- Mystery drones won't interfere with Santa's work: US tracker
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- Australia's in-form Head confirmed fit for Boxing Day Test
- Brazilian midfielder Oscar returns to Sao Paulo
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- US agency focused on foreign disinformation shuts down
- On Christmas Eve, Pope Francis launches holy Jubilee year
- 'Like a dream': AFP photographer's return to Syria
- Chiefs seek top seed in holiday test for playoff-bound NFL teams
- Panamanians protest 'public enemy' Trump's canal threat
- Cyclone death toll in Mayotte rises to 39
- Ecuador vice president says Noboa seeking her 'banishment'
- Leicester boss Van Nistelrooy aware of 'bigger picture' as Liverpool await
- Syria authorities say armed groups have agreed to disband
- Maresca expects Man City to be in title hunt as he downplays Chelsea's chancs
- South Africa opt for all-pace attack against Pakistan
- Guardiola adamant Man City slump not all about Haaland
- Global stocks mostly higher in thin pre-Christmas trade
- Bethlehem marks sombre Christmas under shadow of war
- 11 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Indonesia considers parole for ex-terror chiefs: official
- Postecoglou says Spurs 'need to reinforce' in transfer window
- Le Pen says days of new French govt numbered
- Villa boss Emery set for 'very difficult' clash with Newcastle
- Investors swoop in to save German flying taxi startup
- How Finnish youth learn to spot disinformation
- 12 killed in blast at Turkey explosives plant
- Panama leaders past and present reject Trump's threat of Canal takeover
- Hong Kong police issue fresh bounties for activists overseas
- Saving the mysterious African manatee at Cameroon hotspot
- India consider second spinner for Boxing Day Test
- London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
- Poyet appointed manager at South Korea's Jeonbuk
- South Korea's opposition vows to impeach acting president
- The tsunami detection buoys safeguarding lives in Thailand
- Teen Konstas to open for Australia in Boxing Day India Test
- Asian stocks mostly up after US tech rally
- US panel could not reach consensus on US-Japan steel deal: Nippon
- The real-life violence that inspired South Korea's 'Squid Game'
- Blogs to Bluesky: social media shifts responses after 2004 tsunami
- Tennis power couple de Minaur and Boulter get engaged
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- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
Surreal, guilt-free party as Milan Fashion Week wraps up
"Gilt without Guilt".
Perhaps that was the best way to sum up Milan Fashion Week this season, upstaged by the invasion of Ukraine that began on the second day of runway shows.
The slogan emblazoned on a black minidress with a flowy train and plunging back by Moschino designer Jeremy Scott captured the zeitgeist of the shows wrapping up Monday -- in other words, party while you still can.
Six days of shows from the likes of Versace, Max Mara, Bottega Veneta, Fendi and Dolce & Gabbana that wrap up Monday had finally thrown off the constraints imposed by coronavirus -- digital shows or shows without audiences -- only to be overshadowed by a new world crisis.
That surreal, absurdist tone played out at Moschino on Thursday night, as models -- strutting through a stage set meant to recall the bedroom scene in Stanley Kubrick's "2001: A Space Odyssey" -- were bedecked in sumptuous, ornately adorned gowns with bourgeois home necessities like chandeliers, feather dusters and lampshades on their heads.
In velvet or lace, bedecked with intricate embroidery, brilliant gold, and tulle, the collection was sculptural, stylish and sexy and the height of spectacle -- boosted by Scott's end-of-show bow in a bright red astronaut suit and the presence of an American guest dressed up as a hot dog.
Bronwyn Newport said she had just bought the Moschino outfit from an earlier season with its bun-like cape and front decorated to resemble mustard.
"I'm wearing a couture hot dog," Newport acknowledged, adding that her teenage daughter with her was "not sure if she hates it or loves it".
- XXL Shoulders -
At Dolce & Gabbana on Saturday, with actress Sharon Stone in the front row, silhouettes were inverted triangles from super-sized shoulder pads while glossy quilted puffer coats went beyond the shoulders to the top of the head, encasing the entire body in a futuristic, yet comforting, cocoon.
Against a backdrop evoking the metaverse -- the future of the internet -- fantastical, fuzzy coats shared the runway with impeccably tailored black jackets with garter belts peeking out, or power suits with exaggerated shoulders in eye-popping shades.
Transparent tunics and gowns were suspended from oversized, visible shoulder pads -- why hide what's below? -- while dramatic black lacing was the focus of a corset-like dress that both encased, and revealed, the body within.
If D&G was time-travelling to the future, DSquared2 on Sunday took a voyage to connect the world "with peace and love", according to show notes.
With layered looks in rusts, browns, mustards and Tartan plaids, accessorised with colourfully patterned caps and ponchos, the garments evoked a night at Woodstock or perhaps a backpackers' bash in the Andes.
Tapping into the current trend for all things puffy, models carried oversized quilted bags in shiny synthetic fabric or shearling, while even boots got puffy, "made for walking softly over unchartered ground".
- Italian artistry -
Sounding a very different tone were stellar collections from Missoni creative director Alberto Caliri, and the much heralded debut of Matthieu Blazy at the head of storied Italian leather brand Bottega Veneta on Saturday.
Blazy modernised the brand's famous "intreccio", or handwoven leather, giving it a sense of movement while not stepping too far adrift from the label's classic, artisanal cachet.
"Quiet power" was how Blazy described the effect of his men's/women's collection, with playful yet grounded pieces like thigh high boots with a sculptural heel woven from the same strip of leather and without stitching, or jeans made from soft, printed nubuck.
A petticoat of long strips of lavender leather burst from beneath a full leather skirt in the same colour, the explosion of fringe resembling the thatching of a palapa during vacation. Light, airy slip dresses shimmered through the profusion of nude sequins lending sparkle and texture.
Guests at the show sat atop black leather cushions that doubled as handbags seen on the runway along with woven styles carried over the shoulder via one long woven strap, imparting a luxurious insouciance to the outfits.
At Missoni on Friday, Caliri showed a stunning modern collection that maintained Milan-style elegance while still serving a dose of street cool.
The brand's famous zigzag was clean in black, grey and creme on long narrow coats, but given a vibrant jolt with linings in lime or orange, while stealing the show was a belted, glimmering sequined coat in vertical stripes of marigold orange, mustard, beige and midnight blue.
Knitwear, which is in the label's DNA, had texture and depth, while patterned lurex slip dresses, tube tops and form-fitting gowns were slightly sheer and luminous.
L.E.Campos--PC