When it comes to fashion capitals, Milan separates itself from the pack by stocking its roster with designers and brands that know how to push menswear forward, but keep wearability top of mind (which is not always an easy balancing act). It's the reason we come away from five days of the city's runway shows, presentations, and showrooms with a laundry list of trends and standout items that are going to define how most of us will want to get dressed in six months. Also, we come away stuffed with cured meats and carbs. Here's everything you need to know about what designers are cooking up for Fall/Winter 2017:
Giorgio Armani is the king of Milan fashion week. His namesake brand's fashion show is the last one before editors, buyers, bloggers hightail it out of Milan and head to Paris and it can always be counted on as a quietly elegant affair. After all, Mr. Armani is not a designer who works in gimmicks or follows the latest trend. Like Miuccia Prada, he does what he wants—popular opinion be damned. His Fall/Winter 2017 collection put texture front and center as he rolled out velvet jackets and pants, shearling trims and fur coats, and jacquard scarves in tandem with a parade of fine tailored suits that any man alive would look great in.
Remember when GQ Style put Mr. Armani and Future together in a Bugatti? Turns out the duo hit it off, which is why the "Used to This" rapper was sitting front row at the Milanese maestro's big show.
Francesco Ragazzi's Palm Angels label made a name for itself with pieces like preppy double-breasted sportcoats with pot leaf embroideries and track pants for guys' inner Rastafarians But there was nothing sly or tongue-in-cheek about the show Ragazzi sent out this season, where he envisioned a Wall Street type quitting the game, moving west, and shaking up in Venice Beach. The looks were dead center in the menswear Venn diagram of what's trending right now (graphic hoodies, track pants, jeans that are dangerously close to JNCO territory) and styled to spread maximum eff off vibes, something even retired masters of the universe can appreciate.
Five years ago, you would have been hard pressed to find fur on a menswear runway. This season, the luxe-y pelts (real and faux) are everywhere—and in every form. And nowhere is that statement more front and center then at Fendi, the Roman fashion house known for its mastery of all things expensive and furry (that double interlocking 'F' logo does stand for 'fun furs' after all). Silvia Venturini Fendi, the house's creative director over men's and accessories and, yes, a Fendi scion, created a look that called to mind the '90s heyday of sportswear brands like Nautica or Tommy Hilfiger, when branding was big and colors were bold. She also gets extra points for making the week's best grooming move: spray-painting the Fendi name onto the backs of models' heads.
No concept is too high concept for Kean Etro. Every season, the passionate designer dives head first into his source of inspiration and for Fall 2017, his creative spark came from on high—literally. For his latest Etro runway show, the designer looked at mountaineering and fashioned a lineup of menswear that could double as uniforms for the world's most exclusive enlightenment retreat. That boiled down to velvet robe coats and tailored jackets, anchored by tech-y pants and sneaker boots (in a series of standout color combinations) in an array of vivid hues, organic patterns, and graphics that bordered on psychedelic.
Boglioli is now the worst kept secret in menswear and we couldn't be happier. Thanks to some management shakeups and the addition of the brand's first-ever creative director Davide Marello, the masters of soft-shouldered jackets are spreading their tailoring gospel far and wide (check out their first-ever U.S. store in NYC for proof). Marello's newest menswear lineup keeps suiting front and center, refreshing the brand's go-to silhouettes in unique fabrics (ultra lightweight wools, bouclé textures) and offering it all up in a palette of uncommon hues (think rich grass green, teal, sand, and every blue you haven't seen a million times already).
Check out our latest batch of piping hot street style snaps from Dan Roberts who's pounding the pavement in Milan to capture all the flashy footwear, epic outerwear pieces, and dad hats menswear's power players are wearing right now.
Only in the hands of twin Canadian designers Dean and Dan Caten of DSquared2 can a bunch of weekend-in-the-country wardrobe staples like flannel shirts, Mr. Rogers-like cardigans, nylon anoraks, and hiking boots turn into some of the most maximalist menswear we've seen all week. There is fur, there is fringe (on top of cowhide, no less), there is Laura Ashley-esque prairie florals, there is Frankenstein-ed outerwear that combines pieces of parkas, bombers, and vests in a single garment. And the duo's silhouettes are just as pumped up as the clothes; oversized sweaters engulf hands and hit at the top of the thigh and shirt tails billow from below knitwear hems with slim, all anchored by slim cropped jeans and hardware-heavy hiking boots.
Also, Paris Hilton was there.
There's no limit to the number of sports or athletic motifs Thom Browne can cleverly mine for his Moncler Gamme Bleu collections. Since 2009, Browne has riffed on everything from car racing to boxing to fencing and for Fall 2017, the American designer and suit shrinker brings his signature aesthetic to the world of mountain climbing. Each look has an onion's worth of insulated layers, brought together—quite literally—with the addition of carabiners and climbing rope woven over top and connected between models' legs.
At Prada, Miuccia Prada did what she does best: her own damn thing. You couldn't find a thread of what's trending right now in Milan or, more broadly, in menswear at this moment in her collection of early '70s silhouettes, piles of corduroy and check tweeds, fur belts and patchwork shoes, and a palette of rust, red, bottle green and every shade of brown. Mrs. Prada's intent was apparently to simplify things, from the collection to the show's set-less space (save for a winding OMA installation of benches and beds), but in doing so made the week's biggest statement thus far. We'd suggest you check out the whole show, below, and read what GQ's Style Guy had to say about it.
You can bet that at least two things are going to happen at any Missoni show: 1) a new spin on the house's iconic zigzag knitwear is going to make it onto the runway and 2) you're going to leave wanting to buy a piece of the house's iconic zigzag knitwear. It was certainly the case this season, where Angela Missoni revealed a tightly edited collection of menswear that doubles as a master class on pattern mixing and tonal dressing.
There's a new men's design director at Salvatore Ferragamo, his name is Guillaume Meilland, and from the looks of his first collection for the storied Italian label, he knows how to make really f@#king good outerwear. It's not that his chunky cable sweaters or contemporary (a.k.a younger-skewing) suits and tailoring weren't smart, it was just that his parade of dope topcoats, leathers, trenches and shearlings walked the line between timeless and timely, which is really what guys want to put their dollars behind these days. Also, if you don't know the name Brenton Thwaites, file it away. The star of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie was in attendance, is charming, handsome, and can pull off pinstripes.
We toasted Milan Fashion Week with Tom Ford, Neil Barrett, Nick Jonas, and more. Go inside our swanky party at T'a Milan here.
Jeremy Scott is a designer who doesn't deal in subtleties, not that that's a bad thing. His latest collection for Moschino had a military undercurrent (or is it overcurrent?) where standard issue silhouettes and tactical accessories were set against patterns as varied as ones featuring Transformer-like robots flying though space, digital numbers you might find on a Batman villain's costume, exploded roses, and chapel ceiling frescoes.
And Paris Hilton was there.
There's a good reason fashion week goers are glad to hit up the Tod's presentation every season and its name is Villa Necchi Campiglio (okay, Villa Necchi and great shoes/outerwear/etc... but never ignore the importance of a good location). The architectural masterpiece and former residence (now museum) plays host to the Italian brand's biannual rollout of handcrafted footwear and accessories and, in recent year's, an expanded menswear line. For Fall/Winter 2017, the standouts were simple, streamlined lace-up ankle boots with rubber soles and puffer jackets given with an ultimate rich guy overhaul—they're made out of impossibly lightweight leather.
The other big news? Tod's is rolling out a book documenting the private lives of some of the world's most famous—and famously stylish—guys called Timeless Icons. And they do mean actual icons here, like Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt, Sean Connery, Mick Jagger and George Clooney. It rolls out next month, and for your coffee table's sake, just pick up a copy.
.JPG)
.JPG)
“This is a collection about the different tribes of Versace men, and the powerful positivity that can happen when men from different places, different cultures join together,” Donatella Versace said in the press release for her latest Versace men's show. Archetypes familiar to any Versace fan showed up; there were suited-up power brokers, jet-setting, shearling-loving oligarchs, post-punks with a penchant for sharp tailoring, stylish city skate rats (okay, skate rats with trust funds) and more, all rocking some serious man bangs.
Neil Barrett's last two collections were excellent (just check out Dev Patel in a Spring '17 Barrett jacket from our January issue for proof) and the designer's Fall 2017 kept that momentum humming right along. Barrett's clothes are best when they straddle that divide between two aesthetic worlds: Gattica-esque future-wear territory and nostalgia-tinged wardrobe staples (leather car coats, shetland sweaters) and that's just what this wearable, thoroughly modern lineup achieved.
The argument that menswear is going through a confusing time right now becomes crystal clear when you look at the vast spectrum of what guys are actually turning up to shows wearing. Check out our latest Milan street style dispatch from photographer Dan Roberts.
The first menswear collection from Marni's new creative director Francesco Risso—formerly of Prada's in-house design team—stayed true to the label's left-of-center POV. The hallmarks were there: the playing with proportion (this time jackets came long, pants cam high-waisted and billowing), the unexpected accessories (bi-color afro-shaped fur hats), and a combo of colors that could best be described as Seuss-ian.
No matter how big the brand or respected the designer, everyone's trying to get their goods noticed at fashion week. It's as much an opportunity for buyers and editors to get stoked about a new season of piping hot menswear as it is for brands to market themselves as the creators of said piping hot menswear. This season, Dolce & Gabbana did their best to really cut through the competition by calling on a squad of celebrity offspring (the sons of Jude Law, Rev. Run, Cindy Crawford), social media #influencers (#spon), and Cameron Dallas—all with a reach of 91,331,674 Instagram followers by our calculations—not to sit front row or blog about their runway show, but be in their runway show, in looks they styled themselves. The clothes were everything a rich dilettante could want: regal, maximalist and military-tinged, topped off with a crown (or featuring a crown print—the inspiration was The New Princes, after all).
Nick Jonas was front row at Emporio Armani, rolling into the company's Tadao Ando-designed headquarters looking sleek AF in a textured shawl collar tailored jacket worn with a noragi-style shirt underneath it (all EA, naturally). As for the show, Mr. Armani made a case that you should want to pet everything in your closet come fall. The lineup was heavy on velvet sportcoats, velvet pants, shearling linings, and a Bubba-level list of fur pieces: fur patchwork jackets, fur hoods, fur scarves, fur-trimmed tote bags, even what can only be described as a fur fanny back for your chest (a fur harness?).
At Diesel Black Gold Ninjas were a source of inspiration fro creative director Andreas Melbostad this season, which he brought into outerwear—in the form of fresh kimono front closures on bombers jackets and slick leathers—and through to the collection's billowing-but-tapered pant silhouette.
Before you talk about the Ermenegildo Zegna show, you have to talk about the Ermenegildo Zegna set, which took place among German artist Anselm Kiefer's Seven Heavenly Palaces installation of concrete slab sculptures and large-scale paintings, all housed inside a massive warehouse space:
Now, about the show: Alessandro Sartori, the menswear designer who helped define Z Zegna before decamping for Berluti five years ago is now back at the luxury menswear giant as artistic director of Ermenegildo Zegna. His first outing for the label's Couture moniker had Sartori's signature blend of tailoring and sportswear, but done up in ultra luxe fabrics. There was plenty of tailoring, of course, but also excellent outerwear, relaxed-fit and pooling-leg trousers (it's starting), and some truly standout sunglasses. And because rich guys love immediate gratification and this whole buy-now, wear-now business strategy seems to be working out, Zegna customers can actually buy the designer's favorite looks right now through the company's made to measure program.
The tailoring-centric label Corneliani is in reset mode, with a new design team and management looking to hone in on the label's M.O. (that would be smart suits). Instead of a traditional fashion show, the brand opted for a digital rollout of four slickly produced short videos, by four different directors, to show off their latest wares.
Side stripe pants might be popping up more and more—be it on properly cut trousers or elastic waist track pants—but the graphic, body-lengthening detail has been a staple of Ports 1961 designer Milan Vukmirovic's aesthetic since he landed at the label nearly two years ago. The creative director/editor/photographer/do-it-all offered some new riffs on the in-demand piping (now appearing on both the inner and outer leg) in a collection that also boasted puffer jackets sure to get you noticed on the slopes.