Revenge of the Heiress

Milan Runways Showcase Unabashed Opulence. It’s safe to look like a rich lady again. The styles coming from the Italian fashion capital for next season are luxurious and elegant: sumptuous fur coats that Sophia Lauren might love, ladylike pointy-toed pumps, and glamorous dresses that seem inspired by Turner Classic Movies. The week’s shows in Milan, which ended March 1, suggested that it’s OK to show off your wealth—a message the world hasn’t seen since 2007, before the financial meltdown. But flaunting it doesn’t involve the tawdry flash of the last decade. This isn’t so-called affordable luxury that focuses on youth and big labels.

Instead, the new luxury is deeply appropriate, in the way that your mom might have meant the word: prim structured handbags, with hinges that snap, and shoes—like those Ferragamo showed—made of fabric that matches the dress and bag, à la Doris Day. The predominant dress silhouette covers a woman from neck to knee. Around the world, wealthy shoppers are displaying a resurgence of income and confidence. “They’re back,” said Steve Sadove, chief executive of Saks Fifth Avenue, looking jolly and confident at a cocktail party in Milan. His department stores’ richest customers are the ones who are boosting business, he said, and it’s the luxe goods that they want.

The look manages to be opulent at the same time, featuring extraordinary materials such as furs you can sink into and a crocodile-skin skirt that Brioni sent out. Luxe was a theme at New York Fashion Week, but for European labels, the level is amped up way beyond the likes of fur trim to encompass whole garments of sable or mink. Bottega Veneta, where the models’ hairstyles aged them a good 30 years, encapsulated a key look: society woman headed to a charity luncheon. To be sure, unemployment in the U.S. is still hovering near 10%, and most middle- and working-class families aren’t experiencing an economic recovery. But consumers are queuing up for Chanel in places like China and Hong Kong, where hotel consultant Alicia Kan recently said one of her client hotels has been throwing out record numbers of luxury-brand shopping bags left behind by guests. “It’s like there’s no recession,” she said.

The Ladies Who Lunch Look–I absolutely love it!!!

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