Milan fashion week brought new versions of archival icons revolutionizing the concept of the fashion show.
Milan Fashion Week has finally come to an end. After an exciting start to New York and London Fashion Week, one of the most awaited weeks in the Italian fashion capital arrived with incredible collections seen on the runway shows. After seasons of extravagance and statement-making maximalism, fashion is back to pragmatism with clothes you can actually wear.
From the distressed style coats at Diesel to the lively midi skirts and crew neck sweaters at Prada, the Italian fashion houses proposed pieces you will love wearing during the upcoming season. In addition, paying homage to aristo-punk culture and the surrealist works of Salvador Dali, Moschino’s Donna Autumn/Winter 2023 collection was a shock of pure electricity, finding appeal in its versatility. Gucci’s display was also softer than in past seasons. Along with several models in colourful furs and sheers, some walked the 70s-inspired stage in baggy jeans, relaxed suits and button-down shirts.
In addition to the best runway looks, we should also pay attention to the excellent trend proposals that emerged. Denim seemed to be the fabric of choice this season, from denim dresses with raw edges to oversized jackets, as well as cargo pants and quilted jackets. Rugged tailoring was also in abundance, with structured blazers and timeless coats in a variety of neutral tones completing the outfits. We also saw black as the main protagonist, as in lace, transparencies and lots of leather. Take a look below.
DOLCE & GABBANA
“Sensuality is an important aspect of femininity that has nothing to do with being sexy,” Dolce & Gabbana conveyed. It is, they asserted, more about charisma than beauty. As with their menswear collection in January, the designer duo eschewed the exaggeration toward which they have leaned in recent years and returned to what they offer really well: beautiful tailoring. The latest collection showcased pantsuits, coats, sheer black dresses, cropped lack jackets and shimmering gold and silver designs, including draped dresses and belted macs. The Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2023 collection also included looks in red, tights and shoes, white satin, chiffon dresses, pantsuits and coats.
GUCCI
For Fall 2023, the Gucci design team assembled a collection that seamlessly blended key elements of Michele’s Gucci with references to previous house designers, such as Tom Ford and Frida Giannini. “A free expression based on collective memories that blur the lines of time, it is an illustration of the beating heart of Gucci: the ecosystem of designers and artisans whose shared understanding of the Maison has been passed down and evolved from creative to creative for more than a century.”
The collection included relaxed suits, flared pants, faux leather ensembles, trench coats, striped shirts, baggy jeans and more. Leather chords, rhinestone-encrusted mesh dresses and the iconic Jackie bag also took center stage in the collection.
ROBERTO CAVALLI
In Roberto Cavalli’s Fall Winter 23/24 collection, the Italian brand’s creative director Fausto Puglisi designed for a free-spirited, sensual and wild-hearted woman. A proposal with luxurious faux fur, prints, denim, inspired by a balanced mix of muses like Milicent Rogers and Georgia O’ Keefe. Taking us on a journey to the American Southwest through a warm and earthy palette with notes of rose. A palette of warm, earthy colors took center stage, while denim blues, blacks and faux fur also made an appearance during the runway show. Turquoise stones were seen as opulent jewelry pieces. On the runway, the fabrics moved like water: shirts were open to the hilt and kimonos slipped down the back. Floor-length dresses flew, and wool coats also flooded the runway. “It’s my first real Cavalli collection,” declared creative director Fausto Puglisi.
DIESEL
Italian label Diesel unveiled its latest Fall 2023 collection during Milan Fashion Week. Against a giant backdrop of 200,000 condoms, Belgian creative director Glenn Martens wanted to nod to both sex positivity and explore themes of freedom, pleasure and experimentation. “We like to play at Diesel, and we are serious about it,” Martens said in a statement. “Have fun, respect each other, and be safe.”. Denim remained the protagonist, but it transformed. Models also strutted around the condom avalanche in ultra-low-rise jeans, denim garments, ripped silk dresses and more. The runway show was accompanied by a techno soundtrack to reinforce Diesel’s message of pushing boundaries. The collection also featured leftover nylon coated with plastic and heated, deadstock faux fur painted, blow-torched biker jackets, and more.
PRADA
Co-creative directors Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada unveiled their latest collection for Prada Fall 2023. The brand played with uniform dressing – as in clean, minimal and tailored. “Uniforms are sartorial representations of care and responsibility, transformed utilizing the aesthetic language of eveningwear,” it says in the show notes. “Wedding dresses, symbols of love, become everyday attire, their skirts proposed with sweaters as a new form of quotidian dress. This exchange, between the notion of the everyday and occasion wear, the familiar and the exceptional, gives a different importance to both.” – From Prada.
MOSCHINO
Creative director, Jeremy Scott, unveiled his latest Moschino Fall 2023 collection inspired by Salvador Dali’s iconic painting, “The Persistence of Memory”, which served as the inspiring muse for Scott’s Surrealism-inspired collection. Jeremy Scott also merged Salvador Dalí-esque surrealism inspirations with aristo-punk. The season was all about drama with distortion with a touch of luxury, of course, from oversized spikes to allover bijoux to morphing hem linen. “These (literally) twisted codes are creative director Jeremy Scott’s way of toying with convention and setting the stage for what follows: An insouciant punk spirit, dripping with decadence. As the collection progresses, this revolutionary verve surfaces, with spikes, for example, set along shoulder seams and skirt hems. A boxed-and-cropped blazer features the studs on its pronounced lapel, while a veritable jewel box is flung open across a satin evening bolero, down the cascade of a tulle ballgown or onto a sparkling tasselled 1920’s-era dress. It’s a surrealism-tinged rebellion – and one that’s doused with a spritz of nonconforming royalty.” – from Moschino.
