucci and Capri casual. Men’s clothing and fisherman’s shoes were particularly strong. Female models stumbling on very high heels can easily be seen if they borrow men’s shoes.

British designer Maximilian Davis of Trinidadian-Jamaican descent presented his first clean and graphic collection for historic brand Ferragamo last week. After a stint at arty and quirky brand Wells Bonner, Mr Davies launched his own line Maximilian in 2020. Mr Davies, 27, said he felt nervous after hugging guests including Naomi Campbell. But he was grinning from ear to ear.

The low-high pant continues to rise and fall

Although the low-rise pant has been one of the most contested fashion trends of the past few years, it shows no sign of going away anytime soon. Along with other Y2K trends, crop tops and mini-skirts, hip bone-revealing jeans and cargo pants were seen at many Milan shows.

Low-rises on the runway, from Gucci pants to Etro jeans. Daniel Venturelli / Pietro D’Aprano / Getty Images

By Etro Marco de Vicenzo (another newly installed designer) he showed low and slouchy jeans. Some Gucci pants are so low they expose underwear. There were also low-cut baggy jeans with a thong showing on the back of the skirt. How low can we go and for how long?

Bottega Veneta Arti went and won the week

For his second collection as Bottega Veneta’s creative director, Mathieu Blazey hit the ground running with a fun bag of interesting clothes and more interesting ideas. If some of the models looked like they walked in from different shows – was the jeans-wearing groovy Kate Moss in jeans and flannel tights with the models, or were they in gorgeous floral dresses? That was the point. After the show, the Belgian designer was meant to be a collection of characters, all of them different. But the clothes were of an equally impressive level of craftsmanship: Ms. Moss’s deceptively simple jeans and flannels were made from delicate nubuck leather, for example.

The Bottega Veneta show took place on a colorful resin floor designed by Gaetano Pesce. Courtesy of Bottega Veneta

“You have to find new people to get new energy to increase the volume,” Mr. Blazzi said, and this time that energy came from the 82-year-old Italian architect, designer and artist Gaetano Pesce. They first met on Zoom and were soon consulting in person over “five to six bottles of wine.” For the show, Mr. Pace designed a colorful resin sculptural floor and 400 chairs made of cotton canvas in resin, which will be sold at Design Miami this December. In a talk the day after the show, the two men broke down the idea of ​​craft, diversity and uniqueness.

Mr. Pesce, the free spirit who made all the strict fashion people laugh, embraced the power of creativity. He said that we should not repeat the past. Because repetition is so stupid.

Write to Rory Satran at rory.satran@wsj.com