FASHION Magazine

The highly anticipated verdict is in for the Dolce & Gabbana case tax evasion case. After a three hour jury meeting held today the judgment has been finally delivered, guilty. Ouch. Much speculation is being raised over the consequences that the decision will have on the designers’ Spring 2014 fashion show during Milan Fashion Week. Orange suits on the runway?

The Italian designers were charged with tax evasion and sentenced one year and eight months in prison, WWD reports. Dominico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana, who have fervently denied the accusations since the beginning, are expected to appeal the decision. Today’s ruling is the first of three legal proceedings, which will determine the final verdict of for case. Whether jail time is actually in the works for the designers and the members of their team is therefore yet to be determined.

Rumours have been circulating for months that Dolce & Gabbana’s D&G line would soon be folding, and the announcement came this morning that now is the time, making today’s Spring 2012 runway show the last.

D&G was created as a sort of younger, fresher, and cheaper alternative to the traditional line, but lately retailers have noticed that while the pieces are popular, the prices were getting too high. Having a roughly similar price point was hurting both brands, so while this decision isn’t a surprise, neither is it a huge disappointment. While some European retailers are confused by the decision, claiming that the D&G line was far more commercial and popular for shoppers, the designers said in a press statement that the decision will bring “even more strength and energy to [their] collections.”

“Teal is the new neutral,” declares Holt Renfrew‘s fashion director, Barbara Atkin, outside the Max Mara show, pointing to her gorgeous new Givenchy bag. And she’s right. It’s my second day in Milan and I’ve already seen nothing but blue-sky bags cropping up all over town and scattered throughout the front row. Did everyone get the same memo?

Inside the tent, there was a different sort of blue—a pastel (think Ladurée macaroon) aqua that’s been spotted throughout the spring collections. Max Mara mixed it with delicate shades of sand and ivory in a sporty, minimal collection highlighted by racer-back, colour-block dresses, athletic-inspired knee-length leggings (move over Lululemon) and trim little ¾-sleeve, blouson baseball jackets.

Jane Birkin is auctioning one of her namesake Hermès bags for Red Cross relief in Japan. [Telegraph]

By Gillian Pryor

Celebrity stylist and designer Rachel Zoe and husband Rodger Berman welcome their first son this morning, Skyler Morrison Berman. Congrats to the new family! [People]

I was mesmerized by the soundtrack at Fendi yesterday—James Blake’s “Limit to Your Love”—and the collection in turn was just as beautiful as the music.
 There was a relaxed, easy feeling and a whiff of the English countryside to the felted wool swingy coats, cropped pants, tweedy knit sweat pants, luxe shearlings and furs.
 Karl Lagerfeld previewed a parade of colour and texture with subtle, sophisticated tones in structured top handle bags and in ribbed wooly tights that contrasted beautifully with block heel mary-janes. Shearlings were turned inside out and trimmed with croc. Melton and felted wool in khakis, ochres, and purples made for some boxy, simple leather trimmed totes and even a ruffle turned up in wool as a detachable jabot on blouses and dresses. Easy, rich and relaxed: just the way I’d like to feel and I’m guessing I’m not the only one.