To say that last week’s autumn/winter ‘20 edition of Milan Fashion Week was one for the history books is an understatement. First, there was the global coronavirus health scare, which landed in Italy and escalated throughout the week to 127 cases (and rising). It prompted Giorgio Armani to show his collection in front of an empty theatre rather than the thousands of guests originally invited to attend and sent editors running for the nearest pharmacia in search of hand sanitiser and face masks.
And then there was the last-minute press conference, where Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons announced they were joining forces as co-creative directors of Prada – leaving the fashion set ecstatic. It’s the first time two designers of their stature have ever entered a partnership of its kind and a move that many believe could alter the business of fashion in years to come. Welcome to the age of PRAFA! Or PRAF? The Internet might still be undecided on what to call fashion’s most high powered pairing, but is unanimous in agreement that the move is major.
In short, Milan was a week of high drama. And yet, throughout it all, designers still managed to show an impressive line-up of incredibly desirable, wearable clothes. Here, the key talking points.
We Feel Seen
Increasingly, fashion can feel like a spectator sport with its imagery, shows, scandals and plot twists projected across countless screens. This idea took on a new meaning at Gucci and Versace where both shows turned the tables so that the audience members were the ones being watched. At Gucci, Michele’s models stood on a rotating stage that revolved around a ticking, neon-lit metronome. There they were, watching us watching them through moody, smoky lighting as dressers pulled pieces from rails of clothing and helped the models into pert baby-doll dresses with leather harnesses, retro suiting with top hats, ladylike coats and shaggy wig hats, and enormous, frilled gowns. It was the more is more maximalism that has defined Michele’s Gucci, but flipped inside out. The backstage area was in fact, the stage. And rather than walking out onto a runway fully dressed in Gucci regalia, the models started out wearing notably less — underwear and hosiery. The assembling of the looks, the making of the moment, was as compelling as the clothing themselves, if not more. Such is the state of fashion.
Similarly, Donatella Versace turned the cameras on her audience, leaving editors staring at a fun house-style projection of themselves in a dark room. It was meta. It was also Instagram bait of the highest order. Why bother with a front row selfie when you can take a photo of your face broadcast onto a giant screen? If you were tuned in on social media, you most likely saw a few of the many images editors posted of their front row reflections on social media as you did your morning #MFW scroll.
When it comes to turning a show into a social media hit, Donatella has always been savvier than most, having produced not one but two Internet-breaking moments with the supermodel reunion of 2017 and Jennifer Lopez’s surprise appearance on her spring/ summer ‘20 catwalk last year. This time, a cast of supers past and present including Gigi and Bella Hadid, Adut Akech, Kaia Gerber, Kendall Jenner, Binx Walton and Eva Herzigova gave star power to Donatella’s characteristically sexy clothes.
The models and the meta backdrop heightened the feeling that a runway show has evolved to become something much bigger than the mere prediction of what we’ll be wearing in six months time, but rather theatre and commentary on the state of play. Though let’s be clear, judging by the breadth of the clothes in the collection (a combined men’s and women’s show meant there were many, many looks), there will be plenty to want and wear from her trim, belted, broad-shouldered blazers to her clever updates on the little black dress (a slash of skin here, a bell sleeve there or a flounce of a mini skirt).
Back To Black
Amy Winehouse’s album Back to Black may have been the soundtrack to Dolce & Gabanna’s show last Sunday, but its title seems to be summing up an entire trend. Black has been inescapable this season, appearing in New York, London and all over Milan. Its return makes sense. With so many in the industry rethinking the way we consume fashion and advocating an approach that prioritises circularity and longevity, classic wear-with-anything-anytime black seems like a good way to go.
A gorgeously tailored noir coat that you can pull out over and over again throughout a lifetime, feels like a more ethical choice than the quick hit of a fleeting trend that might look dated in six months. This thinking was not lost on Team Dolce who celebrated craftsmanship throughout its show from start to finish. In the lobby, guests walked through an ‘atelier’ featuring cobblers and embroiderers at work on the way to their seats where video footage of Italian artisans hand-sewing garments played on large screens. Titled ‘fatto a mano,’ which means to marry the traditional with the contemporary, Domenico and Stefano Gabbana showed clothing that mainly stood out for its timelessness - the bejewelled coats, lace dresses and tuxedo jackets drove home the longevity of the brand and the story of Sicilian glamour that has converted so many Dolce & Gabbana fans over the years.
The brand wasn’t the only one to use black as a tool to emphasise Italy’s near peerless grasp on wearability and luxury. At Max Mara, lush, luxe, the-coat-is-the-outfit style outerwear was the star of the show. There were swaddling, tactile teddy coats and nylon jackets stuffed with padding made of recycled Max Mara cashmere scraps. Meanwhile at Sportmax, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary, the suiting and evening wear stood out. Both were strong reminders that zeitgeisty industry talking points come and go, but a woman still needs clothes to wear and a beautifully crafted piece that won’t go out of style is money well spent.
And should you need further proof that black is the new black, scroll through the Boss and Giorgio and Emporio Armani collections, which also went big on timeless investment dressing as a solution to mindless fashion consumption.
Heavy Fringe
Expect to see a wave of headlines declaring the ‘Fringe Benefits’ of getting dressednext fall. Everything from coats and bags to dresses and shoes came with shredded, swishy embellishments in Milan. In what was a highly anticipated third collection from Daniel Lee, Bottega Veneta owned the moment with enormous fringed shearling coats and dramatically shredded leather clutch bags that will most certainly dominate the street style circuit later this year, just as his cloud-like purses and square toed heels are doing right now. 'I had been asking myself really what is the point of fashion, you know what is the role of an artist today,' Lee said backstage. 'For me it really is something quite theatrical.’
It’s hard to overstate Lee’s influence at the moment — you see the impact of his minimalist, quilted and padded vision at every Zara, yes, but also on the runways of some of his peers. His impact was so definitive that the British Fashion Awards bestowed him with a whopping four trophies despite his having only been in the role for a year.
And so while fringe will obviously be big, Lee’s decision to take on the idea gives the look a stronger kind of currency and credibility. As does Miuccia Prada’s bejewelled take on the moment in her excellent show. Backstage, she explained that she wanted to show how femininity could epitomise strength: ‘I am always interested in the cliché of femininity and the contrasts between that which is perceived to be.’ So she juxtaposed masculine elements with conventionally ladylike ones: chunky knits decorated with dangling crystals, say, or a grey, broad-shouldered jacket and neck tie paired with a languid, tassel of a skirt.
Fringing also made an appearance at Boss where creative director Ingo Wilts used it as an accent on scarves and bags throughout his caramel, lavender and maroon suiting, dresses and separates. Wilts called his collection Generations, playing up his clothes’ appeal to Millennials, Xers and Boomers alike and driving home that sense of dressing for the long haul as seen at Max Mara, Armani and more this week. The thinking that clothes should last longer than the trend cycle was in the air. ‘The goal is to keep everything in use, and to make it as circular as possible,’ the model Amber Valletta said front row.
Age and Body Diversity
There was a different kind of generational dialogue happening at Fendi where Silvia Fendi showed her intelligent take on sexy dressing on a relatively diverse cast of models, that included Paloma Elsesser, Jill Kortleve, Karen Elson, Liya Kebede, and Irina Shayk. They drove home a point that seems obvious but is rarely reflected on the runway: that women come in all shapes, sizes, colours and ages. And the cast added depth to Silvia’s bold, confident clothes.
The Supers were trending throughout Milan whether it was Irina Shayk, Arizona Muse and Carolyn Murphy at Salvatore Ferragammo or Eva Herzigova at Versace. It’s always refreshing to see women in their 30s, 40s and older on the runway. These are, after all, the women who are most likely to afford the clothes. But how much more exciting a place would the runway be if designers dressed women in a wider range of sizes? As fashion leans into a decade that, less than two months in, has already been filled with big, probing questions, we should add that one to the list.
10 Hot Takeaways
1. Fringe is Big
2. Pink is Popular
3. Black is Back
4. Trousers Loosen Up
5. Coats Get Luxe
6. Bags Size Up
7. And Bags Size Down
8. Hemlines Inch Higher
9. And Boots Get Taller
10. The Eighties Gets The Call-Up
The Eighties was Milan’s decade of choice from Jeremy Scott’s rousing, feel-good, Marie Antoinette inspired show (made even more fun with a soundtrack of Souxie and the Banshees) to Alberta Ferretti’s boldly colourful trouser, boot and sports jacket combos and Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini’s upbeat retro frocks
READ MORE: The 5 Trends From Milan Fashion Week That You Can Buy Immediately