Everyone has a mental image of what Italian elegance looks like. More often than not, it is one rooted in the mid-century, postwar period when Italian ready-to-wear truly boomed. This season, designers at Milan Fashion Week seem to be thinking about how to retain that spirit while pushing it forward into the 21st century. A certain lightness of being seems to be the running theme. At Fendi, Kim Jones deployed dazzling couture techniques on what were otherwise everyday essentials. Donatella Versace used riotous print and colour in one of her freshest, most youthful collections in a while and at Prada, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons turned the notion of ladylike chic on its head with a dynamic, freewheeling collection.
FENDI
In 2025, the House of Fendi will mark its 100th year in existence. This led Kim Jones to ruminate on the period when the brand was founded by Adele Fendi. The most obvious result of this thought process was in the spring/summer 2025 collection’s opening looks—a trio of sheer little dresses embroidered with Art Deco motifs. But rather than doing a straight-up redux of '20s flapper dresses, Jones smartly made the silhouettes more evocative of ‘90s minimalism.
From there on, Jones presented a collection that was all softness and sensuality, filled with light diaphanous layers and effortless silhouettes like tank, t-shirt and handkerchief dresses. Of course, this being Fendi, these pared-back pieces were made precious with intricate embroideries. Other examples of Jones’ expert elevation of the everyday included robes in shaved mink, and an oversized tee in creamy white croc suede. On their feet, models sported work boots made in collaboration with Red Wing, which lent an appealingly grittier counterpoint to the dreamy gauziness of the clothes. This mix of ease and elegance, of the casual and the opulent, made for one of Jones’ strongest Fendi ready-to-wear collections yet.
Photos courtesy of Fendi.
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PRADA
Ladylike behaviour? We don’t know her. For their spring/summer 2025 Prada outing, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons sent out an attitude-laden collection that twisted the notions of good taste and propriety—in some cases, quite literally, with dress straps, skirt hems and shirt collars distorted into strange new forms.
Sophistication with a heaping dose of subversion was the duo’s ammo this season. Shift dresses were pierced with dozens of jangling rings; knee-length skirts came with giant holes cut out of them; and pleated skirts were suspended from leather belts by metal hooks.
Prada and Simons’ main goal this season was to upend expectations and conventions. In a way, the collection they presented served as a kind of resistance to algorithm-driven predictability. Mirrored and feathered cocktail dresses that would have been ultra glamorous were instead paired with technical windbreakers in raver neons. Other unlikely combos included ball skirts worn with grungy t-shirts, and mariniere knits over flapper skirts.
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The accessories heightened the kooky individualism of it all—especially the gargantuan, graphic sunglasses that brought to mind superhero masks; and the endless parade of Prada’s most beloved shoes from collections past, reinterpreted in fun, fresh ways. At a Milan Fashion Week that has been otherwise dominated by a very classical kind of chic, this Prada collection provided a much-needed shock to the system.
Photos courtesy of Prada.
GUCCI
Now one year into his tenure at Gucci, Sabato De Sarno has expanded his range with a spring/summer 2025 collection that demonstrated a wider variation in silhouette. Where his first two womenswear collections for the House focused on a lean, abbreviated line heavily informed by 60s Mod aesthetics, here, De Sarno has switched things up a bit—and the resulting collection was all the better for it.
The looks that made immediately clear this shift in direction were the silk dresses at the beginning of the show—fluidly draped around the body like Grecian peplos, held together by golden bamboo hardware at the throat, neck or shoulder. They felt new for De Sarno, and have the potential to be commercial and editorial hits. The other looks that solidified De Sarno’s newfound footing at Gucci came at the end, via five sweeping, dramatically oversized coats worn with ribbed tank tops, baggy jeans and mannish loafers.
In between, the designer reiterated the codes that he has been steadily establishing for the brand. The Ancora red that has been a De Sarno staple since his debut collection remained a constant here, deployed on fabrications that range from leather and lace to knits and cottons. The ultra-short hemlines that the designer favours were also present, reinterpreted this season as tulip-shaped skirts and shorts, which looked especially cool when worn with henley tees. Also terrific were the pair of body-skimming, floor-length tank dresses worn by Mona Tougaard and Vittoria Cerretti—they nodded to the Tom Ford era but were less in-your-face sexy and a little more sporty.
Photos courtesy of Gucci.
VERSACE
Nostalgia is a major driving force in both fashion and pop culture today, and no one grasps this quite as well as Donatella Versace, who has created multiple viral moments by mining the brand’s rich past. For spring/summer 2025, she took us back to the Summer of Love with fluid, languid silhouettes and prints that zigged, zagged, swirled and bloomed.
The clothes felt much lighter and looser than the usual Versace fare but the visual impact was still turned up to the nth degree thanks to the wildly clashing patterns and colours. There were motifs of both Medusa and Barocco variety, sun-bleached florals, and paisleys on acids, alongside plenty of tan leathers, brown suede, and blue denim. Combining the exuberant prints and palette of the 70s with the pared-back shapes of the 90s was a savvy move on Donatella’s part as it resulted in one of her stronger collections in a while.
On the sexy side—because this is Versace, after all—there we re body-hugging dresses in what looked like disco-diva gold sequins (but were actually 3D-printed recycled nylon polymers), as well as slinky chainmail dresses and flirty, floaty silken slips that just oozed Y2K starlet appeal.
Photos courtesy of Versace.
DOLCE&GABBANA
For a few seasons now, Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana have been pivoting away from hype-driven trends and going back to their roots—sensuality, sizzle, a specific kind of Sicilian glamour. This season, it was front and centre, right there in the title: Italian Beauty. The collection was a tribute to the iconic blondes of cinema—the Marilyn Monroe’s and Grace Kelly’s of the world—and to their pop-culture successor, Madonna, who was right there, smack-bang in the centre of the Dolce&Gabbana front row.
The cone bras that the singer made famous in the 80s were inspired by the bullet bras that “sweater girls” like Lana Turner and Jayne Mansfield popularised in the 50s. Here, they jutted out of body-hugging satin sheaths—some of those came with lacing that traced every curve—or peeked from underneath trench coats and sheer dresses that resembled hosiery. Some of the pointy cups were built right into the jackets—a feat of tailoring and an ingenious way to put a distinctive spin on a ubiquitous garment. Stripping everything back to focus on the female form, Dolce and Gabbana kept the palette classical and minimal—black, white and nude, with a sprinkling of metallics and a couple pops of striking pastel. There was no print save for a series of big lush roses, which looked sensuous on second-skin dresses.
Photos courtesy of Dolce&Gabbana.
FERRAGAMO
Maximilian Davis lets loose for spring/summer 2025. The designer, known for his sharp and sexy clothes, took a softer, more relaxed approach this season. The opening looks of his latest collection summed it up succinctly: First, a drop-waist trench coat—looking alluringly light, unstructured, and just-out-of-bed crinkled; then, a dancer-off-duty ensemble of tank top, bodysuit and leggings. If you couldn’t tell by now, ballet was the theme and that reference extended all the way down to the feet, where flats and heels alike were laced with thick silk ribbons.
As befits the dance theme, freedom of movement was a key component of the collection. Field jackets were sliced open at the midsection; coats came with cut-away skirts—the billowing effects these created resulted in a more grown-up take on the tutu look. Dresses and outerwear both had a liquid quality, falling softly from the shoulders and gathered at the hems to create cocooning shapes. Other standouts include a pair of short peekaboo dresses that ended in loopy fringe, and another pair of leather coats with an openwork texture, achieved via cut-outs in the shape of the brand's Gancini logo.
Photos courtesy of Ferragamo.
TOD'S
For his sophomore runway collection, Matteo Tamburini envisioned a journey along the Mediterranean coast, translated into a thoughtful wardrobe of elevated essentials. Titled Artisanal Intelligence, the collection is meant to be a celebration of the handmade in this AI-powered age. That was immediately made clear the moment one entered the show space—long tables were set up, with artisans assembling the brand’s signature Gommino loafers. That wasn’t the only spectacle. In the middle of the runway was a monumental set—by the sculptor, Lorenzo Quinn—of two giant hands gripping undulating bands of leather.
In contrast, the clothes were quiet—which was a brilliant move on Tamburini’s part. They were not beholden to any overarching narrative which can sometimes be constricting. Instead, Tamburini served up beautifully made clothes—often in light leather—that served as an excellent showcase for the House’s Made-in-Italy credentials. There were loosely structured t-shirts in shirting fabric, worn with roomy drawstring trousers or wrap skirts; and pleated dresses that fall in soft, straight lines from the shoulders. Tailoring was easy, made up of single-breasted jackets worn either with no shirt, straight pants and flat sandals; or over scuba-like zip-up tops and tights, with a swish of silk at the hip. The collection’s soothing palette was inspired by sand, stone, wood and earth; when there were colours, they came from those found in nature—leaf green, marigold yellow, sky blue. The only patterns in the collection were equally and charmingly unfussy—parasol stripes and faded market-bag checks.