This season’s Milan Fashion Week runways mixed cinematic spectacle with sharp craftsmanship. Demna’s Gucci opened the week with a star-studded film premiere, and Giorgio Armani closed it with an emotional farewell – but in between, veterans and newcomers alike rewrote the rules. Prada’s Miuccia & Raf Simons sent sculptures into motion, Dolce & Gabbana turned sleepwear into high glamour, and Versace’s new creative director Dario Vitale recast ’80s excess as cool confidence. Across the board, Italian houses served spring’s future with plenty of attitude and few clichés. Below are the key designers and their collections.
Gucci – Demna’s Famiglia
For his debut at Gucci, Demna Gvasalia bypassed a runway and debuted a short film, The Tiger, showcasing the new “La Famiglia” collection. The looks were richly theatrical: as W’s Kristen Bateman describes, the film’s characters wear “sumptuous, knee-length faux furs belted with gold chains; flowing silk dresses in shades of rich burgundy; and one sleeveless, charcoal-hue sequin mermaid gown with waves of ruffled tulle” White gowns sprayed with rainbow florals and retro sequin cocktail dresses (think Studio 54 disco glamour) also appeared. The idea, Gucci says, was “a study of the ‘Gucciness’ of Gucci” – a homage to the brand’s maximalist DNA turned into a lavish, storybook spectacle
Prada – Breaking All the Rules
At Prada, co-creators Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons openly ripped up the rule book. The collection “filtered the overload of culture into clarity, recomposing garments until categories collapsed”. Skirts were draped from off-shoulder straps and lingerie-style bandeaux were layered under sheer chiffon jackets – juxtapositions that “shouldn’t work but somehow do” in true Prada fashion. In their notes the duo spoke of uncertainty and adaptability, imagining clothes that “can shift, change, adapt” (Prada) and become “tools of survival… elegance without prescription” (Simons) In practice the show felt free and fluid: tailoring and underwear blurred together, collars peeled, and nothing was constrained to the usual boundaries of form.
Versace – Dario Vitale’s Debut
Versace’s new chief Dario Vitale paid tribute to the house’s late founder even as he set a fresh tone. Many early looks channelled 1980s Versace exuberance, with bright high-waisted trousers and boxy jackets reminiscent of Gianni Versace’s heyday. But overall Vitale injected a cooler sensuality. Numero notes that while references to the archival ’80s are “clear nods” to Gianni’s legacy, Vitale “offered a much more subtle approach” than Donatella’s maximalism. The new Versace silhouette feels “more sensual than sexual,” with fluid tailoring, toned-down glamor and elegant restraint.
Dolce & Gabbana – Pajama Party Chic
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana staged one of the week’s most playful moments. The front row became a scene from The Devil Wears Prada: Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci arrived in character as Miranda Priestly and Nigel Kipling. On the runway, the theme was literal sleepwear. Striped pajama sets – already teased in D&G men’s wear – were lavishly restyled. In signature extravagance, cotton PJs were embroidered with tiny flower bouquets and crystal clusters, then worn over black lace bras or under grandmama-style brocade jackets. In some looks pajama trousers were swapped out for sheer black tights, or topped with a leather bomber. For the evening lineup the stripes gave way to black chiffon, paired with sharp tuxedo jackets and even fuzzy slippers. In short, D&G turned homey loungewear into runway glitz, proving that even pajamas can be red-carpet ready.
Fendi – A Floral Technicolor
Silvia Venturini Fendi embraced color and craft in a vibrant spring palette. The set – a rainbow-hued amphitheatre – set the tone for “play, hue, and technical experimentation”. Tailored separates came in bold blocks: a salmon-pink boxy T-shirt with loose red leather pants, or a periwinkle-gray suit cinched with a pink leather strap. Sheer blouses with exaggerated Scarface collars added a sexy escapist flair. But the standout theme was flowers. Over everything were embroidered daisies and peonies à la pop art. For example, a plush chestnut faux-fur coat was dotted with daisies, and the finale was a sheer coral dress festooned with sparkling floral embellishments. The blooms weren’t timid: some were blown-up appliqués on jackets and dresses, graphic and Andy-Warhol-esque against solid blocks of color. In Fendi’s hands, “quiet luxury” got a whimsical, candy-colored reboot built on the house’s century of craftsmanship.
Giorgio Armani – The Final Bow
The week closed in quiet reverence for Giorgio Armani himself. Following the designer’s passing, Armani’s own Spring 2026 show felt like a retrospective of his legacy. Hypebeast describes it as “a powerful tribute to his enduring genius” and “a masterpiece of quiet elegance and refined simplicity”. The collection was indeed soft and fluid: ethereal jackets and floaty gowns in a muted pastel palette, with delicate beadwork and sheer layers. Key looks were the very silhouettes Armani made his signature: fluid jackets with extra-wide trousers, and translucent silk dresses that moved gently as models walked. The overall effect was an emotional ode to Armani’s career – style distilled to its timeless core, where each gown seemed to hover in air. It was “both ethereal and impeccably tailored,” proving once more that Armani’s vision was built on understatement and grace.
Bottega Veneta – Woven Wonders
Louise Trotter’s debut at Bottega Veneta leaned into the house’s artisanal DNA. Craft was everywhere: some coats were woven in the brand’s trademark intrecciato leather so intricately that one jacket resembled snake scales. Trotter even introduced mind-bending materials – notably, bright orange, red and silver-blue “sweaters” knitted from recycled fiberglass. These shimmering knits “have the feeling of fur and they move like glass,” she noted, trailing long fringe and ombré panels down the runway. Other highlights included a floor-length cape of superfine leather strips and denim coats dusted with feathers, giving each look dynamic movement. The accessories nodded to Bottega’s heritage too: Lauren Hutton (the model from American Gigolo who helped define Bottega’s image) sat front row as an updated version of her classic clutch appeared on the runway. In short, Trotter showed that centuries-old weaving techniques can still yield surprising new glamour on the Milan catwalk.
Salvatore Ferragamo – Glamorous Twenties Redux
At Ferragamo, creative director Maximilian Davis looked back to the 1920s in a sophisticated way. His references ranged from silent-film star Lola Todd to the dawn of Art Deco, but the clothes felt fresh. Shift dresses came in jazzy devoré velvets and prints, each pinned with a corsage – narrow but playful silhouettes like “old Hollywood glam”. On the menswear side he eased into broad-shouldered, layered tailoring with floor-grazing scarves hinting at 1920s dandyism. According to Another magazine, the effect was an “electrifying expression of elegance, past and present”: slimembellished dresses in odd, pastel-toned prints and loose-fitting suits with billowing accessories. Notably, Ferragamo staged the show outdoors as a late-season storm passed, the wet pavement glistening under the lights – a risky choice that paid off in drama. In Davis’s hands, Ferragamo married vintage glamour with modern ease, letting the models’ movement and the moment of rain-soaked Milan become part of the tableau.
Moschino – Playful Arte Povera
Adrian Abbiatoza’s Moschino was a crafty triumph of recycling and wit. The theme was literally arte povera – high fashion from humble stuff. Potato-sack burlap turned into fitted tops and skirts, ropes became decorative trims, and cardboard-patterned leather bags stamped “Fragile” poked fun at luxury packaging. Knitwear felt almost artisanal, with raffia and recycled plastic yarns giving a tactile, eco-friendly nod. Meanwhile Moschino’s signature graphic motifs popped up in new guises: cartoon smiley faces and trompe-l’œil newspaper prints reappeared on dresses and jackets. The house’s famous “Tie Me Bag” even returned as a rubber-and-cloth novelty purse, and an LED-lit handbag spelled “Ciao” in neon lights. In short, nothing was wasted – a bouquet of roses was embroidered onto dresses (and even held like a bouquet in the finale), and a literal pack of produce was sewn into a handbag – proving that, at Moschino, “nothing is ever just nothing”.
Jil Sander – Precision and Playfulness
Simone Bellotti’s first collection for Jil Sander honored the brand’s minimalist roots with subtle twists. The opening looksnodded to the ’90s Jil Sander era: Guinevere Van Seenus strode out in a shrunken navy sweater with a crisp white pencil skirt, all clean lines and perfect tailoring. From there, Bellotti layered interest onto simplicity. For example, one nude silk dress was given a printed plastic overlay of tiny red blossoms, and shift dresses sprouted mille-feuille ribbons of silk that undulated with every step. Bellotti played with volume too – a coat was pinched at the bust with dramatically small sleeves, as if someone had “sucked in” the fabric to create a new shape. Perhaps the boldest detail was playful transparency: two gauzy ombré chiffon gowns (in bright cerulean and magenta) floated down the runway, and some skirts sported circular cut-outs that revealed the bra beneath – “an intelligent, personal brand of sexiness,” as Bazaar put it. In all, Bellotti’s Jil Sander was familiar yet fresh: strict tailoring and monochrome palettes were balanced by texture, color, and just a touch of cheeky reveal
Each of these collections shows how Milan’s designers balanced heritage with innovation. On one hand the city celebrated its masters – from Armani’s final elegant study in pastels to Prada’s boundary-pushing hybrids. On the other, itspotlighted reinvention: Vitale’s restrained Versace and Bellotti’s updated minimalism prove that even classic names will evolve. With a closing bow to craftsmanship (Bottega’s weaves, Moschino’s upcycling) and a wink to pop culture (D&G’s Netflix-ready cameos, Gucci’s movie premiere), Milan Fashion Week wrapped spring with plenty to savor – all in good taste, just as the city does.
