Stepping Back From Towering Heels

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press Wooden platforms shown at the spring 2011 Fendi show in milan.

(View more accessories from Milan.)

Perhaps what made everyone sore about Burberry’s mean heels is that aggressive footwear looks passé. With Milan’s designers removing the hard edges in fashion, and dropping hemlines, shoes have taken on proportions and tones to suit. Handbags replica soccer jerseys, too, are not sprouting as much ornament as in the past or demanding their own place on the sidewalk. (See the full Burberry collection.)

In Miuccia Prada’s bunch-of-bananas show, there were stripey clutches and boxy canvas bags. The platform Mary Janes also came with stripes, to match the clothes; from certain angles they suggested a fusion with espadrilles or hip-hop sneakers. Big, round sunglasses came with zany spirals. If all those stripes and wiggly monkeys strike you as a new form of Manchurian mind control, Prada also offered a very handsome looking pair of platforms in braided silver and gold metallic leather. (See the full Prada collection.)

D & G’s garden theme produced a naïve style of platforms, along with big canvas totes. Alberta Ferretti showed flat leather sandals with rope ties. (See D & G’s full collection.)

Antonio Calanni/Associated Press A Gucci bag from the spring 2011 show.

Despite a gilded look at Gucci, the accessories in Frida Giannini’s show looked more discreet this season. A cream-colored bag, modest in size, stood out for its monochromatic detailing and braided textures. Tassels were the unifying ornament, appearing on metallic bronze clutches and dangling from cord ties of belts. High-heeled sandals combined colors like turquoise with a gold snakeskin or lizard ankle strap and an exposed metal stiletto heel. (See the full Gucci collection.)

Of all the Milan collections, though, Fendi offered the most coherent display of fashion and accessories, and perhaps, in the end, the most desirable. As a balance to Karl Lagerfeld’s long dresses in cotton and silk, platform shoes appeared to be divided in blocks, with cork and wood in the mix, and had leather straps in both neutrals and bright colors. The other option was a sandal with a wide silk-satin band over the foot—again, in a contrasting color. Belts and bags (modest in size and softly structured, with handles) also told a color-blocking story. Linked bracelets, worn in sets of different colors and size, supported the lighter attitude. (See the full Fendi collection.)

View a slide show of accessories from the Milanese runways.