MILAN, Feb 20, 2007/ FW/ --- Looking east this season, Enrico Coveri aptly entitled his collection ‘Orient-Excess’ wherein he proposed new uses for silk and reworked 1980s silhouettes to fit within the code of the oriental costume.

Unveiling his Fall 2007 / Winter 2008 collection to a full capacity crowd at the Milano Fashion Center, the opening exit is a delightful aqua colored trench coat with bamboo buttons that was slightly gathered at the waist with a wide belt closed with a golden buckle, a new hardware being introduced by Coveri this season.

In fact, this buckle turned out to be one of the threads that bind the collection, as it was also seen in corset belts worn with cigarette pants and the dirndl skirts that were sometimes rolled at the hem to create volume.

Still, it was the non-traditional references to the Orient that made this collection remarkable. The ‘sushi print’, a stylized vision of the popular Japanese food was silk-screened on a variety of fabric.

From afar, it looked like a lace overlay and seemingly a couture element added. It’s only upon closer inspection that it was revealed that it was a print.

The term ‘Chinese screen’ also took a different meaning when Enrico Coveri used aqua and black as background for original artistic drawings of tropical flowers – anthurium, lily and magnolia to common garden insects like the beetle.

And of course, this will not be an Enrico Coveri show without the requisite sexiness. Translucent black bustier tops were worn under metallic snug fitting jackets, hip-hugging minis were paired with Chinese chino-inspired jackets and an all-beaded / sequined top in black and pink featured with a wide deep V neckline.

Enrico Coveri

Enrico Coveri

Enrico Coveri

Enrico Coveri