Stapled dresses and lace: old meets new in Milan

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

MILAN (AFP) — Salvatore Ferragamo's winter range for women showcased funky dresses and coats held together by staples while others went for profusions of frothy lace lining blouses, jackets and skirts.

The venerable Italian house of Ferragamo, founded more than 80 years ago, threw out cunningly stapled trenches, cocktail dresses, and gowns evoking Gianni Versace's landmark safety pin gown famously worn by British actress Liz Hurley.

Other Ferragamo twists ranged from a gold and black shirt mimicking chain-mail to a backless top with a plunging neckline strung by spidery straps, and faux snake blouses with deep slits from the collarbone to the navel.

Bolero jackets had diaphanous but effortlessly falling folds on the back and sides, and coat lapels were...