[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYKESdOCTqU[/youtube]

This week has been majorly cut short due to a couple national and city holidays taking place in Italy today and tomorrow.

I don’t want to, but unfortunately I’ll be mia this week, since I got the time off work also Friday, but I wanted to leave you with this super cool dancey remix of Lana del Rey’s Video Game track which I can’t stop listening to.

Coming up soon, I’ll be posting about my second personal shopper adventure which took place earlier this week, so stay tuned to find out more about my friend’s wardrobe transformation and where it’s headed.

Can you guess what’s in the bag?!

Yeap, Genny is back and she’s looking ravishing!

Some of you may remember this iconic fashion label from the 80′s, the period in which it assumed a leading role both in the national (Italy) and international fashion industries, as well as, being globally recognized for its rather strong design elements and high quality bespoke tailored garments.

After having passed through the hands of Gianni Versace, amongst several other top Italian and international fashion designers and after a long ‘pause’ of exactly 10 years, Genny made its comeback and yesterday it presented its Spring-Summer Collection 2012 during the Milan Women Fashion Week, under the art direction of Gabriele Colangelo.

To be honest, yesterday was my first close encounter with the brand ever.

My impression from what I saw on the runway is a collection characterized by its sobriety, distinct sophistication and minimalism.

I absolutely enjoyed the drapey, asymmetric feel of the open back dresses, the thin, feathery fringes coming out from the skirts and tops and the rather apparent golden zippers running vertically on some of the garments. I loved every single accessory the models carried; the thick leather belts with (again) the golden zipper detail, the Cleopatra-style chokers were fierce and so were the thick, animal hair cuff bracelets.

The notes of color in the collection: camel, royal blue and white, plus, add to that a tribal, geometric print which gave the collection a subtle African-ethnic feel to it.

Unfortunately, the only apparatus I had with me was my iPhone so as you can imagine the photos of the actual runway are of oh, such poor quality! (see sample below)….but I managed to fix that (I was not gonna give up that easily!) by chasing the models down to the ‘outdoor backstage’ with a stunning view of Milan’s Duomo and that’s where I was able to get some great outfit shots!

Models on the catwalk (poor quality pics, sorry)

Me following the models to the backstage

Model with the reflection of the Duomo on the glass window

The Genny model Trio

zipper belt and thin, feathery fringe details

open backs with leather straps and drapey details

the maxi suede shoulder bag

Model in a white jumpsuit

backstage photoshoot

ethnic print

view from the venue

Genny outfits from behind

the audience

the invite

The theme of Ennio Capasa’s CoSTUME NATIONAL Fall/Winter 2011 show in Paris was modern minimalist with a twist.

The garments featured clean-cuts, impeccable structure and his particular forte, innovation. One of the new techniques that was visible in some of his outerwear pieces was the thermo-welding of various fabrics as to create one single solid fabric which felt and looked pretty much like a wet suit with an addition of  subtle raw edges.

Raw-cuts, rubber outlined pockets, leather on fabric details, laser-cut pockets and color blocks gave everything a high-style, modish look.

The colors touched on this collection went from red and ivory to a sort of toned down sky blue and Kill Bill yellow, which I must confess I find slightly hard to work with. The skirts and dresses with geometric, mondrian-like design looked rather cool on the runway, combined with 100% silk long and short sleeved black bodies.

Here are some of the designer’s looks for the upcoming Fall/Winter season…

Paris Fashion Week…simply uffffffff.

Unfortunately, I had to work…boohoo…but even so, I couldn’t possibly leave my camera at home.

Here are some behind-the-scenes shots from the CoSTUME NATIONAL F/W 2011 show at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.