Belgium at the Beach

Photos courtesy of JordanLuca

JordanLuca is a case in point: amid the brand’s offerings, traditional tailoring was constructed with a wide take on shoulders, using new fusing techniques for JordanLuca to maintain the silhouette and create a broadening effect. Just about everything a hypebeast could ask for: A vision of monolithic confidence, representing the everyday businessman, a statement of power, subverting formality but remaining functional, appearing quite like a nod to masculine dressing that met a poised degree of severity, particularly in the gray suiting galore. 

Speaking of sartorial poise, Brunello Cucinelli delivered a Fall outing that had shapes, a hallmark of men's style, taking on a new and modern attitude. Coats with tailored shoulders, elegant trench coats and traditional outerwear jackets were revisited in a much pared-back way, with silhouettes that enhance the male physique due to distinct yet comfortable designs. Suits with a dynamic personality are more than just formalwear staples, they are first and foremost a form of versatile elegance for everyday looks and convivial moments alike. A versatility that takes central place in Domenico Orefice’s Fall outing, which showcases a genderless collection that places itself within new generation sportswear, where tailoring and craftsmanship collide. Well, it worked in parts, but to “exemplify the degree of difficulty of aid climbing and the risk parameter,” as the notes detail, one wouldn’t go climbing in a tousled dress with no sleeves nor actual winter practicality to it.

Photos courtesy of MSGM

A brilliantly executed functionality that veered on the soft edge of elegance for Massimo Giorgetti’s MSGM collection, staging a show in the subway of the revered Porta Venezia district. “I’m obsessed with this place, and for this season I present a collaboration with Fondazione Franco Albini, the genius who designed the module of the subway in 1964,” said Giorgetti in an interview post show, detailing his willingness to execute a collection that resonated with the entire Milanese community. “It’s a kind of ironic reflection of the life’s ever frantic speed, which reflects on the state of our times like that of our daily routines that go really fast; we run everyday, so the central point is to see these clothes as a weapon of freedom against the damned constructs of the world we live in.” The show had energy, and this season the labels’ loyalists will zoom in on familiar items — like the loose knits — or venture deep into the unfamiliar, like brooches and inlaid decorations which appeared on this season’s coats. Among the on-trend surprises: prints were created thanks to images and unique patterns taken using the features of the Google Pixel 8 and its camera based on artificial intelligence. 

On the more sustainable side of the story, Simon Cracker echoed, like every season, an ethically-minded edge that looks to the practice of upcycling and maxi tailoring. This season’s theme centered on the patterns of sleep, which is translated by the creasing on wide shirting and flat slippers. “The idea is that of introducing the transition when we wake up at night time, when the senses absorb themselves and where everything becomes blurred, lines go out of focus, colors fade and consciousness drifts,” they said backstage. Clothes took a dusty spin thanks to old opaque sequins, and silvery paints where sharpness is softened and the identity lays on traditional men’s tailoring. There were some decent outerwear pieces whizzed here and there, but it’s about time for Cracker to fully re-engage with a fresher take on upcycling that kicked off as such an integral part of his oeuvre. An oeuvre that garnered all manner of functionality at Stone Island, staging their Fall show which revisited their hallmark staples. In terms of creative excitement and differentiation, the show left a conundrum for industry insiders: it was rather unclear what the outcome of lights flashed across near-to-mummified models actually meant, but I imagine it left some puzzlement over whether leaving the house, on a frosty Friday evening, was such a wise move.

Photos courtesy of Simon Cracker

It was soon back to business as usual with the pool of neutrals and classicism that filled the reference boards of designers this season. Perhaps it’s a sign of the times that the best offerings were the one that kept shape to a seductive minimum. All in all, it turns out that not only can the Milan scene pull from archives to rework minimalism, but in one way or another it can be improved by it.