As it happens, we bring the recap of the best of Men’s Milan Fashion Week 2024, from Prada’s slimy curtains to Valentino’s return to menswear.
Valentino
Valentino officially returned to Milan on Friday to exhibit a men’s collection for Spring/Summer 2024 after three years of showing in a co-ed style. “Valentino The Narratives,” a fashion discourse on “what makes a man today,” took over the Università degli Studi di Milano Statale. It was directed by creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli.
At Milan Fashion week 2024, All-white, above-the-knee shorts were paired with sharp-shouldered blazers, buttoned coats, and collared shirts in the first looks. The next set of outfits, all in black, reinterpret traditional suiting conventions with slim ties poking out of knit overcoats and pointing to demure skirts. Here, a subdued color scheme provided a definite entry into the line’s more extensive masculine exploration.Valentino’s iconic Pink PP appeared for just one ensemble: a jacket, a blouse with flower embroidery, and pleated shorts.
Many pieces in the collection were tailored, somewhat oversized or elongated, and embellished with romantic embellishments, like blossoming floral designs and slogans from Yanagihara’s book written on bags and shirts (one of which read, “We are so old, we have become young again”). In addition, Piccioli saw a sense of fragility in the collection, alluding to the Japanese idea of “kintsugi” ( meaning, “golden seams”), which emphasizes the value of flaws and repairs. The line as a whole is eager to try new things while keeping in line with tradition and the codes of the House.
Emporio Armani
With the SS24 runway show, Emporio Armani went back to its roots. Giorgio Armani demonstrated what the Italian brand excels at while upholding the House’s guiding principles of modest sophistication and charming elegance. Wide-leg trousers billowed, duster coats swept at the ankles, tuxedo jumpsuits were slanted at the shoulders, and double-breasted waistcoats touched Italian history. Silhouettes were cut in fluid lines. A sophisticated color scheme of sand, white, and black allowed the craft to stand out when used in monochromatic appearances or when smoothly woven into one another.
The House combined international standards while drawing inspiration from Asian dress customs. The flower repeatedly appeared throughout, its petals perched atop the lapels of impeccable-cut blazers, loose-fitting lattice-cut sweaters, and Mandarin collars set against a backdrop of a massive golden ginkgo tree. Parachute trousers and sheer anorak style outerwear, in contrast to the refinement of buttery cream-colored silk suits, added a hint of the technical.
In honor of the brand’s ties to the international sporting event, having presented its first-ever collection one year before the 21st Olympic Games, the finale revealed a capsule version of the national kit set to be worn next summer at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Dolce & Gabbana
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana have returned to thinking about their origins now that they are on the official fashion week calendar. The Sicily they describe is now more essential and sublimated than immediately decorative. Still, more importantly, their contemplation of the archive and the past has led them to consider the concept of style this season, which inspired the SS24 show presented last Saturday.
The collection was called ‘stile,’ which featured exquisite black tailoring that was slim at the waist and flared out to a broader, voluminous pant. The collection’s name alludes to the rejection of fads in favor of something more timeless. Other recurring themes included a string of cinched-in silhouettes, sensually coiled fabric, and ongoing explorations of exposure and transparency (ranging from diaphanous sheer organza to lace pajama-style tailoring). Moments of ornamentation, such as a series of delicate flowers floating over jackets and blouses, demonstrated the Dolce & Gabbana atelier’s expertise.
The Dolce & Gabbana man has always been self-assured, sometimes to the point of smugness. He is masculine and ostentatious while also being virile and narcissistic. But with this new meditative tone, which is nothing more than the confidence with which the designers develop their language, this man loses his aggressive charge, and a quiet pride replaces his arrogance. He takes on composure and dignity that has been found fulfilled.
Magliano
The LVMH Prize-winning designer Luca Magliano just held his namesake company’s largest Milan Fashion Week 2024 exhibition. For Spring/Summer 2024, he plunged Magliano into the pits of depraved couture.
For the designer, SS24 was about repaying people who had helped him during his formative years. Previously, performances were staged in empty warehouses and other structures, frequently with a smaller audience and chairs arranged randomly. There isn’t a typical runway in sight.
This time, however, there was an elevated runway at “Palamagliano,” providing hundreds of showgoers with a full menswear and womenswear display. It used epigraphs, prayers, and expressions of gratitude while treating clothing as “talismans because of the events that have occurred
Magliano maintained his skillful manipulations of commonplace clothing with the collection, which was twisted in proportion, messy, and undone but exuded an air of elegance.
The designer painted a picture to overcome difficulties. In contrast, suit jackets were stretched to new experimental sizes, decoding formalities, while prison dungarees were tightened and fitted to subvert their contentious implications. All of it complemented Magliano’s most recent collection of shoes, which ranged from hiking boots to trainers inspired by European fashion from the early 2000s.
Gucci
The current menswear line from Gucci, the last collection produced by the internal design team before Sabato De Sarno took over as creative director, was inspired by the House’s “iconography” as a means of “adaptation, deconstruction, and reconstruction.” Specifically, the ‘Horsebit’ loafer, popularised by Aldo Gucci in 1953 and equipped with a tiny metal clip like that on a horse’s bridle. Alessio Ascari, a curator and creative director in Milan, brought together several artists at the Spazio Maiocchi for a special event to coincide with the menswear collection to reinterpret the style. Since it has become one of the House’s most recognizable emblems, it can be found on clothing, handbags, and shoes.
On Milan fashion week 2024, modern updates are made to classic silhouettes, and vintage elements are incorporated into fresh looks. This strategy is obvious from the very first glance. Yes, it is a checkered suit with a corresponding slinky, sleek vest top underneath that is high-waisted and double-breasted in line with House customs.
Contrarily, essentials are just that (even if they come with the extra luxury of being Gucci). Thus, lug sole loafers look preppy when worn with a royal blue GG logo sweater and knee-length skater shorts, as does a washed-black denim outfit that leans more towards work wear.
Prada
The Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons Spring/Summer 2024 menswear collection provides absolute freedom of the body, represented via the foundations of its clothing. The collection was recently displayed at the Fondazione Prada’s Deposito during the Prada SS24 Menswear Show in Milan Fashion week 2024.
Nine Inch Nail’s “Closer” echoed off the walls of a corrugated steel-covered space in the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada while slime rained from the ceilings. The name of the collection, “Fluid Form,” now made more sense than ever. The show didn’t only serve as a publicity stunt, as is customary for Raf and Miuccia; it perfectly matched the collection and everything it stood for.
Beginning with a simple black shirt, Prada quickly transformed the distinctive look into various fitted and tucked outfits. Shirts had thick V-necks that protruded into the bottoms of the shorts, giving the appearance of a boiler suit that Raf’s Prada had previously served us several times.
The idea of fluidity fluctuated as stiff eyewear contrasted with soft, cushiony, often structured items like bags. Equally strange were the shoes, with numerous models sporting a square-toed, angular slipper that wasn’t too far from the iconic Prada Cup if it were to become formal and futuristic retroactively. There was a sense of playfulness in each piece, and when combined with the slime, it brought to mind the clever Prada collections of the past.
D squared
At Milan fashion week 2024, a collaboration (and catwalk cameo) with Italy’s adult film star Rocco Siffredi, a whole moment for Julia Fox, and a tonne of Americana cues laced with innuendo were all delivered by the twin star brothers of fashion’s nasty side, Dean and Dan Caten.
Double-denim outfitted cowboys were just the start of a wonderful show. Even though the apparel in this location was distinctive, featuring star patches, distressed accents, and metallic leather, it only made way for even more overt NSFW components. Siffredi, who co-designed several items, such as belts, high tops, and water slides, was spotted sporting a relatively understated and formal ensemble consisting of a red T-shirt, front-pleated trousers, and a blue double-breasted blazer. A pair of sexy underwear was revealed to the audience without giving it all away. Preppy inspirations pervaded many looks as American motifs persisted. This dream included argyle socks, popped collars, jorts, and even the corset that included collegiate ideas.
Julia Fox provided a play on innocence in a white lace dress that mixed thong and bralette components. She wore it with matching stocking tights and white gogo boots. On the contrary, stereotypical American jocks wearing pastel yellow sweaters around their necks and crystal starfish-shaped rhinestones on their hips stormed the runway alongside intimidating guys with metallic shoulder padding.