By Marcellous L. Jones


January 23, 2009


Milan, Italy - Gaetano Navarra opened his show with tweed ensembles that went on to dominate the collection. The pants are cut so that they are not only tight around the calves, but they equally baggy around the crouch and the seat of the pants.

Navarra has crafted a collection that is replete with bi-coloured pants, tweeds, leggings, heavily knit sweaters. He has also created a collegiate feel with his smart little bow ties, jackets, blousons. He seizes our attention with his winter forest green ensembles composed of suits, leather pants and jackets.

The most compelling pieces in this youthful and stylish collection are his suites and other individual pieces done in a pleated, armour-like technique. One would easily get the impression that these pieces resemble animal skins. This technique is more associated to women’s wear but, Navarra has managed to pull this off in a way that makes the collection look extremely masculine.

The designer shows that he does have quite a bit of humour as we see knitted pants that remind of the pyjama sets worn by the JJ character in the hit 1970’s series Good Times. They somehow made me want to yell out “DYN O-MITE!”

The shoes that he is proposing take us into the direction of more extreme looking pointed toes which have been capped off with silver metal tips. The shoes appear in a variety of colours including an iridescent aubergine.