Gigi Hadid fends off man handler between runway turns

Gigi Hadid for Moschino at Milan Fashion Week. (Photo: Moschino/Instagram)

MILAN—This was already Gigi Hadid’s season.

She drew crowds outside the Max Mara shop on opening day of Milan Fashion Week, and indulged fans with selfies.

Then she opened and closed the Max Mara show on the second day of womenswear previews for next spring and summer on Thursday, and took top billing at Fendi.

But in between, things took an ugly turn when a former Ukrainian television reporter grabbed her from behind and picked her up in the air as she left the Max Mara venue. Video posted on the website TMZ shows her wriggling free and confronting the assailant, who ran away.

In an email to The Associated Press, Vitalii Sediuk confirmed that he had lifted Hadid off the ground, saying it was a form of protest against the use of celebrity models. He has pulled similar pranks before, targeting Kim Kardashian, Brad Pitt and America Ferrera, once landing in a Los Angeles jail for two days.

Police in Milan said they had no immediate indication a formal complaint had been filed.

Despite the disruption, Hadid appeared in perfect form on the Fendi runway hours later.

Here are some more highlights from Thursday’s shows, featuring Prada, Fendi, Max Mara and Pucci.

Nostalgia reinvented

Karl Lagerfeld took a nostalgic leap into the future in his latest collection for Fendi, receiving a standing ovation for his efforts.

The scalloping details, aprons that tie with grosgrain ribbon along with sweet bow and rosette appliques risked being quaint, and instead were reinvigorated.

Stand-up scalloping along shoulders and sleeves gave a sculpture effect. Cascading diaphanous dresses were tied in place by ribbon that nonetheless allowed a peek of frilly lingerie. Bold crop tops were paired with a bellowing Turkish trouser that fastened at mid-calf, while oversized cargo pockets stuck out anime-style from the edges of jackets and pants, ignoring convention.

Normally seen in the kitchen, not the runway, aprons gave new proportions to skirts and dresses. Sheer fabrics gave the looks lightness, while tapestry fabrics added gravitas.

The Fendi bag evolution of the season, the new Kan I, features colored pyramid-shaped studs, which were referenced also in hairpins, and featured straps embellished with such fantastical elements as tulips on the cusp of bloom.

The footwear included soft calf-height boots and sneakers, usually striped for a Harajunku touch. Lips were treated in gold, and balanced by a heavy dose of eyeliner.

For her runway turns, Hadid wore a pair of sheer diaphanous dresses that wouldn’t make print in family newspapers.

Lemur love

Beneath that billowing Max Mara coat was the slimmest summer silhouette.

The lines were accentuated by high-waist trousers and skirts, bustier tops and belted midriffs. Cropped nylon baseball jackets substituted for shirts with suits, either tucked in or with wide accordion elastic waistbands.

The looks had an urban appeal, and even when tropical prints were employed it was with sartorial discipline not devil-may-care abandon. The colour palette was mostly monochrome — except the tropical prints — with an emphasis on all black or all white, with head-to-toe orange, yellow and orange blue for flashier moods.

Slip-on clogs with wooden soles complete the looks.

Gigi Hadid did walk the runway in slim jump suit in a black-and-white palm front print, and then in a soft grey and black sweater adorned with a lemur over a fuzzy pencil skirt.

Selfie indulgence

Hadid indulged fans’ selfie desires during an appearance at the Max Mara store, happily taking smartphones in hand to snap smiling shots alongside admirers.

Fans clogged the pedestrian way to catch a glimpse of the model, who was on hand for a Wednesday evening cocktail to launch the brand’s new handbag, the BoBag. She looked all the kitten in a nude-tone knit bodysuit with a gold lame overcoat slung over the shoulders and furry heeled sandals.

The bag was inspired by the late Italian-born Brazilian designer Lina Bo Bardi.

Simple elegance

Anyone looking for some Prada basics, this will be the season to shop.

Miuccia Prada’s looks for next summer were built around a simple black pleated skirt, cropped bra tops and wrapped sweaters. Shoes were mostly sensible, low-heeled or flat.

Of course, there was more to the collection than that. Boa feather trimmed the skirts and bra tops. Hot pants are making a comeback, belted and worn nonchalantly with tucked in print blouses or belted checked jackets. A sheer dress, at turns, covered the whole ensemble for a peek-a-boo effect. Asian-style pajama were belted and embellished with a feathery evening trim.

“I decided that I wanted to take care of now the present and do something much more simple and try to find a new way of elegance,” Prada said backstage.

Prada expanded her cross-discipline collaborations, working with film director David O. Russel on the runway show staging. Russel, whose films include “American Hustler,” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” created a 12-screen installation for the split-level runway featuring shifting scenes form a short film he created with Prada. Titled “Past Forward,” it will be premiered in Los Angeles in November.

“I hope it worked, because we were discussing the same themes,” she said, citing “like fear, love.”

Pucci

Think Pucci, think prints. Well, think again.

Creative director Massimo Giorgetti based the collection on jersey, manipulating the monochromatic fabric with ruching to create textures that belied the need for patterns — which he got to later, in any case. Giorgetti wrapped and layered dresses over body suits and leggings, for comfortable yet engaging looks that could travel anywhere.

The colour palette was kept strong, yellow, orange, turquoise and pink. Sequined panels were incorporated for evening.

Bolder patterns included hypnotic tribal patterns and kinetic waves for mini dresses, trench coats and slim trousers. Headwear included long-fringe hats completely covering the face for anotherwordly, Dr. Seuss-ian effect.

Two-dimensional fashion

The Moschino girl for next is a paper doll, quite literally.

The looks created by Jeremy Scott, with rare exception, had large white tabs on the sides, indicating where the garment would be attached to the paper doll. The first model out wore a dress with a print of a woman’s figure in lingerie, making her the test doll.

Ever ironic in his pursuit of fashion, Scott milked the gimmick, leaving the back panels of outfits white — the area not seen when the paper doll garment is fastened in place. Accessories also were mostly two-dimensional, including stoles, hats and jewelry.

A French lesson of fashion vocabulary narrated the show, so the crowd learned or was reminded that hat translates into chapeau. The language instructor also included this useful phrase: “I would like something less expensive.”