Milan menswear shows, reviewed
The men’s shows in Milan have demonstrated a shifting tide around the codes of menswear.
If there was one mood to sum up the menswear shows in Milan this month it would be that anything goes. Also, that sensuality, an exaggerated shoulder and a power blouse is for everyone.
In any case, menswear continues to have a revamp.
No longer restricted to sober suiting and navy windbreakers, there is a sense of playfulness and experimentation in the air. This was spied everywhere from the floral appliqué blouses and nipped-in at the waist blazers at Prada worn with short shorts (indeed this is the season of the mid to upper thigh) to the delicate interpretations of typical masculine pieces such as tailoring and workwear at Valentino and Fendi.
Anthony Vaccarello certainly set the tone for menswear with his show in Berlin, sending halter neck tops, leopard print blouses and the bold shoulders beloved in his womenswear collections, down the runway.
The sense of putting the body on display — an MO worn by modern menswear style icons such as Timothee Chalamet, Lenny Kravitz and Jacob Elordi — was also to be found in the sheer black blouses at Dolce & Gabbana and the hooded sweatshirts with a deep V cutout at JW Anderson.
The languid sensuality in many collections was also spliced through with crisp and elevated essentials, from the precise anoraks at Tod’s to the smart interpretations, in leather and shearling, of workwear such as aprons reshaped as halter-neck shirting and work belts at Fendi. The collection was shown in the house’s new leather goods factory, 30 minutes outside Florence to underscore the artisan work in each piece.
At Gucci, which is still being caretaken by the studio until the first collection by new creative director Sabato De Sarno debuts in September, there was a welcome tussle between exploring the house’s heritage and its future. An homage to the 70th anniversary of the brand’s Horsebit loafer, still as desirable today, sat alongside sporty takes on office wear to suit today’s hybrid working world.
Perhaps the most explicit examination of codes of masculinity this season could be found at Valentino, where creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli paired softer tailored blazers with short shorts and skirts, his signature shade of fuchsia ‘PP Pink’ threaded through. Inspiration for the collection was taken from author Hanya Yanagihara’s challenging exploration of masculinity, A Little Life.
“The signifiers of power and success have so far defined the idea of masculinity,” Piccioli told reporters backstage after the show. “But I believe that true power and strength are about the freedom to show your own fragility and sensitivity.”
Or as Miuccia Prada also noted of the Prada show, “Now, in this time, we have to inject fantasy again, ideas.”
Truer words couldn’t have been said of a menswear season that contained multitudes.
The menswear shows continue in Paris this week with the hotly anticipated debut from new menswear creative director Pharrell Williams at Louis Vuitton, as well as Dior and Loewe on the calendar.
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