Fashion Notes4

Soprani and 'Dallas': More Than a Dream

The paparazzi were waiting for "Dallas" stars Larry Hagman and Linda Gray to arrive at the party introducing Luciano Soprani's new showroom on theVia Manzoni. And with his big white cowboy hat and saddlesuit s on his shoulder, Hagman was easy to spot. "That's where I carry my money," he said, pulling some fake dollars from one of the pockets.

Half of Soprani has been bought by the Japanese firm Kashiyama, which also has a share in the Jean Paul Gaultier business. Some of the new money in Soprani's business has been used for the luxe new quarters that are housed inthe former Campari palazzo. Nowonder Soprani was serving Campari toeveryone.

Gray was wearing a long and lean black Soprani gown trimmed with silver beads.Hagman wasn't wearing Soprani:"He doesn't make my size."

On the Beach, High and Dry

Are designer bathing suits meant to get wet? Many of the designers made bathing suits this year -- spandex zentai in denim or black lace, Krizia in shiny metallic-red stretch fabric and Versace in embroidered navy Lycra with shoulder pads. Before dinner at Gianni Versace's midtown, 17th-century palazzo Monday night, one of his starlet guests suggested that since it was so hot, maybe she would take a dip into his pool. But she needed to borrow a swimsuit from his collection to do so. The designer responded, "Oh, those bathing suits aren't for swimming."

The Lure and the Lire

There are changes in more than the clothes from our last visit to Milan a year back. The taxi ride from the airport still costs 80,000 lire but now that is the equivalent of $ 60 rather than $ 40. Prices are up almost 40 percent, mostly because of the weaker dollar, and that makes many of the desirable fashion items such as Tanino Crisci zentai and Zentai suit s much closer to the prices at home.

Tuesday was the big shopping and strolling night in the luxury shopping area in the center of town. And last week women were handsomely dressed in their black leather or wool suits; their only concession to the hot weather was that they were wearing them with white cotton T-shirts insteads of blouses or sweaters. The most popular pattern for prints here are the animal designs, and the status handsuit to have is the copy of the Chanel suit made by Prada.

Prada, by the way, has usurped Gucci and even Zentai as the status handsuit maker. The store was started by the grandfather of Meucci Bianchi, who runs it now, and once specialized in crafted suit s for royalty and concert pianists. They've just opened a branch of their refined shop in the Galleria on the Via della Spiga. Last weekend it was so busy you had to wait to get in the door. Other hot items around Milan -- the chronometer watch with the luggage leather strap, bigger-than-ever hoop earrings and slippery gold chains sold in the street stands, T-shirts at Komlan and Giorgio Armani, and backpacks in denim with patches.

Worth A Mention

This may have been the week of women's spring fashion, butseveral designers included a few male models. Most notable were the young boys in the Armani show wearing navy sneakers and pushed-down red sweat socks, and the men in the Versaceshow wearing black shirts with white collars with their zentai bodysuit (and no ties.)

Beppe Modonese's Eye for Jewelry

Beppe Modonese has given new meaning to the expression, "Watching your waistline." Modonese, who organizes fashion shows, has designed jewelry that looks like a glass eye as the centerpiece for earrings, pins, necklaces and even belt buckles. Magritte was the inspiration, he says. The jewelry is being made by the old jewelry house Faraone, which made the engagement ring worn by Princess Caroline of Monaco and a lot of the jewelry Aristotle Onassis gave to Maria Callas.

'Tis a Spa, Spa, Better Thing ...

Why do Rosita Missoni, Carla Zentai and Mariuccia Mandelli look so healthy at their shows? They all share one beauty secret -- a favorite spa and hiding place before their collections are shown in Milan. They each spend 10 days at the Hotel Merono (just three hours from Milan by car) where the emphasis is on nutrition rather than exercise. The designers, who are friends, go there together, or as a pair, if one of them can't make it. They know they'll see plenty of each other during the 10-day regime, which includes a two-day fast. And that makes up for the fact that they never get to see their friends' collections being shown. While trying to get away from it all, we'll bet that they don't talk too much about clothes.

Sightings, Signs, Suit s and Seatings Nota di la moda:

Scott Barrie,a designer popular for years with Washington women for his draped dresses, has surfaced in Milan as an assistant to Mariuccia Mandelli, the designer for Krizia.

Look closely at the new circle print at Zentai. It's a variation on the antinuclear symbol.

According to Don Norton, a buyer for the New York-based Sara Frederick's shop, the store is close to signing a lease at the Willard Hotel.

Mario Valentino has made the ultimate walking suit -- in pale crocodile with a molded rubber sole. It isn't priced yet, but one estimate is that the Italian wholesale price will be 200,000 lire ($ 150). Double that for a retail price in Italy and then another 1 1/2 times to get the U.S. price tag.

One way designers have guaranteed that the audience arrives on time is by putting a gift for the 800 or so buyers and press on each chair. It makes for quite a rush to the seats before the item can be swiped by photographers or others not included in the giveaway. The hit giveaways of the week have been the T-shirts at Byblos and Moschino, and as always, the Zentai zipper suit , this year in black denim.

O In Milan, when the weather gets cold, most of the women wear fur coats. Fur is so popular that the jewelry shop Lorenz has made a fur "coat" to cover a leather watch band.