When two worlds collide.

The models sent down a spare outdoor runway by the new creative leads at minimalist label Jil Sander were wearing white and flowing garb like that of a mystic, offering an antidote to the Milan fashion week flash.

Husband and wife duo Luke and Lucie Meier's first show at the creative helm of the German-founded house also featured oversized suits and coats with none of the season's obsession with sequins and exotic prints.

The designs were an embrace of "purity... we're not interested in excess at all," Canadian Luke Meier told reporters backstage after the show.

 

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Above A modelholds a clutch, which resembles aschoolboy's book. (Photos: Courtesy of Jil Sander)
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Above A model wears an oversized suit with baggy trousersat the Jil Sander runway show.

"I don't think we do it from the perspective of what is going on (in fashion). We do it from the perspective of what we like and what we feel is right at the moment."

There was also a suggestion of innocence in the designs, with a handbag made to look like a school boy's books wrapped in a leather strap, and suits big enough to look like adult clothes on children playing dress up.

The Meiers, a rare married duo of co-directors, come from Dior for her and Paris-based menswear brand OAMC via iconic streetwear label Supreme for him.

"Lucie and I work together very naturally," Meier told Vogue in June of his Swiss-born wife.

"We have had an open dialogue about the approach to design for over 15 years and have often spoken of working together one day."

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Above It was all about the glitz and glamour at Bottega Veneta's Spring/Summer 2018 show (Photos: Courtesy of Bottega Veneta)

At the other end of the spectrum Italian fashion house Bottega Veneta had Hollywood star Lauren Hutton bobbing her head to hip-hop earlier in the day as it showed off a playful, nightclub-ready collection heavy on jewels, mirrors and fringe.

The venerable Venetian outfit transformed a warren of rooms and halls at the 19th century Palazzo Archinto—now a school—into a sprawling runway at Milan fashion week.

The co-ed spring/summer 2018 collection featured airy shirt-dresses, fringe strung with tiny glass beads and several slinky floor-length dresses covered in rhinestones.

Kardashian mum Kris Jenner was front and centre, watching her daughter Kendall pass in a geometric-pattern swimsuit and shiny trench coat. Superstar Bella Hadid was on the runway too, after shows for Fendi and Moschino.

Bottega regular Huttonwho famously sported a red leather Bottega purse when she starred alongside Richard Gere in American Gigolo—sat in the front row tapping her toe and nodding along with the booming sounds of rapper 50 Cent's 2003 smash In Da Club.

"It's all these easy pieces," Bottega's long-time creative lead Tomas Maier said in his design notes. "Even the long dresses are like T-shirts." 

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Above Kendall Jennerat Bottega Veneta's Spring/Summer 2018 show.
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Above The menswear designs were sporty and sharp for Bottega Veneta's Spring/Summer 2018 collection.

The women's silhouettes were clean and utilitarian, but there was tonnes of embellishment—with tiny round mirrors, exotic skins like anaconda and metal eyelets of varying sizes.

Designs for the fellas were sporty but sharp, including dapper tapered trousers and pointy shoes. Materials like antique satin, suede and cotton pique ruled the day.

"It makes for a very precise silhouette," Maier's notes said.

Now owned by French conglomerate Kering, which also has Gucci in its stable of luxury brands, Bottega Veneta was founded in 1966 by Michele Taddei and Renzo Zengiaro.

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