In Milan, Ferragamo, Cavalli focus on color, inclusiveness

Color was the watch word on the fourth day Saturday of the mostly womenswear collections during Milan Fashion Week.

The Salvatore Ferragamo and Roberto Cavalli fashion houses each set off neutrals with bursts of hues while combining their women's and men's previews for Fall/Winter 2019-20. Ferragamo's color palette ranged from a peacock blue to an icy sage, mauve with forest green, while the Cavalli collection turned on a melange of turquoise, magenta, ochre, saffron and sky blue.

Another trend on Milan runways this season: including older models, a sign that fashion houses are taking their laser focus off millennials and returning it to a significant luxury demographic.

Models wear creations as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

Some highlights of Saturday's shows:

SALVATORE FERRAGAMO OWNS LEATHER

Salvatore Ferragamo's latest collection drew inspiration from the brand's heritage with sculpted heels on footwear, a fresh emphasis on leather ready-to-wear and lots of color, combining innovation and craftsmanship to create a modern vibe.

A model wears a creation as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

The combined womenswear and menswear collections included leather apparel for day and night, stretching beyond overcoats and footwear. That included long leather skirts with a pretty slit, a long black leather evening gown and a leather jumpsuit, as well as sportier suits for him and for her.

"Being a luxury heritage brand, I feel like we should own leather dressing," said Ferragamo creative director Paul Andrew.

A Nappa leather puffer coat that had the sheen of technical fabric in a luxurious chocolate brown summed up the collection's innovation.

A model wears a creation as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

"You pick it up and it's lightweight. It's built in a way that you can just sort of scrunch it up into nothing," Andrew said.

The brand's signature footwear included a remastered sculpted heel inspired by a 1968 design by Fiamma Ferragama for women and rugged Nubuck trekking boots for men.

Andrew included older models on the runway because "they really epitomize the woman that I am going after. In fact, Ferragamo is not dressing 17-year-old girls only. We also have clients who are 30, 40, 50, 60, 70."

A model wears a creation as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

Andrew, who joined Ferragamo in 2016 as shoe designer then added womenswear, was named this week as creative director for the fashion house. He will continue the collaboration Guillaume Meilland, head of menswear, with both working across the segments for a complete vision.

ROBERTO CAVALLI REINVENTS ANIMAL PRINTS

Creative director Paul Surridge's opening look for Roberto Cavalli was a print with the power and shades of an Arizona sunset, giving the brand's heritage animal print designs a fresh new twist and planting color at the center of the new collection.

Model Kaia Gerber wears a creation as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

The collection offered women and men a sense of freedom in both movement and dressing. A pleated mini-dress billowed into evening length in the back, while knit dresses echoed the silkier pleating, projecting a contemporary silhouette with stronger shoulders and narrow bodice.

Standout pieces included dresses decorated with shells and studs to create a rich pattern and snug, beaded art-deco evening dresses with cut-outs to reveal an under-layer that Surridge said was meant to be suggestive of a body tattoo.

Coats for men featured exaggerated buttons and closures, while suits were dressed up with colorful patterned turtlenecks under suit jackets and shirts. For younger dressers, there were ski vests over big animal-print anoraks and matching tops, with the brand's new Vortex sneaker.

A model wears a creation as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

"It's about pushing boundaries. You have to be inclusive, not only on body shape but also age, and offering modern solutions for day, evening and cocktail," Surridge said backstage.

A model wears a creation as part of the Salvatore Ferragamo women's Fall-Winter 2019-20 collection, unveiled during the Fashion Week in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019. (AP PhotoAntonio Calanni)

Model Bella Hadid wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Model Bella Hadid wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

Model Bella Hadid wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

A model wears a creation as part of the Roberto Cavalli women's Fall-Winter 2019-2020 collection, that was presented in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb.23, 2019. (AP PhotoLuca Bruno)

WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk expressed satisfaction on Monday after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor.

Candidates from his pro-European Union centrist Civic Coalition, or running with the party's backing, won in a series of cities in the second round of local elections held on Sunday, among them Krakow, Poznan, Wroclaw and Rzeszow.

“It is very difficult to clearly say who won and who lost,” Tusk said Monday. “But if we compare these results, especially in the most attractive places, on these attractive battlefields ... then I actually have reasons for satisfaction.”

“Law and Justice has simply disappeared in many places,” Tusk added at a news conference, referring to the main opposition party.

The results put Civic Coalition in a favorable position as the country looks next to elections to the European Parliament on June 9.

Mayors were chosen in a total of 748 cities and towns where no single candidate won at least 50% of the vote during the first round on April 7.

Candidates for Tusk’s party also recaptured cities where they had not held power for many years, including Zielona Gora, Legnica and Torun.

The local and regional elections were viewed as a test for Tusk's pro-European Union government four months after it took power at the national level. Sunday's second round strengthened the Tusk government's leverage in the cities, which should facilitate cooperation on development projects and allotment of EU funds.

Tusk's allies also won in some places in the first round two weeks ago, including in Warsaw, where incumbent Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski was an easy victor.

In the first round, the right-wing Law and Justice, prevailed on the level of regional assemblies in the country's 16 provinces, where it took 34.3% of the votes, while Tusk's Civic Coalition got 30.6%. Law and Justice governed on the national level from 2015-23.

Tusk’s socially liberal Civic Coalition traditionally has strong support in cities, while Law and Justice has a more solid base in conservative rural areas, particularly in eastern Poland.

Civic Coalition is the largest group in a three-party coalition that governs the EU nation of 38 million people. The coalition is pro-European Union but otherwise spans a wide ideological spectrum with left-wing politicians in the Left party as well as conservatives in the Third Way.

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Campaign posters promote candidates as Poles vote in local and regional elections in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

Polish voters take part in a local runoff election in Lomianki, near Warsaw, Poland on Sunday, April 21, 2024. Voters are choosing mayors who did not win outright in the first round of the election two weeks earlier. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk reacts during his and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meeting with students in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, Jan. 22, 2024. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File)

FILE - Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk listens to the media in Berlin, Germany, Friday, March 15, 2024. Tusk is celebrating a victory on Monday April 22, 2024 after a series of candidates supported by his party won weekend races for mayor. (AP Photo/Ebrahim Noroozi, File)