A Little Old, A Little New

Some call it fashion, others may call it the theater of the absurd. Last week in Milan a couple of unassuming goats shared a runway with a farmhand and some models. The occasion was the 20th anniversary of the house of Dolce & Gabbana, which was held at the designers' slick new space in the old Metropol theater where Maria Callas famously recorded her interpretation of Norma. Guests including actresses Elizabeth Hurley and Chloë Sevigny watched a movie documenting two decades of D&G's sexy, streamlined signatures before the models stomped out in fresh white eyelet bustier dresses and romantic ballgowns strewn with flowers — all against a backdrop of hay bales and, of course, two goats and a farmhand.

Quite why the two designers, known among fashion folk as "the boys," decided to celebrate their longevity with this rollicking romp in the hay wasn't clear. But the lavish event also highlighted the fact that Dolce & Gabbana, once fresh from the farm themselves, have ripened into internationally respected designers with sales of $885 million in 2004 and an instantly recognizable, singular vision.

The duo, along with other big names such as Armani and Versace, have long dominated the business, but the spring-summer 2006 collections also showcased new talent that has managed to grow in their deep shadow. All eyes last week were on newcomers like Frida Giannini, 33, who presented her first full collection at Gucci after being promoted in March from accessories designer to creative director of women's wear, and Christopher Bailey, who had one of his best Burberry collections since teaming up with ceo Rose Marie Bravo in 2001 to inject new life into the revered British brand.

Giannini's show, if not a full-scale palace revolution, proved at the very least seditious. There was no sign of the sexed-up Gucci girl that Tom Ford, the brand's imagemaker until two years ago, so famously unveiled in the mid-'90s. His successor has replaced the strutting vamp with an ingénue who saunters diffidently down the runway in a shrunken black pantsuit or a flirty 1940s floral print dress.

Yet the ingénue carries one accessory still redolent of the Ford era: the handbags. There were top-handled purses in crocodile with bamboo toggles, a leitmotiv of the house, and tiny clutches with gold logos. And even a fashion ingénue — whether the new Gucci girl or the designer that dispatched her down the runways — knows that handbags are money-spinners. Giannini herself has already proved that at Gucci, where accessories sales were up 33-34% for the first half of this year.

Over at Burberry, Bailey banished the look that has dominated fashion for several seasons. Gone were the flounces and brooches and offbeat appliqués. Instead, Bailey streamlined the silhouette with swingy short trench coats and dabbled with a soft '60s-style color palette of faded teal and mustard, inspired by unlikely fashion icons — the British royals, as depicted in period portraits. The Windsor influence didn't show up elsewhere, but the pared-down styles did. At Fendi, Karl Lagerfeld sent out crisp white eyelet skirts and polka-dot blouses as a backdrop to Silvia Venturini Fendi's standout handbags — now in funky combinations of straw, plastic, canvas and patent leather.

At Bottega Veneta, designer Tomas Maier paired sterling silver–ornamented velvet handbags with simple dresses in dusty shades of khaki and stone.And Miuccia Prada made a strong case for the new simplicity with her plain-Jane, drop-waisted dresses in a palette of chalk, gray and blush pink. Her models walked the runway in patent-leather platform shoes, clutching huge handbags or dragging the ultimate luxury accessory behind them: a magenta suitcase in opalescent crocodile. A sure sign that fashion is once again taking flight in a new direction.