Scene by Suzy Menkes: Scervino, Trussardi

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Ermanno Scervino: Blue Sky Thinking

Any designer who can make a puffa coat look ready for a red-carpet outing has glamour on the mind.

Ermanno Scervino added gilded buttons and a taut string of a leather belt to the Snow White down coat that opened his show. And this, followed by a padded skirt puffed up under a taut black sweater, proved that the designer could offer a modern twist on traditional femininity.

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In the roster of Italian labels, Florence-based Scervino is probably nearest to couture, displaying fine workmanship from a tailored tuxedo through to a houndstooth check coat to a fluffy fur skirt. Many of these pieces were decorated with a couture flourish, with inserts of lace or beaded zig zags.

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The designer may have a classic vision of womanly dressing, but he tempered that with a pair of brogues worn with a trouser suit. A slim cocktail sheath faced off a cloud of chiffon.

This optimistic view of how a modern, multitasking woman might dress was accompanied by some blue-sky thinking. Or as Scervino put it: “I look at nature and I see blue everywhere.”

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Trussardi: Leather on Her Mind

Gaia Trussardi, a scion of the family brand, took up the company’s origins in leather — almost her entire collection was devoted to it.

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There was leather as light and clinging as stretch hose, leather that was second-skin soft for what looked like underwear, and a strapless top to partner tougher trousers.

Of course, there were also shiny leather boots and sleek bags. There was even a leather boilersuit turned into streamlined luxury.

When a patchwork sweater stepped out, it was a relief from all that skin.

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The problem is that this collection seemed retrograde. All-over leather was where the company with its greyhound logo stood a decade ago — with the concept that every single piece must be skin on skin.

Some of the cutting and slicing of leather was formidable, like the evening skirt with a bronze finish. But do women really want an entire minimalist wardrobe in a single fabric?

Gaia needed to expand the knitted offering and cut back on the traditional Trussardi — even if we know that with this brand, skin is the thing.