Highlights of Milan Fashion Week

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta’s Matthieu Blazy cast his mind back to childhood, a time of experimentation and endless possibilities. ‘I was interested in the idea of the wonder you have as a kid, the first experience of fashion when you try on your parents’ clothes and play dress up,’ he said. It resulted in oversized tailoring, playful creased layering, fancy-dress fringing and packed-lunch bags. Of course, it wasn’t as simple as it sounds. All was crafted from super-soft nappa leather – just like the animal beanbags he had guests sit on, inspired by Steven Spielberg’s ET.

Prada

Prada is the brand to beat on the Milan fashion week schedule on account of its game-changing collections that have made it a yardstick for future trends and taste. This season, it threw a curveball, giving us a bit of everything. The eyelet visors, red leather belt boob tubes, dropped-waist skirts, printed tweed jackets and the shoes that were the ‘greatest hits’ of Prada, as relayed the show notes. The meaning behind a Prada collection is never immediately obvious, rather a slow reveal. That’s the beauty of it. But this one is one of its most divisive to date.

Emporio Armani

Having celebrated his 90th birthday in July, it stands to reason that the concept of time is prevalent in the world of Giorgio Armani. For his Emporio Armani show, called Future Perfect, the theme was all about time – specifically the enduring relevance of the brand in the 50 years since it was founded. ‘Giorgio’s grasp on the spirit of the moment aligns seamlessly with his commitment to a style that remains coherent,’ read the show notes. Which sums it up: cue the signature linen jumpsuits, relaxed tailoring and a palette of sage and lavender that Armani has made his MO.

Jil Sander

Iridescent wool tailoring, degraded silk dresses, chinoiserie-inspired shifts, floral embroidery and applique, bejewelled collars, leather baseball T-shirts: Jil Sander co-creative directors Lucie and Luke Meier eschewed the enveloping architectural silhouettes they are famed for in lieu of a collection that went large on more accessible separates and detailing. Inspired by the photography of Greg Girard from 1972 to 1982, a less timeless more zeitgeist energy was revealed to great effect.

Tod’s

With a set-design installation by the Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn and scores of artisans stitching the brand’s iconic Gommino driving shoe together, the Tod’s show was a bonafide celebration of Made-in-Italy craftsmanship before the models had even set foot on the catwalk. For his sophomore collection, named Artisanal Intelligence, creative director Matteo Tamburini leaned into clean cuts and a classic palette, crafted from lightweight cotton and leather and serving approachable boss-woman credentials.

Max Mara

Ian Griffiths has perfected the craft of innovation without alienating his customer. This season saw classic codes of the house reinvented in crisp new lines – see bright white shirt dresses, backless tailoring and the most elegant deliberate creasing possible. ‘It was all very good fun, because it was an experimental approach that I hadn’t taken before, although my aim was not to present anything that looked at all experimental on the runway. I don’t think that any woman wants to go to a MaxMara store and feel like she’s part of an experiment,’ he said.

No21

‘What got me going were the pics of Karlheinz Weinberger, a photographer who on various occasions snapped groupies and their individual looks, all of whom taken one by one made a very fanciful personal statement,’ said creative director Alessandro Dell’Acqua. ‘In his shots, the photographer captured moments in the life of a subculture that drove young people to contest the rules of the previous generation.’ References aside, this was quintessential No21 – it only gets better.

Gucci

Sabato De Sarno called his collection Casual Grandeur and said it was a sum of his ‘obsessions – tailoring, lingerie, leather, 60s silhouette’ and the Gucci archive. Doubling down on his vision for the brand that he has been developing since 2023, it conjured the Italian Riviera jet-set of the 60s and 70s – see floral headscarves, big glasses and A-line shift silhouettes – fused with 1990s and early noughts references. A series of floor-sweeping coats worn with white vests and jeans didn’t reinvent the wheel, but certainly made you want to buy a new one.

Marni

Francesco Risso made a return to MFW with a collection that was a clear departure from the eccentric experimentation, with which he has reinvented the brand, towards a hyper-elegant eclecticism. He relayed in the show notes that it was about ‘emphasising a continuous return to both the art and heart of design’. Tailoring was sharp and worn over kick-flare dresses (as modelled by Eva Herzigova), bustier gowns were all-over embroidered, and the palette was limited to black, white, red, and an icy blue and peppered with prints.

Versace

‘It was a joyful moment, just being casual and putting clothes together,’ said Donatella Versace ahead of her show held at Milan’s Sfrozesco castle. ‘Fashion sometimes wants to give an intellectual message and you can do this, but with a world torn apart by war, a message of positivity and freedom is the most important thing.’ For this collection, she brought the bounce by embracing new technologies including her 3D-printed gold dress and floral brooches crafted from recycled bottles and cigarette butts and introduced shoes with heels in the shape of the brand’s perfume bottle

Dolce and Gabbana

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana hosted the most talked-about show of the week by inviting Madonna to sit front row to watch the unveiling of a collection inspired and dedicated to her. One by one, the models sported the conical-bra bustier, famously made not by the designers but by French designer Jean Paul Gaultier for the singer’s Blond Ambition tour. It progressed as a celebration of the queen of pop’s era-defining fashion icon status, featuring looks derivative of her most major fashion moments.

Fendi

Fendi marks its 100th anniversary in 2025 and womenswear creative director Kim Jones has started the celebrations early. For his SS25 collection, he turned the clock back to the 1920s drawing inspiration from the dropped waist silhouettes and decadent Art Deco beading that are synonymous with the flapper silhouette. Being a London boy at heart, however, he grounded looks in Red Wing desert boots to imbue a done-undone energy. ‘I don’t like looking at things in a reflective or nostalgic way,’ said Jones backstage.

Ferragamo

Maximilian Davis was inspired by founder Salvatore Ferragamo’s fruitful collaborations with dancers Katherine Dunham and Rudolf Nureyev who wore custom Ferragamo ballet shoes in the 80s. This translated into wrap cardigans, racer-back silhouettes and ribboned heels. ‘The beauty of this brand is that there are so many stories you can relate to – every shoe has a meaning behind it and a story,’ said Davis who contrasted the Florentine polish with frayed tailoring and stonewash denim he said was inspired by his Caribbean heritage.

• via The Guardian – stay tuned on FM24 for more fashion news!