June 28, 2006

Can't wait for the new Pirates of the Caribbean? Neither, it seems, can Kean Etro. At the start of his spring show, he sailed a huge pink pirate ship onto his runway, then marched a full crew of eye-patched, tricorned, Fabio-haired, barefoot brigands down the plank (okay, catwalk). What Etro apparently had in mind was a journey to an imaginary island where a man's soul—and wardrobe—would be regenerated, and there was a definite sense of the designer going for broke with a collection that extended his usual play with color, print, and fabric into the realm of pure costume. Whether his customers will want to go along on that trip is anyone's guess.

The key silhouette was a tailcoat worn with dhoti pants, their crotch dropped to the knee. Kean liked the jacket in seersucker, the pants in a huge hibiscus print. Seersucker was also the fabric of choice for a pink striped suit, paired with a shirt and tie in the same shade (head-to-toe pink has emerged as a curious little trend in Milan). The striped suits in linen were more like the Etro a growing clientele (especially in the U.S.) has come to know and love, and a braid-trimmed navy suit passed as a subtle elaboration on the nautical theme. The frock coat with psychedelic jams, on the other hand, suggested Admiral Halsey on acid. Come to think of it, acid would probably have helped the audience fathom the visual and aural farrago of this show.

— Tim Blanks