--TOD'S--Tod's inaugural runway show during Milan Fashion Week was clean and classic.
Alessandra Facchinetti's first collection for Tod's, after stints at MiuMiu, Gucci and Valentino, drew heavily on the fashion house's built-in mastery of leatherwork, but the collection stood on its own and was not merely an extension of the footwear and must-have bags that have made the label an Italian fashion leader.
The looks, which previewed Friday on the third day of Milan Fashion Week, included staples for any woman's closet: voluminous A-line and straight pencil skirts, crisp cotton shirts with oversized collars and long tails, and the classic women's double-breasted suit, with trousers or loose cropped pants.
Facchinetti accessed a retro vibe as evidenced by the mod leather capes and jackets in bold blocks of color -- rust, ochre and white -- that the show notes said were inspired by 1950s ceramics.
And she put her signature on the collection with laser cut patterns on voluminous A-line leather skirts, paired with fresh button-down cotton shirt and pulled together by wrap around fringed-belt that projected the confidence of someone who can face frontiers alone. The designer also inverted emphasis, pairing a feminine white eyelet cotton blouse with a bold color block pencil skirt.
