Milan Fashion Week: Designers offer luxury PJs, softly tailored suits

Mint

4 hours ago

The spring-summer menswear collections showcased at the recently concluded Milan Fashion Week rooted for statement-making clothing that combined playfulness with functionality.
Dolce & Gabbana, for instance, paved the way for pyjama dressing, with models wearing PJ sets. The brand proposed tailoring mixed with innerwear and sleepwear separates. A panoply of flamboyant embellished blazers were the other key highlights at the show. Brioni's closing look, meanwhile, was a gold jacket embroidered with 24-karat gold beadings in the same shape as the house's Penne, Italy, factory.
Here are some of the key trends that emerged at the Milan Fashion Week:
Soft suiting
It's been a season of broken tailoring, lightweight textiles and languid silhouettes, all offering ease, movement and freedom. Canali offered a decidedly contemporary take on formalwear—proposing matching tops and trousers reimagined in outerwear and overshirt shapes. The house's signature Nuvola trench made its presence felt in ultra-light suede with a soft knit lining. The overarching inspiration came from vintage cars (Grand Turismo racing cars from the 1960s and 1970s, paying homage to Monza as part of the Brianza region of Italy) and their visually sumptuous interiors which informed the stitching and tailoring.
Emporio Armani, too, softened up its core tailoring rendered in densely fashioned fabrics that embodied nomadic chic.
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Travel inspo
The Paul Smith collection referenced a book of souvenir photographs of Egyptian landmarks. The designer, Paul Smith, had acquired the tome in a street bazaar while vacationing with his wife, Pauline, around 25 years ago. The book rediscovered at work informed a range of motifs in the collection, from fish to bloom prints.
Designer Matteo Tamburini at Tod's, too, reimagined easy tailoring employing soft yet structured fabrics, including wool, suede and silk.
The Emporio Armani show saw an array of supple, piped, nylon track jackets and shorts printed with the same geometric patterns drawn from the rich textile heritage of the Taznakht region in Morocco.
Playful layering
From Prada to Dolce & Gabbana, designers mixed high with the low, formal with informal, polished with bohemian, creating a visual disturbance of sorts.
At Dunhill, Simon Holloway explored English duality—classic elegance with rock n' roll icons like Charlie Watts and Bryan Ferry. One of the key highlights were the linen blazers paired with regency stripes and floral printed waistcoats worn with Japanese denims.
Prada presented a crisp cotton poplin shirt styled with elastic-hemmed bloomer short-shorts, featuring popper pockets. An interesting array of bob and bucket hats finished off the looks. Vivienne Westwood's vibrant, evocative and playful line-up, too, saw a mash-up of womenswear with menswear. A floral print dress was styled with a pair of Roman boots and a rose embroidered tabard was paired with a mid-calf redsatin boot. It was punk and provocative.
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