Milan’s Fashionweek promises opulence, drama and passion. With a rich history in craftsmanship, high quality fabric production, and some La-dolce-vita flair, the mixture is irresistible.
As September goes by, the second stop within fashionmonth is Milan. Italy has a very specific place in the fashion world due to its long history in production, sourcing materials, and in implementing them with very advanced and unique craftsmanship techniques. Till this day, Italy is the number one exporter of fashion within the European Union. The knowledge goes way back and even beyond fashion. Just think of interior design, marble and the techniques created to work with it. Looking at the fabrics typical for Italy in fashion, of course leather comes to mind immediately. Geneva and Florence are probably the main hubs for it. The long history even resulted in the foundation of Gucci in Florence more than 100 years ago.
Leather is still a huge influence in Italian fashion. It makes Milan Fashionweek again very special because it opens up the department of accessories, like bags, belts, small leather goods – and of course, shoes. Besides leather, wool and cashmere play a big role. I cannot wait to see how the designers are playing with all of this influence, knowledge and sources once again this season. In addition to it, Italian designs make me immediately think of bold prints and artistic courage. This adds just the right amount of playfulness to the chic element of craftsmanship and high standards of fabrics and materials.
Let’s dive right in. I am beyond excited for FENDI, Max Mara, Prada, MM6 Maison Margiela, Tom Ford, Gucci, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Jil Sander, and Bottega Veneta. A benefit from the European Fashionweeks in general is that most of the brands offer a front row feeling with their Runway show videos on YouTube. You can find a massive video section below as well.
FENDI is always one of the first shows during Milan Fashionweek. The brand from Rome has not only a long history in general, but a long history of very recognizable designs. The famous Baguette bag, different variations of logo prints throughout its history, or the Fendi first heel, are beyond popular. The brand first entered the Haute Couture week earlier this year. It’s is more than a hint to their high quality and craftsmanship standards. This season in Milan’s Ready-to-wear show, the color palette truly said ‘Fendi’. The soft light blue, bright orange in combination with gray and brown was very graphic. It enhanced the straight lines in the designs. The many layers and soft knit fabrics accentuated the female bodies in a very modern, cool and effortless way.
Max Mara – the material from which dreams comes true, quite literally in this case! Ever since I can remember visiting chic department stores, I stopped at Max Mara. The coats were so soft, long enough (I am 1,75 / 5’9). I would max out the time trying them on until my family begged me to leave. At least 20 years later, I still stop at Max Mara to feel their fabric quality. There is something so grown-up and feminine about the brand that makes the pieces timeless, recognizable and yet very understated. Such as their iconic ‘Teddy coat’ which marks its ten year anniversary this year.
For SS 2024 the models were pulling off Max Mara’s effortless, classic, sophisticated mood, but in a whole new color palette. The shades were true blue, dusty pink, different shades within the mustard-gold-nude specter and bottle-green. A very subtle yet powerful way to welcome the next spring.
Prada truly is one of my favorite brands of all times. The house just finds ways to dominate the fashion trends by its very own rules. Like Re-Edition bags, the fabulous nylon material they introduced to fashion a long time ago, or the puffer coats and jackets we’ve seen a few seasons back, or the footwear that we are all dreaming of season and season again.
This runway was quite the déjà vu to the brand’s menswear show s few months back with its clear slimy curtain installation. What stood out to me first were the bright-colored satin shoes, what a dream for spring and summer! And of course, Prada has its very own way of working with sheer layering. It’s light as a cloud, and transfers cuteness in perfect balance with coolness.
Besides the playful pops of colors and the soft sheer dresses, the brand showed another one of their stables: denim. You might not think denim at first, when you think of Prada, but the brand truly had some super strong denim pieces over the last seasons. From workwear shirts, to off-white sets and shorts, the brand always offered some of the strongest denim pieces seen on the runways. This season, the brand played with denim in a very ruff, gender-fluid style by showing the bomber jackets you will want to wear forever.
MM6 Maison Margiela is probably one of the most free and artistic designs you will find in the fashion world. One of the brand’s most iconic designs are the Tabi shoe which separates the big toe from the rest. With MM6 I feel like you never know what to expect. This season the classic suit in new, undone ways, shown styled in lots of layers, was in focus. The color range was black, white and nude tones. It’s a classic for the house, just as much as the suit reference. But again, nothing is just classic about MM6. There were straps in unexpected places, low waist very wide suit pants layer with bottom length high split shirt dresses and heavy boots. It doesn’t get much more cool-artist than that, and I adored every single moment.
Tom Ford, a designer that has so much history with Italian fashion and Milan. The designer that transformed Gucci and pushed the brand’s limits when it was in, let’s say, trouble. The designer who pushed even further and had – at the time unlikely – showings in L.A. and established one of the most high-end and beloved beauty and perfume brands. Since the last Tom Ford showings were in NYC, it was very exciting to see what the brand would do, being back at where it has so much history, and with a new Creative Director Peter Hawkings. As expected, it was exceptional. The sleek sexy designs with 70s references were fierce and powerful and the colors highlights accentuated the collection in just the right amount and brightness.
Gucci entered a new area with hiring former chief brand officer for Valentino, Alessio Vanetti. The brand moved away from the logo mania area, but kept its essence. It’s a tricky transition, but the brand managed it perfectly and the branded items were evaluating the collection in a very chic and cool way. The Horsebit shoulder bags from the 90s/2000s were re—introduced last season and are hitting the stores right this minute. So it was a truly genius move to fallow that path into a new ease and implement more effortless, minimalistic pieces into the collection and accentuating the brand’s general cool casualness. And course we saw some staples, like the ‘Jackie Bag’ in new colors, I can’t wait to see them in store.
Versace is always such an event. From the cruse collections, the last showing in L.A., or the celebrity engagements. This USP goes way back to when Gianni Versace influenced the 90s by introducing the supermodel area. Donatella Versace once said, ‘fashion is a weapon’ and the collections truly reflect that by underlining female power. I personally also always feel a little extra wearing pieces from the brand. I love to add that little extra diva mood to my outfits that make me feel so confident in my femininity. Like sunglasses, silk tops, tiny silk scarfs, or some jewelry – that little addition to an outfit can turn it from clothing into styles.
And in the brand’s original manner, they presented a very clear, strong runway set-up that perfectly showed their female designs, a little more on the cute side this season, but still sooo sexy and powerful. I love how Versace does pastels, because of the sexiness. Pastels are normally more seen in cute, more girlie and innocent styles – but not with Versace. And of course, the brand transformed the runway show again into a special event by bringing Kendall Jenner, Gigi Hadid, and the rarely seen in public true 90s fashion icon Claudia Schiffer to the stage. Such a moment!
Dolce & Gabbana always presents very feminine designs. With bold prints, lace or corsets, the brand has always shown drama and celebrated femininity. With their 90s homage in the latest collections, last year even co-created with Kim Kardashian, the house presented itself as sexy as ever – until this season.
The models were wearing high stockings, tight suit ensembles and black was the dominant color. The show almost had a Sophia Loren kind of feeling to it (remember her striptease scene in ‚Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow‘?), which underlines the brand’s love for its Italian origin. I love a good 90s moment because it’s one of the chicest time periods for fashion to me. Most likely because I was a teen and first experimenting with fashion in the fallowing – not so great – 2000s. (…I’m aware of the Y2K trend, but I guess I am still traumatized by my teen outfits, as we probably all are). I also love wearing a lemon-print shirt or something bold from the brand during the summer.
Jil Sander is a special designer to me. Not only because she’s German and therefor was always very present to me, but also because I admire not only the designs in fashion, but love the landscaping and architectural fields she extended her design approaches to. For a few seasons I have been looking closely at the accessories and I admire the jewelry and handbags. There’s such a coolness to it and the pieces are very unique. As for the clothes, I own a few blazers and pants and wear them over and over again. Some of them are vintage or a hand-me downs from my grandma. They are still in very good condition which really speaks for the brand’s quality. Besides the quality, the designs are very timeless, which makes them again so easy to wear over time.
Having said that, I was so excited to see this season’s collection filled with special accessories and timeless pieces in nude, white, and black with highlights in green and python prints. I always love strong blazers, suit pants and constructed dresses or skirts, so the collection really spoke to me.
Bottega Veneta is simply sophistication. The designs are extra but always turn out to be very staple pieces for me. The shoes I own, for example, I’ve been wearing for many past seasons and plan on wearing them for many to come. The brand just always adds a certain amount of grown-up-coolness, and normally it’s hard to implement effortless coolness in adults’ wardrobes. However, not with Bottega. The iconic ‘Jodie Bag’ is a shape that just won’t go out of style and the brand’s iconic woven pattern design makes it cool and chic, while the bag itself is super handy and can be styled in so many ways that you’ll get a lot of wears out of it. It’s those details, like shapes and patters, that truly reflect the brand.
And therefor it was just suiting that the brand presented their iconic beading in clothing and accessories along with straight lined suits, playful tassels, and unique tailoring. The runway was made out of colorful ties which showed animals and other references and was reflected in the new versions of the ‘Sardine Bag’ with colorful handles in new materials. My personal highlight was the acoustic version of Fleetwood Mac’s song ‘Dreams’ the models walked the runway to, so moving!
Of course there were many other brilliant shows, so I could go on forever, but decided to break it down to these ones, for now. Besides the Ready-to-wear runway showings, there were also many very exciting presentations, like Mach & Mach, Swarovski, Jimmy Choo, Stuart Weitzman, Gianvito Rossi, Casadei, Loro Piana, or Calzedonia – which I will circle back to in future edits and implement their new collections and items.
Pictures are again from Woman’s wear daily. Except the Dolce & Gabbana pictures which you can find on Vogue Runway, the perfect platform to dive into first hand editor’s impressions.