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MILAN, Italy — Many came away from Alessandro Michele's Gucci show this season proclaiming it 'as theatrical as ever,' in part due to the fantastically seductive clothes, in part due to the shimmying pink mirror set-design sectioned off by glittering curtains of tinsel. Those that tripped over to the City Palace in Milan later the same day for Philipp Plein's seasonal extravaganza spoke of theatre with less reverence — just as he would have hoped for the one-night-only 'Alice in Ghettoland' set he dreamed up.
Lighter and brighter than his previous efforts, it featured a full-size carnival-style carousel surrounded by topless bodybuilders washing vintage cars and kindergarten-age pageant princesses wandering across AstroTurf flaunting his kids line.
Fergie, the singer of Black Eyed Peas fame, was the first of Plein’s pop celebrity situations of the evening; her shrill vocal stylings prefaced the walk of Brazilian supermodel Izabel Goulart in knee-high denim gladiator stilettos with a matching mini-romper strewn with gold chains. The second surprise was Paris Hilton, who rocked look 55 with relish — looking perfectly at home in the designer’s floor-length black gown split high up both legs. Later she joined her model cohorts on the moving carrousel as the rapper Fat Joe closed the show (and effectively opened the #PleinParty after) on the back of a Cadillac.
Amongst all the noise that Plein generates the clothes play second fiddle, but that's not to say they aren't noisy too. Spring/Summer 2017's effort layered high-low clichés galore in a messy pastiche of quilted denim and leather, chains, strass, and animalia jacquards. With plenty of taut skin on show and an unapologetic nod to the irony of 1980s Chanel and the flamboyant stylings of Olivier Rousteing's Balmain, the Plein collection ticked boxes left, right and centre for his embellished accessories, t-shirts and outerwear business.
There is no doubt that his global clientele will continue to fall for the hedonistic abandon he embodies, as neither claims to reach for the heights of elegance nor the avant-garde. The only difference is that next season they’ll be whooping it up with Plein across the Atlantic: the designer announced he’ll be showing in New York as of February 2017.
