Marni a/w09 review - Milan finally starts to shine

In her latest collection for Marni, fur, pony skin, metallic wool check, floral silk, tapestry quilting, embroideries and rhinestones all came together in her unmistakable, multi layered, mix-and-match style. Beautiful bold neck pieces featured big gold flowers and chunky chains, these were jewels fit for Marni queens, and elbow length fur gloves looked luxuriously decadent.

An opulent almost oriental theme coloured Marni's signature sixties modish silhouettes: the skinny peg leg trousers and boxy jackets all in beautiful metallic woven plaids. Capes came in lurex knit and new dropped crotch trousers were sporty in thick jersey.

Detailing was intricate, sophisticated and indulgent- the carefully considered ruching and layering of seams, the paneled pieces - highlighted by crystal and rhinestone encrusted panels or contrasting colours.

Fur sleeved jackets - which have been a big hit all week - came in versatile designs that cleverly combined three jacket styles in one. What seemed like a fur sleeved blazer at the front, revealed itself as a trench coat in the back yolk, with a sportier, lower back panel in nylon that was hemmed with a drawstring. This idea of extreme versatility continued in wool jackets that featured a windcheater style top layer - unzipped and left hanging - as if tied around the model's waist. It was ideas like these that moved Marni into the new season with ease and were a breath of fresh air amongst a sea of eighties inspired tailoring elsewhere.

The Italian sun may have been replaced by an annoying hair frizzing drizzle yesterday - but it looks like Milan fashion week has finally begun to shine.

Click here to see the Marni catwalk video...

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By Melissa Dick

Posted 2nd March