LA Fashion Week Spring '07: Italian Trade Commission
Italy’s deep design resources were well represented during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Smashbox Studios in Culver City, Calif., on Oct. 17, when the Italian Trade Commission bowed two collections featuring the works of Lidia Cardinale and Grimaldi Giardina.
The designers have showed extensively throughout Europe, but both chose the Smashbox Studios stage for their U.S. debuts.
Cardinale showed her representative couture dresses and precirc;t-a-porter styles featuring chiffon halters and gowns, stretch jackets and wrap tops.
Like her southern Italy contemporaries, the designer presented some classic silhouettes with lots of couturier handwork found on sequin inlays and very intricate embroidered lace details.
Cardinale also presented some interesting color motifs, which were seen on aqua and ocean tints on flowing dresses to more rich earth tones and greenery as seen on olive chiffon halters.
Joining Cardinale was Grimaldi Giardina, a collection designed by Antonio Grimaldi and Sylvio Giardina, also from southern Italy. The collection also incorporated a couturier’s footprint with unique constructions such as the opening set, which featured an ivory top constructed with woven strips of organza. The designers also used a lot of gathering and tucking along the waistlines and sleeves to create a more tailored look on black organiza dresses, pink tulle dresses and gold silk embroidered gowns. —Robert McAllister
