Tailoring traditions and the cosmopolitan spirit at Milan Fashion Week

The final days of Milan Fashion Week unfolded through a range of contrasting visions, from the functional elegance of Loro Piana and the nautical romance of Ermanno Scervino to Gucci’s reimagined classics. The event came to a close on a note of lightness, with sunny days, a packed show schedule and that unmistakable city atmosphere in which fashion naturally becomes part of everyday life. It was the perfect moment to look back at Milan and reflect on a season that was vibrant, dynamic and full of fresh ideas.

Here are the key collections from the closing days of Milan Fashion Week.

Loro Piana

The masters of quiet luxury, Loro Piana, continue to explore clothing as a thoughtful response to the demands of everyday life. Functionality lies at the heart of the collection, never at odds with elegance but rather serving as its natural extension. The wardrobe evolves with the season, transitioning from cooler days to the height of summer, gradually shedding layers and becoming lighter. The focus is on archetypal pieces, refined to their most understated and timeless essence. Among them are a camel-coloured coat-jacket, a cape and the little black dress, all crafted from materials that define the Loro Piana aesthetic. The signature silhouette retains its elongated proportions, fluid lines and layered construction, while becoming even more practical. Cashmere, linen and silk establish a coherent material rhythm throughout the collection, reflecting the gradual warming of the season. The palette moves from muted, earthy tones to dusty pastels and rich mineral hues, as though softened by sunlight. Coats maintain their defined structure, capes envelop the figure, bombers acquire a more substantial feel, and raincoats fulfil their protective purpose. Tweed jackets, hunting-inspired outerwear and expedition-style pieces introduce practicality and a subtle spirit of adventure. As summer approaches, constructions become more relaxed: sleeves shorten, layers open up, and silhouettes gain airiness and movement. Prints appear sparingly, as if faded by the sun, while beachwear elements move effortlessly from the waterside to moments of leisure. Footwear ranges from ballet flats and urban loafers to new trainers and espadrilles, reinforcing the collection’s light and functional character.

Photo: PR Loro Piana

Photo: PR Loro Piana

Photo: PR Loro Piana

Gucci

Demna presented his personal vision for the House following a year of research and exploration. Staged in a specially created setting resembling a new Gucci boutique, the show served both as a runway presentation and a stage for a cast of distinct characters. At its heart was a vision of luxury as a world one longs to belong to, yet one that everyone can interpret differently. The menswear offering opened with sharply tailored black-and-white suits, followed by looks featuring blazers, jackets, white trousers and knitwear inspired by the classic American wardrobe. Leather, bold red-and-green stripes and monogram details lent everyday pieces a more distinctive character. The womenswear collection continued the theme of everyday elegance, introducing suits with pronounced shoulders, blouses paired with skirts, checked pleated skirts and chain jewellery. Eveningwear brought a more dramatic dimension through asymmetric dresses with soft pleating or figure-hugging silhouettes, including sparkling designs alongside vivid, black and white creations. Despite the collection’s restrained overall character, Demna maintained a distinctive edge through reinterpreted Gucci symbols, unexpected details and the juxtaposition of classic codes with bolder styling.

Photo: Tagwalk

Photo: Tagwalk

Photo: Tagwalk

Ermanno Scervino

Travel provides the starting point for a wardrobe in which nautical romance meets the spirit of rock ’n’ roll. The imagery of a pirate voyage runs throughout the collection, bringing together sailing ships, distant horizons, palm-fringed shores and the dissonant energy of electric guitars. Textures appear weathered by long days of sun, wind and sea salt: leather recalls charred wood, linen evokes sailcloth, and suede takes on the hues of rope. The palette centres on chalk and salt white, deep marine blue and ultramarine, complemented by sandy, straw, golden and camel tones. Golden and copper ribbons, metallic threads and silk weaves become expressive details against raw fabrics and crocodile-embossed leather. The pirate-inspired jacket, both substantial and lightweight, is paired with a voluminous duchesse satin skirt, men's jeans or leather shorts, highlighting the interplay between structure and sensuality. Femininity emerges through a sheer knitted jumpsuit, a sculptural corset and a lace underskirt, while a classic tuxedo shirt is unexpectedly styled with an asymmetric mini skirt. Accessories extend the spirit of travel: a new doctor bag crafted from hand-finished leather is joined by raffia bags, woven baskets and denim styles embroidered with palm trees. Ermanno Scervino’s nautical narrative thus becomes a free-spirited summer wardrobe in which utilitarian details, pirate-inspired references and feminine fluidity embark on the same journey.

Photo: PR Ermanno Scervino

Photo: PR Ermanno Scervino

Photo: PR Ermanno Scervino

Barbara Rizzi

Inspired by Chiang Kai-shek, Barbara Rizzi explores strength as the foundation of individuality in her Anima collection, transforming memory, discipline and character into a precise visual language. The starting point is the designer’s personal history: a phrase spoken by her father at her birth, which became a symbol of a character unwilling to conform to the expectations of others. Chiang Kai-shek is reinterpreted beyond military aesthetics, with Rizzi focusing on resilience, endurance, discipline and the ability to remain true to oneself in the face of adversity. Military references give way to inner strength, while the notion of armour becomes a metaphor for character. Vertical silhouettes lend the looks a sense of composure and definition, while the fabrics both follow the body's contours and restrict movement, creating a deliberate sense of tension. Softness is never positioned in opposition to strength; instead, the two exist on equal terms, shaping a contemporary vision of confident femininity. The palette revolves around deep brown, green, copper and champagne, each shade revealing a different facet of authority, control, time and understated refinement. Rather than reproducing the past literally, the collection filters history through the designer’s personal perspective, transforming it into an independent language of contemporary identity. Each look balances movement with restraint, softness with discipline, and heritage with modernity.

Photo: PR Barbara Rizzi

Photo: PR Barbara Rizzi

Photo: PR Barbara Rizzi

Marco Rambaldi

Marco Rambaldi draws inspiration from the idea of a room in Virginia Woolf’s essays, reimagined as a contemporary, sensual and open space where self-expression can unfold freely. The vision is shaped in part by the work of Lisetta Carmi and Nan Goldin, whose photography explores intimacy, dignity, marginality and chosen families. Loungewear sets, cardigans, silk slip dresses, scarves and small bags evoke the intimate ritual of preparing to step out into the world. Deconstructed double-layer tops, long-sleeved pieces with a layered effect and skirts that suggest the moment of undressing introduce a sense of transience and effortless nonchalance. The celebratory side of domestic life emerges through blouses and airy slip dresses in crêpe de Chine, designed to move freely with the body and accompany everyday gestures. Another vision of domesticity draws on Casa Vianello, a satirical portrayal of bourgeois family life, reflected in playful interpretations of classic tailoring, knitted twinsets and prints depicting laundry hanging out to dry. Everyday materials take on unexpected forms: crochet appears over denim, emerging through distressed openings, while familiar floral wallpaper patterns are transformed into motifs on mesh, satin and textured jacquard.

Photo: PR Marco Rambaldi

Photo: PR Marco Rambaldi

Photo: PR Marco Rambaldi

Phillip Plein

Philipp Plein presents a cosmopolitan vision shaped by constant movement, an intense lifestyle and the aesthetics of the contemporary music scene, bringing these influences into everyday dressing. The collection is grounded in a dark, neutral palette enlivened by striking accents of blue. Premium leather, denim and floral motifs establish a distinctive balance between ruggedness and contemporary refinement. Daywear maintains a sense of restraint and clean lines, reinterpreting grunge elements through a more polished and considered lens. Suits emphasise the strength of the silhouette while remaining functional, and streamlined ensembles acquire a sensual, confident character. Oversized bags, clutches and backpacks complement the image of the modern traveller, for whom practicality becomes an integral part of personal style. Summer suits with shorts introduce a dynamic note to the wardrobe, suited to an easy daytime rhythm that extends to leisurely aperitivo moments. Eveningwear heightens Philipp Plein’s signature theatricality, combining shimmering dresses with the brand’s distinctive approach to elegant evening tailoring.

Photo: PR Phillip Plein

Photo: PR Phillip Plein

Photo: PR Phillip Plein

Hui Milano 

HUI founder and designer Huizhou Zhao builds her practice around a dialogue between Chinese culture and the international fashion system. Here, the East is not defined by the past but presented as a constantly evolving culture, capable of preserving its roots while generating new meanings. The collection, titled The fan code, explores memory, women’s culture and the living traditions of craftsmanship. Its starting point is the round fan, approached not simply as a recognisable symbol of the East but as a gateway to a deeper understanding of Chinese culture. Through this object, the brand examines how cultural memory is preserved and transformed through people, gestures and everyday practices. Women of the Miao ethnic group in Guizhou hold a central place in this vision, having passed down knowledge through generations of weaving, embroidery, textile dyeing and sewing. This perspective finds a contemporary expression in garments where historical motifs, colours, textures and artisanal elements are fragmented, reinterpreted and assembled into new proportions and silhouettes. Printed silk, sheer materials and more structured fabrics create expressive contrasts between softness and form, openness and concealment, movement and restraint.

Photo: PR Hui Milano

Photo: PR Hui Milano

Photo: PR Hui Milano

Casa Preti 

The idea of Palermo becomes an act of protest for Casa Preti, representing an explicit rejection of fascism and any form of its presence in contemporary society. The collection asserts the need to resist violence while questioning the images, seductions and messages that people choose to trust. The line explores the contemporary perception of images: how they are created, circulated, consumed and assigned new meanings. At its centre is the figure of Saint Sebastian, whose repeated reproduction becomes a metaphor for the gradual loss of an image’s original significance. The team examines the mechanisms of modern capitalism that turn images and emotions into objects of consumption. Palermo serves not only as a source of inspiration but also as a symbol of returning home, while sirens emerge as both mythological creatures and protectors, urging resistance to the temptations of the capitalist system. Lingerie, shirts, windbreakers and jeans are reimagined in silk, denim and fully recycled and recyclable nylon. Beneath the apparent restraint of the garments lies a broader statement on freedom, violence and the mechanisms through which force reduces the complexity of reality to something deceptively simple.

Photo: PR Casa Preti

Photo: PR Casa Preti

Photo: PR Casa Preti