From Gucci’s first show without Alessandro Michele at the helm since 2015, to Matthieu Blazy’s continued love affair with leather and Diesel making sure everyone is having the safest sex possible, Milan impressed with an array of toned-down, expertly crafted womenswear shows.
Gucci
Gucci’s Fall/Winter 2023 ready-to-wear show – designed by the Gucci design team; Gucci’s new creative director Sabato de Sarno won’t showcase his first collection for the brand until September’s Spring/Summer 2024 show. This show was a sharp pivot from the glamour and decadence of the house under Alessandro Michele. Everyone in Milan was waiting with bated breath to see the first look of a new Gucci, and the atelier delivered.
The collection makes good use of the sensuality found in Tom Ford’s work for the brand in the 90s and early 2000s—some of the looks can be described in no way but sexy— but Michele’s aftershocks are felt in the opulent fur and slightly off-kilter styling (every outfit should be worn with a pair of finger-only gloves from here on out). I wouldn’t be so bold as to say it was minimalistic, but this Gucci show was hugely pared down compared to previous seasons.
Overall, the collection was an ode to Michele’s tenure and a look towards a Gucci future that will–presumably– look completely different. I am excited to see what de Sarno brings to the brand come September.
Bottega Veneta
Matthieu Blazy’s Bottega was perhaps the most anticipated show on the Milan schedule this season. Blazy has picked up where Daniel Lee left the brand four seasons ago and continued to transform Bottega Veneta from an old money/stealth wealth brand to one of the buzziest new status symbols in the post-logomania era. Blazy’s F/W 23 collection was inspired by the street; the mix of people and stories that exist on Italy’s busiest sidewalks. The 81-look strong collection was just that. And it was fantastic.
The lack of any real coherent theme resulted in the coolest runway in Milan. There was a real wearability and relatability to the garments, in the most luxurious way anyone could imagine of course. A Bottega version of a casual button-down and shorts, or matching set and knee-high slippers, could have been seen on anyone in the audience, male or female, except, of course, the entire look was made of leather. Blazy’s atelier and their craftsmanship continues to astound. I need a three-hour in-depth video from his atelier detailing how they made leather look like knit socks.
Bottega isn’t going anywhere; the hype Blazy (and Lee before him) has managed to bring to the brand has led to years of great sales. All luxury fashion brands make the vast majority of their money from accessories (bags, shoes, and sunglasses), all of which got a new coat of paint this season as well. This everyday-but-luxury aesthetic looks really good on Bottega, and I imagine it will hold massive appeal on the shelves. Hats majorly off to Matthieu Blazy, who continues to impress at the helm.
Ferragamo
Maximilian Davis’ second Ferragamo collection was an extremely luxurious ode to the timeless. The fuss-free collection showcased beautifully made, surprisingly simple clothes. The beginning of the show was extremely classic, with an array of beautiful jackets in navies, greys, and blacks with gorgeous structural sleeves and flawless contrast piping. You get the feeling that these pieces are meant to be worn for decades.
Where the collection really started to shine was the second half, where futuristic elements began to weave into the glamour. Shiny skintight mini dresses and sporty menswear looks were shown in between massive furs and more polished evening wear. The signature Ferragamo red also began to reappear in the second half of the collection, ending the pretty dark show on a more colourful note.
Davis’ Ferragamo is obviously in between two worlds; trying to appeal to the existing Ferragamo customer base, and desperately trying to draw younger interest. However, the 27-year-old is straddling both circles about as well as anyone could, and sent out a beautifully crafted, if a little uptight, sophomore collection.
Prada
Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ Prada has been on almost everyone’s radar for years now. Two design geniuses and giants of the fashion world, their collaborations draw fashion weeks biggest crowds. This season, inspired by uniforms and unsung beauty, was titled Taking Care. The show began in what looks like a car park in the Prada complex, which has been fitted with a ceiling that raises and lowers slowly throughout the show. It quite literally both gave and taketh away light from the collection, whilst also revealing that the orange industrial pillars are blooming with thousands of lily flowers (which also happened to be the invitation to the show).
The show was mostly elegant workwear, which is nothing new for Prada. There were a series of white cotton dresses clearly inspired by vintage nurses’ uniforms, followed by military-style blouses and parkas. Floral appliqué was threaded throughout the whole collection, mostly on white skirts that call to mind wedding gowns.
Prada and Simons delivered another understatedly beautiful collection, bursting at the seams with symbolism and love for those who keep our world moving, and are so rarely considered beautiful.
Diesel
One of the more interesting show sets this season was Diesel’s mountain (200,000 boxes strong) of condoms serving as the centrepiece for Glenn Martens’ latest collection for denim giant, Diesel. Diesel’s recent rebrand and massive ad campaigns have brought the brand to the forefront of the TikTok algorithm, and their new show reinforces that Martens’ Diesel is a young brand. Martens reinforced backstage that Diesel is about being young, free, and a little bit cheeky.
This collection was just that. The show was heavy on different styles of distressed fabrics; a standout look being a floor length burnout denim dress covered in sequins. A sequence of looks covered in printed smiles that harken back to Diesel’s recent ad campaigns–with a few more teeth than normal.
Diesel Fall/Winter 2023 will absolutely cater towards a young, edgy market, and the post-apocalyptic condom wasteland was a refreshing 180 from the toned-down shows happening around Milan in the same week. Martens obviously has a strong vision for the brand and is being given tons of freedom to make that come to life at Diesel right now, and it is fun to watch.
Jil Sander
Jil Sander being one of the most talked about shows in Milan should tell you everything you need to know about the tone of this spring’s Milan fashion week. The brand is known for its minimalistic high-quality basics and has been a favourite of the highly fashionable for years. Husband and wife creative director duo Luke and Lucie Meier have helmed the brand for five years, and this collection feels like they’ve finally gotten comfortable in their position Jil Sander.
The F/W 23 collection felt more playful than the couple’s previous creations for the brand, with printed fruit motifs and oversized elements interspersed throughout the show. A handful of moto-inspired looks were shown, potentially to cater to a younger, more edgy crowd. In a fashion week where just about every brand was reigning it in, it’s interesting that luxury fashion’s minimalistic cool girl brand turned up the volume, if only a little bit.
Conclusion:
This season saw some of the major fashion houses shedding the gimmick-heavy runway shows that seem to be clambering for twenty seconds of social media fame, in favour of simple, well-made clothes that feel like they’ll outlive the more avant-garde shows we’ve seen recently. Or at least, outlive the recession. This period of worldwide economic uncertainty has certainly left its mark on the high fashion world; with many brands showing their most mass-market appealing collections in quite a while. It will be interesting to see what trends are pulled from these runways, as many brands seemed to dissociate from trendy clothes altogether and emphasise craftsmanship and simplicity over everything else.
Image Credit: “Milan” by Andrew Hux is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.