Less is more at Milan’s menswear shows

Reductionist tailoring, conscious cashmere, one-shoulder knitwear and Baguette bags stole the show in the Italian fashion capital.

The Ermenegildo Zegna catwalk. Picture: AFP

When it comes to fashion, many would argue that simpler is better.

At least that’s the mood of ­designers in Milan this autumn/winter 2023 menswear season, who were unified in streamlined ­visions of the future with elements of gender fluidity.

Take Prada, the Italian brand known for its ability to set widespread trends, where design duo Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons were inspired by the “primacy of clothes”.

This meant “reductionist” tailoring – think lightweight, slim and pointy collars on button-up shirts, hooded puffer jackets, and minimal flowing trench coats that were the direct opposite of the excess that has reigned in previous ­seasons.

Prada Uomo FW23.

Fendi Look 2.

An understated energy was similarly reflected at Ermenegildo Zegna, where the pioneering menswear brand put forward collarless coats and blazers in monochromes and muted colours.

One look, a camel-coloured trench coat paired with wide-leg tailored trousers and a slouchy bag to be slung over the shoulder, spoke to an emerging desire for outerwear that’s equally unstructured, comfortable, and enduring. It’s not just beautiful fashion, but conscious-minded, too.

This season, Zegna championed garments composed of its “Oasi cashmere”, which will be fully traceable by 2024, in the process encouraging other luxury players to be more transparent with their supply chain.

Over at Fendi, designer Silvia Venturini Fendi filtered themes of gender fluidity into her collection, which consisted of off-shoulder wool tops and deconstructed shirts to exhibit the body.

The Prada fashion show.

The Prada Ready to Wear Fall/Winter 2023-2024 fashion show.

A collection equally tailored for both formal dressing and embracing the everyday, the mostly black, blue and camel-coloured line-up was dotted with shades of purple and sequin accoutrements, while tongue-in-cheek bread-shaped handbags were a playful riff off the brand’s ­“Baguette” bag, made famous by Carrie Bradshaw on Sex and the City. Despite these bold elements, timelessness was clearly on the mind.

It was also on the agenda at Gucci where the brand’s in-house design team showed perhaps its most commercial collection to date in the wake of the departure of its lauded creative director Alessandro Michele.

All of which bears wondering whether this more pared-back ­approach will continue in Paris later this week.