Statement baubles on Bette Franke at Gucci Spring 2013. All photos by ImaxTree.com

The international fashion press descended on Milan yesterday to discover drizzly skies and traffic moving in a slow crawl to the city centre. “Milan is crazy in the rain,” explained my cab driver, twisting around and using her hands to indicate maximum madness. We slid ahead and then behind other cars, the smudged windows offering glimpses of distinct fashion person iconography—outré Prada sunglasses and pouty mouths slicked with M.A.C’s Russian Red complaining into iPhones. But soon, the sky cleared—helped in part, perhaps, by the promise of the first show on the calendar:
Gucci.
Major. So major in fact that they held two shows to accommodate everyone. Denis Desro, ELLE Quebec’s editor-in-chief (fashion), and I were in the 3 p.m. group, so we stopped for a drink nearby and watched the fashion parade begin. "And so it begins," I thought, as someone said the exact same thing behind me in French, and doubtless 87 other people hashtagged it. There was Emmanuelle Alt, Franca Sozzani of
Vogue Italia, and Charlotte Casiraghi—star of Gucci’s Forever Now campaign—looking very ’70s Marisa Berenson-ish in a denim pantsuit and gold hoop earrings. Bryan Boy swanned past us. Was that Jefferson Hack, of
Dazed and Confused and a former Mr. Kate Moss?
Si. We presented our invites and were swept inside where waiters in tailcoats served flutes of Perrier Jouet. Then into the show!
Read more of Laura’s MFW diary and see pics from Gucci and Alberta Ferretti…
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