Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Milan, Oct 1, 2001/ FWD/ --- With a flea-market background complete with a dressing table and a gelato stand and a front row that included fellow bad boy of design, Alessandro Dell’Acqua, Antonio Berardi opened his Spring 2002 show with, quite literally, a bang -- Erin Wasson busting out of an armoire to strut down the runway in a pair of revealing lace pants that take a hell of a body and a whole lot of moxie to wear.

One part carnivalesque, two parts courtesan, the looks Berardi sent out were geared for a wildly sexy, rough and tumble kind of girl. Standout looks included a host of shredded rock’n’roll frocks, festooned with ruffles and flowers and ribbons (oh my?!) which flounced and fluttered and fell all over the body, corseted jackets, some with the sleeves cut away, slim pieces in perforated white leather, and bondage-style suits with pants that strapped up the side.

Adding to all the showmanship were milliner Stephen Jones’s miniature top-hats, cocked askew, and masterful shoes from Vicini for Berardi, the most notable being stiletto boot-like shoes that wound seductively up the leg with wide straps.

And, as a designer drawn to the theatrics of fashion, Berardi would not have finished without a finale of sorts. This time around, it was a series of sequined flapper dresses that shimmied down the runway to the delight of the already overly stimulated audience.

But, on the whole, it was the razor-sharp tailoring of a few shaped and strong-shouldered courtly jackets that proved Berardi to be a true talent and not merely a creative kid with scissors and Krazy glue.

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi

Antonio Berardi