Pastels, Pajamas and Pop on Milan's Runways

Pastels, Pajamas and Pop on Milan's Runways

It is looking like a mod, mod spring.

From palazzo pajamas to wacky sunglasses, Milan fashion week offered up enough newness that shoppers may have to scramble to keep their wardrobes current come spring.

The new attitude is zany pop. Look no further than Moschino's high-waisted minidresses, worn with big round sunglasses, to get that late-sixties vibe. Or lounge in a floaty caftan from Etro or Gucci.

After several seasons of focus on pointy-toed stiletto heels and a pinched wasp waist, stylish women can breathe as well as stride again. There are new tailored shapes—easy, loose-around-the-waist tailoring that is forgiving and feminine, without looking like a man-tailored suit with frills sewed on. The newest shoes have a chunky square heel and round toe—or are flat.

There is even a new color palette in the air. Pastels are inching their way into fashion after several fluorescent years. Tangy orange and sizzling yellow from previous seasons gave way to sea-foam green and powder pink. This is revolutionary: Pastels have been death to fashion sales for years.

But when Miuccia Prada gives a nod to something heretofore considered ugly, you know it is the new black. In one of the week's most talked-about collections, Prada showed pale pink dresses whose baby-girl softness was hardened by a twist: cartoonish daisy embroideries with blood-red stems.

Paris's fashion week is just gearing up. When the season's collections conclude on Oct. 4, we'll know more about the shape of the season to come. But one thing is clear already: Designers' optimism reflects a cheerier outlook from wealthy consumers.

Milan's luxe shopping district around the Via Della Spiga and its Rinascente department store were bustling with shoppers laden with purchases. It felt like Christmas—augmented by rare sunny weather in the often-gray city.

American retailers welcomed the new shapes in the spring 2013 collections. "When you change the silhouette, you have to buy something," said Stephanie Solomon, fashion director of Bloomingdale's, at the Ferragamo show. "New everything." She said she has directed the stores' buyers to focus on the new "pop" look of fashion.

Some retailers are trying new things as they cater to fashion hungry consumers. Moda Operandi CEO Aslaug Magnusdottir said her site—which sells runway looks by pre-order like an online trunk show—will launch regular season clothing sales in November. There will even be vans in New York for same-day delivery.

Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce renovated their former D&G store on the Corso Venezia, turning it into what might become a prototype Dolce & Gabbana department store, with everything from women's and men's clothing to cosmetics and christening clothes for babies. It also had a new, country-house look, with antique wardrobes and repurposed wood parquet floors.

As we go forward into the final stretch of the spring 2013 collections, here are some of the clear choices for style consumers. But not every look is made to last, so we offer an investment rating as a guide to spring fashions.