Milan Fashion run of men's fashion shows for next summer displayed brazen irreverence Monday with Moschino's fluorescent tones, Gucci's slimline tweeds and John Richmond's gangster chic suits.

Franco Moschino's offerings were a riot of colour. Turning back to the 1980s, he showed off an orange trench coat teamed up with white pants, a yellow windbreaker and pink socks peeking out under short pants.

Even the belts and shoes screamed Florida. And the Peace and Love symbol of the fashion house were omnipresent, being either a discreet presence on the back of a coat or emblazoned across a T-shirt.

Gucci turned to classic tweed in black and white and pants tailored so close to the body that they veered between classic elegance and insolence.

But the trousers were in more adventurous colours: vermillion, bright yellow and green. For the evening, it was a classic black tuxedo enlivened by a cherry coloured belt.

British stylist John Richmond meanwhile showcased a collection that married an English dandy's wardrobe with that of a Sicilian bandit with dark suits, natty ties and eyeshades to match. And there were trousers in military fatigues.

Valentino, for his part, opted for classic and "still" elegance, showing his designs on mannequins against the backdrop of bare-breasted cabaret dancers covered in fuchsia plumes -- the theme being 'Paris Awakens.'

The mood before this year's Milan fashion week was sombre following the sudden death of leading Italian designer Gianfranco Ferre.

Ferre died on July 17 aged 62 after a brain haemorrhage and was buried in his birthplace of Legnano near Milan.

A week after his death, the fashion house that bears his name on Sunday presented its summer show for men to a tearful audience that gave him a posthumous ovation.

On Tuesday, Giorgio Armani, Fendi, Etro, Marni and Trussardi will unveil their collections in Italy's fashion capital on the penultimate day of the current fashion run.

A view of the newly renovated Hall of Mirrors at the Chateau de Versailles, near Paris, Monday, June 25, 2007, in this photo made with slow shutter speed causing blur as person walks in foreground. After 4-years of work, the renovated Chateau de Versailles' Hall of Mirrors is re-opened to the public on Monday. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

Mall-based women's apparel retailer Charlotte Russe Holding Inc. said it is focused on opening new stores and improving its offerings in tops and dresses, the company chief executive said at a conference on Tuesday.

At the Wachovia Securities 2007 Nantucket Equity Conference, Charlotte Russe President and Chief Executive Mark A. Hoffman said the company has identified its total store potential at 600. The retailer, which ended the third quarter with 410 stores, plans to have 432 stores open by year end.

"There are a significant number of mall locations still available," he said. "We have 350 locations on our wish list."

In terms of its merchandise, Hoffman said Charlotte Russe is set apart from its rival "fast-fashion" women's apparel retailers Forever 21 and Wet Seal because of the age of Charlotte Russe's target consumer -- young women in their late teens and early 20s.

"Our slightly older consumer is a bit more sophisticated," he said.

The company sees the most growth opportunity in its knit and woven tops. Hoffman also said the company is working to improve its dress offerings.

"The changes made with our dresses continue to make very strong statement to the customer," he said.

Charlotte Russe also sells bottoms, footwear and accessories.

Shares of Charlotte Russe fell 44 cents to $26.28 in morning trading.

Questions or comments about this story should be directed to AP Financial News at 212-621-7190.

Fashion designers Stefano Gabbana, left, and Domenico Dolce acknowledge the applause of the audience after presenting their D&G Spring/Summer 2008 men's collection, presented in downtown Milan, Italy, Tuesday, June 26, 2007. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

One of Frye's most famous boots is called the Harness. If you're over 40, you know the one, even if you don't know you know. Rugged leather, squared toe, a simple belt around the ankle. It was created in the 19th century and became a huge fad in the late 1960s, but you needn't go to a museum to see this boot today: It's flying off the shelves of Nordstrom and Zappos.

Keep your eyes peeled and you'll see the Harness, the Engineer and other classic Frye boots on the streets of Chicago, New York and London this summer. In this, the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, Frye boots are back like a blast from the past. Their comeback is a telling sign of the times.

Frye boots' previous heyday was the first time the brand, founded in 1863, became a fashion icon. For women, they represented a new combination of strength and hipness. Wide-toed and heavy, they were a bold reaction against a period of restrictive femininity: housewives vacuuming in heels.

Claudia Goldin hitched herself to a pair of Fryes in the 1970s and stomped around the West Village with her tight jeans tucked into the bootlegs. Now a well-known labor and history economist at Harvard University, she welcomes their return. Fryes, she says, "say strength."

With the benefit of hindsight, we can safely say that the 1970s woman used Fryes to look more liberated than she was. The woman-behind-the-man habits persisted for some time. Still, the boots exemplified the effort of forging past the 1950s into a stronger, more confident era.

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The Engineer

Though they remained popular into the '70s, Frye boots are so closely tied to the image of the '60s that they are on display at the Smithsonian as an emblem of those years. But there are also some ways in which their aura - earthy, utilitarian and anti-fashion - fits the current times, too.

In fashion, we're coming off a similar period of femininity. Our feet ache from the Manolo Blahniks that we've been wearing to work.

Politically, when Fryes were last in fashion, it was a period of unsurpassed idealism, unrest over an unpopular war and a president who was out of favor. Today, the political winds are blowing in some similar directions.

"I really believe there's a strong societal connection between 2007 and the 1970s," says Leslie Schnur, a 52-year-old New York author who owned a pair of Harness boots in the 1970s, when she attended Berkeley. Jeannie, the heroine of Schnur's latest novel, "Late Night Talking," clomps through Schnur's book in a pair of Fryes.

For most wearers, Frye boots are about the freedom to blow off fashion's dictums. They are rebellious and, at the same time, in touch with the earth and a certain cowboy reality.

Frye was founded by John A. Frye in 1863. An enterprising boot maker from England, Frye managed to sell to both the Yankees and the Rebels during the Civil War. The company maintained its utilitarian customer base for decades, putting boots on pioneers who crossed the West, on soldiers in the Spanish American war, on Teddy Roosevelt and his Rough Riders, on General Patton. In 1998, Frye was bought by Jimlar Corp., a footwear company based in Great Neck, N.Y.

After the heady rush of their 1970s popularity, Frye boots were left to their cowboy and motorcycle stalwarts for a quarter-century or so. Three years ago, actress Sarah Jessica Parker helped bring them back after being seen in a pair of Fryes.

Now, Fryes are back in force: the Campus boot, the 19th-century design favored by pioneers and renamed in the 1970s to reflect its popularity among college students; the Engineer; the Harness boot, the Cavalry. There are newer versions, but it's the 140-year-old styles that resonate.

Stephanie Maniscalco, proprietor of the online vintage purveyor Pretty Baby Vintage in Texas, can't find enough vintage Fryes to sell. "They can bring an outfit down if it's too frilly," she says. Again, the message is jarring and rebellious.

And there you have it. Fryes aren't just an emblem of geopolitical unrest. They're a response to fashion unrest, as well.

Perhaps, like the culinary trend toward "slow food" - healthier and more flavorful - consumers yearn for slower fashion. David Wolfe, creative director at Doneger Group retail consultants, believes the industry's fast-fashion frenzy may be inadvertently driving people into Frye boots and items like Converse sneakers that feel more substantial.

"I think we're in fashion burnout," Wolfe says. "We're looking for things that are so out of fashion, they're cool."

So now, a whole new generation is finding an alternative in Frye boots. Lauren Goodman, the 31-year-old fashion director at Domino Magazine, counts herself a "huge fan." "We're all so into chasing trends," she says. "It's great that we have H&M and Forever 21, but they're here today and gone tomorrow. It's nice to have something with legacy."

At 9 p.m. last night, Bank Street was humming with black Mercedeses, all idling for the air conditioning. "It's gotta be cold when my client comes out," said one driver. A bright red motorcycle with Diplomat plates screeched to a halt and an olive-skinned man bounded off into the most literarily significant inn since the Tabard. As prescribed by the Post's Mandy Stadtmiller, we had made reservations through Jon Kelly, Graydon Carter's assistant.

At the front bar is a mixture of beautiful young women and somewhat less beautiful and less young men who are accompanying them. "Rich, Rich," one man who looked like a dumpy George Lucas called to his friend at the bar, "Sauvignon blanc!"

Few people were alone—except at the very end of the bar, a very tall and forlorn-looking Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor and momentary presidential contender, sat drinking a glass of white wine. A man at the bar, surrounded by skinny and cute girls, laughed and said, "Ha, it's just like the five-year-itch!"

At the tables, a bit after 9 p.m., the shining lights of Manhattan's social mantle began to stand out. In one corner by the window, Anne McNally (of Vanity Fair fashion fame) sat with New Yorker writer Michael Specter and beautiful model-actress-painter Anh Duong. McNally clutched a white alligator print Prada bag; Specter sported his trademark weirdly-folding spectacles. The waiter was pushing the "famous macaroni and cheese."

Across from the McNally fourtop, Spike Carter, Graydon's kid, and a couple of his teenaged-looking friends sported the ruddiness of white kids who had been drinking. One of the girls in that party wore an oversize gray Batman t-shirt, another an Adidas jumpsuit. Spike himself sported a scruffy beard and was by far the least well-dressed man in the room.

There is a coveted horseshoe-shaped banquette, located, oddly enough, near the bathroom in the front room. This is where Graydon usually sits when he's there. Last night that space was occupied by Graydon's dear friend Ron Perelman. Next to him sat Penny Marshall and a couple of young girls. Ron and Graydon are as close as Penny Marshall and Ron's ex Ellen Barkin; those two were in a 1985 off-Broadway production of Eden Court.

By 11:30, the crowd had thinned considerably. The average weight dropped as the literary types went to bed and the model types came to "dinner." Outside the black town cars gave way to white limos. Through the slatted blinds of a neighboring townhouse, a leery resident peered out at the scene with suspicion. Her crow-footed eyes glittered with hostility. The diplomat jumped on his motorcycle and sped away down Bank Street.

Leaving her family in Malawi was a tough choice for Rose Kaleke.

I left Malawi in 2005. I wanted to study fashion and textiles, but there were no suitable courses in my country. It was hard to leave my family. I have a husband and three children aged 23, 21 and 16. I haven't seen them for two years.

When I left Malawi, my husband was working. Then he lost his job and had to sell some of our property to pay my course fees. I work part time, 20 hours a week in a care home. This just about covers my rent, bills, food and weekly travel card.

I rent a room in a flat in Edgware, in north London. It can be lonely, coming home to one room every night when you're used to living in a house with your family.

The culture is different here, but everyone is friendly. I'm the oldest in my class at college. Most of the students are young girls, but I mix easily. They tell me I am brave. They tell me they could never do what I am doing. I tell them that you have to make sacrifices to achieve what you want out of life.

Next year, I'm hoping to go to Bournemouth University, so I can make my qualification up to a degree. I'd like to go home during the summer break, but a flight will cost at least £500. I'm not sure I'll be able to afford it.

When I decided to do this course, I was running a shop, selling ready-made clothes. People in Malawi like to buy clothes that are made to measure, or can be altered to fit them. The skills I learn on this course will help me make a better business at home. When you have your own business, you help reduce poverty, which is a big problem in Malawi. When I reopen my shop, I'd like to employ people with disabilities. They have so much to offer but are often overlooked for work.

· Rose Kaleke is studying for an HND in fashion and textiles at Barnet College