Once upon a time there was a king, who told his tailor: «Tell me a story». And the tailor began…sawing. These could be the opening lines of a book narrating the Fall Winter 2016-2017 collections, describing designers who went back to their youth, getting inspiration from fairy tales and from tales from their — and our — childhood. One prominent example was the Dolce & Gabbana show, which featured princesses dressed in blue, with crystal shoes and a wonderful scenery with Cinderella and a pumpkin carriage, as well as Sleeping Beauties in beds of roses, and lovesick damsels missing their prince, and even openly declaring that on paillette-covered tees. The Sicilian duo were not the only ones to be charmed by the world of fairy tales, though: this winter, references to fairy tales, famous and not so famous, were everywhere, either in prints, details or whole outfits. On Paul Smith‘s catwalk, the Grimm Brothers’ Snow White walked with a necklace shaped like the core of the infamous poisoned apple hanging from her neck, and at Stella McCartney‘s show, we saw a swan print that totally reminded us of the happy ending of the Ugly Duckling. At Alexander McQueen‘s, the Princess from the Princess and the Pea looked sleepy when she left her bed, dragging blankets and a duvet with her. Quotes and references to Alice in Wonderland also abounded, showing as the White Rabbit’s watch or as the Cheshire Cat’s eyes peeking at us from...