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From Madonna to metallics, perfume bottle heels to animal beanbags, Milan Fashion Week had a welcome playfulness this season. Some designers continued to prioritise commercial, wearable fashion rather than taking risks on more creative outputs amid a wider luxury slowdown in demand. However, others carved their own path and had some fun with great results.
“This season’s mood is exciting, with fresh energy and a strong focus on self-expression and freedom,” says Sev Halit, buying manager at high-end fashion and streetwear retailer End Clothing, which opened a store in Milan last year. “Designers are providing much-needed newness while also drawing inspiration from the past, creating a blend of nostalgia and futurism, and the feeling is most definitely uplifting.”
Here are four takeaways from the Spring/Summer 2025 edition.
Clawing back personal style
The standout shows came from brands that tapped into the joyfulness and individual expression of fashion. “There was a strong undercurrent of a clawing back of personal style, something that has been gradually dissipating in culture due to the sameness that algorithmic conditioning brings about,” says Celenie Seidel, womenswear fashion director at Farfetch. “There was an embrace of weirdness, of off-kilter ‘anything goes’-ness — and a rawness in the confidence of unfiltered individuality. There was also something about the embrace of the unexpected across the collections that felt like an intentional counter to the disorienting times we’re living in.”
Francesco Risso’s Marni, one of the opening shows of MFW on Tuesday afternoon, was a highlight. The show took place at the brand’s headquarters, with models weaving between chairs placed haphazardly at random angles around three grand pianos. The collection was constructed from 100 per cent cotton, fashioned into sharp, fitted suiting; patterned day dresses and heavily textured gowns. Marni grew 8.9 per cent in 2023, lagging behind other OTB brands like Margiela (up 23 per cent) and Diesel (up 13 per cent). But this collection, editors agree, was Risso at his best and could boost the label commercially.
At Bottega Veneta, the seating set the tone for the show: rows of colourful animal beanbags — including chickens, rabbits, cats, bears and elephants — gave a sense of whimsy and nostalgia. The overarching theme was that of childlike playfulness but with purpose. Each look by Matthieu Blazy evoked a character: a businessman wore a pink backpack after dropping off his daughter at school; another model carried a thin plastic bag ready for her trip to the supermarket. “In fashion now, especially here in Milan, we’ve seen a lot of playing it safe, of brands in rehash mode or standing in place. Blazy’s fashion, in contrast, looks free,” wrote Nicole Phelps in her review on Vogue Runway.
Alongside Bottega, buyers and editors who spoke to Vogue Business noted Prada as a highlight. This season, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons presented a collection radically different from the brand’s recent outings. The collection features a mishmash of parkas over silver mirrored gowns (now a trend), clashing textures, heavy metallic embellishments, exaggerated perforations in skirts and novelty headwear (notably bandanas and hats with built-in sunglasses). “Today is a period of endless information, driven by algorithms where each person sees their own version of the present, their own reality curated for them,” said Miuccia Prada in a statement. “We wanted not to critique but to engage with this idea, to open a dialogue inspired by our cultural moment.”
“[Prada’s] designs seamlessly melded retro and futuristic aesthetics, incorporating a juxtaposition of shiny surfaces with textured tweed, and clean, embellished details with a blend of sartorial and sporty influences,’ says Simon Longland, director of fashion buying at Harrods. “These opposing elements were skilfully intertwined, often within a single ensemble, resulting in a compelling and unmistakably Prada aesthetic.”
At Dolce Gabbana, designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana also offered an escape from the world with a show dedicated to glamorous blondes like Madonna and Marilyn Monroe; guests went wild when Madonna took her seat at the show.
What does commercial mean?
While there was a sense of optimism in Milan this season, you could still feel the ringing of the luxury slowdown at the shows. “I feel like everyone’s trying to figure out what commercial means? What is our version of commercial?” Buchanan says. “Prices are skyrocketing, people are shopping less. So what do people really want to buy, and how can we make it ours? It’s a very difficult moment. And you can see it in the creative process for sure.”
Bally was hot-tipped for this season, and editors feel creative director Simone Bellotti — who was named design director last May — delivered and is already developing strong brand codes and products while presenting a creative new vision for the label. “In a very short amount of time, [Bellotti] has created some real hallmarks. I went around at the show, just looking at the shoes and so many people were wearing the Bally plume moccasin,” Buchanan says. “And I saw more people wearing it outside the show. I think he has a really solid and chic idea of what that brand is.”
Brands were keen to flex their craftsmanship muscles this season as shoppers become more discerning. At Matteo Tamburini’s second act at Tod’s, 60 artisans worked at a long table in the show space before the show, demonstrating how they assemble the brand’s Gommino moccasin. During the show, models walked underneath a giant sculpture of hands holding a ribbon by artist Lorenzo Quinn. “Designers are often confronted with a choice: they can either conform their creative vision to the demands of marketing and play it safe, or they can opt for a more courageous, innovative approach. I chose to pursue the latter, to create something more impactful,” the designer said at a press conference pre-show, per Vogue’s Tiziana Cardini.
For Gucci’s SS25 show, Sabato de Sarno returned to art and design museum La Triennale (where he hosted the men’s show in June). Gucci is going through a prolonged sales slump, which started before de Sarno’s arrival, but the designer doesn’t appear to be feeling the pressure — presenting a wearable collection that celebrated the brand’s popular Bamboo 1947 bag and featured its much-coveted horsebit motif across a range of shoe styles including ballerina flats and boots. There was an “elusive casual attitude that he hasn’t quite nailed before”, noted Phelps, who observed that de Sarno’s Gucci is gradually gaining more fans.
For some emerging brands, commerciality came from collabs with sportswear giants. Avavav designer Beate Karlsson staged her usual viral show stunt — this time challenging her models to run a 100m race — to celebrate the brand’s new Adidas collaboration. The Attico, meanwhile, showcased its ongoing partnership with Nike.
According to Carlo Capasa, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI), commercial should also mean conscious. Milan Fashion Week rounded off on Sunday night with the Camera della Moda Italiana Sustainability Awards, held at Teatro della Scala. Winners included Diesel, which took home the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Award for Circular Economy for its efforts with recycled denim and Brunello Cucinelli, who took home the Visionary award for his approach to sustainable innovation.
The new names to know
Milan gained an extra day this season to give the packed schedule more time. It wasn’t all smooth sailing, with two delayed flights from London leading some to miss Fendi’s show on Tuesday. But there was a little more breathing room this season for new names to emerge.
At Del Core, designer (and Gucci alum) Daniel Del Core presented a more varied vision this season based on the idea of a studious scientist who is also a fashion fan. Models, wearing sheer separates and suiting, walked with various canonical books under their arms, from Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse to Susan Sontag’s Against Interpretation. Later, as Cardini put it, the scientist then “shed her pristine chrysalis and transformed into an extravagant creature of the night”. Naomi Campbell closed the show, cementing the feeling that Del Core is hitting maturity.
Another younger rising brand is Durazzi, founded by Margiela and Balenciaga alum Ilenia Durazzi last year. The brand held a creative presentation in its new, bigger studio space in Milan. The models performed a slow contemporary dance, interspersed between melting “ice” sculptures, wearing Durazzi’s signature artisanal tailoring and coats with intricate embroidery. Launched just last year, the brand is growing steadily, said founder Ilenia Durazzi at the presentation, having picked up some stockists in South Korea last season.
While some names broke through, there’s still space for more talent to catch buyer attention.
“The Milan schedule, as usual, was dominated by established designers, which always seems to overshadow emerging talent in the city. Currently, most of the new brands on our radar are showing in either London or Paris and Milan felt pretty quiet again on the new designer front this season,” Halit says.
Trends to watch: yellow, metallics and fringing
With its focus on classicism, Milan isn’t perhaps known for launching trends. But with an injection of individuality from key brands this season, some newer aesthetics have emerged.
Many brands brought drama to their collections with light-reflecting metallic dresses and sculptural shapes. “Opulence and volume have really stolen the show for SS25,” says Halit. “I am personally loving the embellishment and metallics, particularly the flashes of silver [seen at Prada, The Attico, Bottega and Gucci; there was also gold at Versace]. This season, it feels like designers are catering for our many moods and needs: playful, flirty and feminine or, in contrast, on the go, formal, and tomboy. Quiet luxury has had an upgrade.”
Key items for the season so far include scoop neck corsets, sheer layers and skirts of all lengths, as well as polo tops and statement formal trousers, she adds. As predicted, yellow has been a standout colour, showing up in Milan at Gucci, Versace, Prada and Jil Sander.
This season, some of Milan’s sexiest, edgiest labels leaned into the slightly more feminine, coquettish mood we saw in London. Diesel featured a smattering of florals (albeit amid a very sexy collection of dechiré denim and bodycon silhouettes). The show was heavily focused on denim, and the set featured a sea of denim offcuts, which will be turned into Diesel Rehab jeans.
As the boho revival carries on, suede surfaced across many runways this season. There were suede bags at Iceberg’s 50th-anniversary show; suede coats and suits at Prada, Versace and Fendi. Fringing was another key trend, from traditional fringed suede to more creative, beaded or crystal fringing at Missoni, The Attico and Andreadamo. At Diesel, long fringing was slung around the neck like a scarf on leather-look coated denim jackets and suits.
Versace’s collection featured floral prints in shades of lilac and yellow and sculptural floral brooches made from recycled plastic bottles and cigarette butts. The collection was inspired by the 90s, which Donatella felt was a “joyful moment” in contrast to present times, as she explained at a preview ahead of the show. The collection also featured some novelty, with high heels made from Versace Bright Crystal perfume bottles or the stem of champagne coupes. “Fashion sometimes wants to give a very intellectual message. But with what’s going on in the world, we need a lot of positivity, you know?”
With additional reporting from Kirsty McGregor
This article was updated to include information about the CNMI Sustainability Awards (24 September).
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