The Catwalk and Italian Designers Setting The Trends on The Runways at Milan Fashion Week

In Milan, there was a kind of study in opposites. Bottega Veneta’s (ultrachic) casual walk in the park versus Gucci’s stomp in a vaguely futuristic cityscape.

First, Bottega Veneta. As the Lord of Low-Key Luxe, Tomas Maier has never gone ridiculously Ricci-esque in his footwear. But we take these gently crafty wedges and nearly horizontal platforms as further evidence that we might not be using words like “sick” and “killer” to talk about shoes all that much in seasons to come. (See Exhibit A: Marc Jacobs Spring 2010.) Our own Sarah Mower praised their “sophisticated take on country-peasant craftsmanship.” Hear, hear.

An espadrille might work for the Gucci girl when she’s in hippie mode, but she most certainly wasn’t yesterday. For Spring’s modern motorcycle mama, Frida Giannini did killer—no other word for it— platform sandals, either race-car sleek or with little sporty embellishments. And for the girl who considers herself a latter-day Barbarella: a strap-happy, knee-high sandal boot.

—Meenal Mistry