There are very few designers in Milan who show minimalist fashion. Not even the inventor of the genre - Giorgio Armani - seems particularly transfixed by the subject. That means that Ports 1961 creative director Fiona Cibani has a big playground in which she can parade her clean cut clothing. This season there was barely a print or pattern in sight as Cibani worked almost exclusively in shades of white, taupe, rose and black. The clothes were stripped of decoration save for the pleating she used as a construction device on patches of her shirt fronts or dress fronts. When working in sheer silk or chiffon, these pared down designs got a bit lost in translation. But they sharpened right up when Cibani moved to sturdier cottons and piques. Minimalism looks easy but it requires a rigorous calibration - the designer proved she could pull that off when she went for a high-glamour finale featuring elegant puddles of Grecian draping.
Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans
