This is our roundup of Milan Fashion Week. Read on for our star moments.
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Office Wraps Milan Fashion Week FW23
GCDS
Big yellow eyes tick-tocked back and forth, scanning the latest GCDS collection. Not the beloved Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, but the cat of Founder and Creative Director, Giuliano Calza, Kittho, who intended to “reduce the distance between his perceived public persona, and who he really is.” His beloved cat drew us closer to home in the Fall Winter 2023 collection. At Palazzo del Ghiaccio, Calza presented tactile yellow gowns, pink tweed suits, tailored dress shirts, and blazers with an attitude of sophistication and an air of playfulness similar to that of a cat.
Jil Sander
Luke and Lucie Meier, inspired by their formative years, presented their latest Jil Sander collection “cross-contaminated” where they — and all of us — are today. Bjork’s “All Neon Like” soundtracked the show as models appeared from an extra-extra large garage door at the back of the show space. Out of pitch black, models came riding dressed with balaclavas paired with tailored blazers and jackets reflecting the minimalist approach Jil Sander is known for. Subtle textures, including coats and dresses, added softness to clean-cut silhouettes. In an ode to what is "simple and positive," cherries and candied motifs were stamped across tops in an attempt to recover a child-like hopefulness — even when it’s hard to.
Prada
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons gave essential workers their flowers with their Fall Winter 2023 women’s collection. Uniforms respond to the political environment of war, health, and economy, through the mode of evening-wear in the season’s most modest show yet, Taking Care. A moving ceiling — in notion to the men’s show – at Deposito of the Fondazione Prada extended and reduced with beams roped with floral decorations. Skirts arranged with white petals proposed to sweaters in “sartorial representations of care and responsibility” as a gesture to anti-glamour. But where we would expect classism, Prada acknowledged the care nurses, teachers, and cleaners offer with cashmere capes, epaulettes and functional pockets as a uniform for their jobs, even in daily crises. The song, “In Every Dream Home A Heartache,” harmonized the emptiness of glamour but with affection towards their atelier and the detailed care they give — like to handcrafted calico flowers — which is why they well-deserved their bouquet.
Gucci
In the midst of the transition from Alessandro Michele to the new Creative Director of Gucci, Sabato De Sarno, the latest Fall/Winter 2023 collection is all thanks to the Gucci hub. Puce green carpeting gave way to a 1970’s conversation pit-like stage filled with influencers as models descended from stainless steel elevators to grace the floor. What was most eye-catching were the celebrities front-row like A$AP Rocky, Florence Welch, Xiao Shan. The star-studded audience kept their attention on the looks that came down the runway, such as the eye-catching heart-shaped faux fur-collared coats. To close the show, the design team took their final bow in place of the usual Creative Director.
MM6 Maison Margiela
Backstage on-stage left models exposed throughout the MM6 Maison Margiela presentation. As we were guided into an all-black room, long and thin, we were presented with a classic runway, tried and true. For the Fall Winter 2023 co-ed collection, there was no barrier keeping the audience from seeing the models being styled and then directed to prepare for their runway walk. Although all was seen, all was not what it seemed as modular pieces erected the improbable through deceptive construction methods. Lined with mirrors, the show space in Navigli played on surfaces and perception to add to the illusion of height — on top of us having to look up to view the collection. Familiar garments were presented in new contexts including the Numeric Bag with a silver foil finish and Japanese Bag with triple handles. In the classic MM6 group of three method, “unexpected fabric textures and treatments are irreverently spliced, disrupting preconceived associations of particular garments, textiles and silhouettes” were each designed in three variations.
Moschino
The memory of cheese melting in the sun distorted a familiar theme synonymous with Moschino: Tropes. Creative Director of Moschino, Jeremy Scott, showed classic elegance but with surrealist alterations in his “aristocratic punk” Fall/Winter 2023 collection. Inspired by Salvador Dalí, hems melted off of classic tweed skirt-suits and leather-cut little black dresses with moto detailing. The roc’n’roll edge was amplified by Hairstylist, Paul Hanlon, in his installation of the spiked-dos (where did he install the spiked-dos) over the span of three months — he even pressed his son’s hair into each “shattered glass” style.
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Milan Fashion Week: Bally and Bottega Veneta FW23
Shown in the Casa Degli Atellani, the 15th century dwelling of Leonardo Da Vinci when he painted The Last Supper, the collection took on a monumental, cinematic allure. The historic residence heightened the clothes' inherent glamour and eschewed the fleeting moment for the movie. It was a sensorial experience. Models interacted with those in attendance, shattering the invisible barrier tied to traditional showcases. Award-winning producer Mike Dean further elevated the star-studded affair with a soundscape that felt both known and new.
While inspired by the icons of the silver screen, the clothes embodied the après-ski aesthetic embedded in Bally since their start in 1851. Rhuigi demonstrated an understanding of the house's DNA, and carried that into the present with his bold sense of style and eye for modern luxury.
The collection explored the dualities of strength and sensuality across menswear and womenswear with oversized faux fur coats, puffers quilted in archival diamond matelassé, and several snakeskin trenches in vibrant colors, from burgundy to purple. Leather, metallics, and knitwear were softened by touches of lace that all together created a heightened sense of everyday drama.
It was extra, and we loved every part, from the handbags, footwear, and jewelry that demanded main-character attention to the all-over logomania with the Bally emblem that reinforced the brand’s new, yet familiar, era.
If there was a house that epitomized timelessness this season, it was Mathieu Blazy's Bottega Veneta. Blazy's 'Italia' trilogy show was a season-defining moment that introduced a new Bottega Veneta through a conflation of the country's past, present, and future.
This season the invitation to the show was a leather watch strap with no watch on it, hinting at the collection's psychological terrain. To further set the stage, Blazy borrowed timeless bronzes, three of his favorite artworks, and put them amid the plaza where the models walked: the famous bronze runners of Pompeii from 1BC, and in the other room, the 1913 sculpture by the Italian futurist Umberto Boccioni, "Unique Forms of Continuity in Space."
Blazy drew on the mythology of antiquity and Futurism's shape of things to come to capture the randomness of a carnival parade. In this parade, a cast of character archetypes descended the runway, individual characters, who might be walking down the street. He skewed the idea of 'getting changed' from its everyday meaning in the early silhouettes to its fantastical promises later on, where a new mythology took shape. People in states of change — just waking up, getting undressed, swapping garments — became Roman priests, Agnelli-like playboys, and later, chimerical sirens of the screen and of the sea.
The first look — a transparent white chemise and bed socks made of knitted leather — represented the 'bombshell' archetype in her morning glory. It raised the question of what constitutes as chic and when that even begins. The knitted leather socks, mirrored by other trompe-l’œil creations like a white striped Oxford shirt, boxer shorts, and 'grey flannel' pyjamas, all realized in Nappa leather, alongside intrecciato woven accessories throughout, further demonstrated Blazy's understated yet highly technical style.
It was all ultimately a story of transformation, as well as, a matter of personal taste. From the woven rugs that hinted at Blazy's favorite gelato, stracciatella, to his signature style, leather manipulated to look unlike itself. If there was a point, it was that dressing up should be bold, intentional, and fill the wearer with the confidence to be whoever.
Monochromatic With DET BLEV SENT
DET BLEV SENT rematerialized a vintage windbreaker jacket with lambskin and calf hair worn by Vincent Cassel from La Haine. Denim with Italian baby mohair fuses nobility and function. The combination of nylon and baby mohair wool emotes both human-made and natural fabrications. Shirts in the collection have a detachable hoodie to show both formal and informal attitudes, which are juxtaposed with oversized, rounded silhouettes within the garments. Collection styles are now available on detblevsent.com.
