MILAN, Italy — No one at the Fendi show was surprised when a few of the models skipped down the runway carrying teddy bears.
They are the perfect accessory for the little-girl clothes that have saturated not just the Fendi line, but just about every spring ready-to-wear collection in Milan.
The new Italian clothes are bouncy, flouncy and very, very short. A woman who wears them - with spiked heels, no less - should be arrested for impersonating a minor.
There is nothing wrong with young clothes; it's the too-young clothes that are the troublemakers.
Even the models, who could wear tar and feathers and look terrific, seemed self-conscious parading around in outfits more appropriate for the sandbox than the executive suite in shows Monday.
"I have seen some wonderful clothes, except that they are perfect for my 12-year-old granddaughter," said Ruth Rabb, the wife of the American ambassador to Italy, Maxwell Rabb.
So far, the Byblos design team of Keith Varty and Alan Cleaver has been among the few to carry off the "bambino look," making it both grown-up and charming.
Byblos has always been synonymous with young, whimsical clothes, which is perhaps why the designers are so successful. They know where to draw the line between looking young and looking foolish.
The cheery, upbeat show was divided into a series of tableaux. The opening was a takeoff on the Ascot scene in My Fair Lady, with models parading down the runway in huge garden-party hats, lace gloves and parasols to incongruously accessorize simple denim dresses and puffed-sleeve jackets.
The models, with their upswept curls pinned with ribbons and flowers, looked adorable.
The collection falls into two groups: wildly colorful peasant dresses that are part Christian Lacroix and part calypso, and softly tailored ensembles, such as a pastel silk blazer (with natural, unpadded shoulders) worn with walking shorts.
Pale, watercolor organdy dresses pinned with silk corsages; delicate, lingerie-style dresses, and creamy linen suits embroidered with satin ribbons were among the enchanting evening fare.
Think of the clothes in A Room With a View but in a more modern, '80s option, and you've got the idea.
The Mario Valentino collection, a tour de force in leather and suede, had a similar romantic pastel look.
Pale peach or lilac suede seven-eighths coats fluttered over long, loose leather pants or the ubiquitous mini.
