The Italian term ‘villeggiatura’, which loosely translates to ‘resting in pleasant places’, has come to encapsulate the Edenic bliss of an endless summer – a prolonged stay away from home, in the countryside or by the ocean, where settling in one place allows you to adopt the local rhythms of life. Originating in Renaissance Venice, when the wealthy would escape the sweltering city heat in summer to their countryside villas, it was popularised in the 1960s, when families would pack up their Fiat 500s and spend weeks on end travelling the Amalfi Coast or Italian Riviera.

It feels a particularly ripe inspiration for the Italian fashion house Zegna, which was founded as a wool mill in Trivero in the Biellese Alps, a bucolic locale which is now part of the Oasi Zegna national park. It is a house that thrives on the local: despite sourcing its fibres from far-off places – whether Mongolia for cashmere or Normandy, France for linen flax – fabrics are spun in Italian mills using traditional techniques. It is also a house synonymous with the idea of escape – particularly the languid elegance of its summer collections, constructed largely from Oasi Lino linen, designed for clients who spend long summers stationed in Portofino or Saint-Tropez.

Zegna heads to Los Angeles for its S/S 2027 show

Yesterday evening in Malibu, California – a beachside city for those who seek a more sedate way of life than its neighbouring Los Angeles – Zegna hosted its latest Spring/Summer offering, titling it ‘La Villeggiatura’ in ode to the Italian ritual. The setting was Malibu Pier, first constructed in 1905, which had been lined with striped parasols in a nod to the Italian seaside resorts of the 1960s and 1970s, while surfers bobbed about below in the waves (colourful cocktails, served on arrival, added to the buoyant mood). Among the 500 guests, several of whom were local clients, were Rami Malek, Mahershala Ali, Stellan Skarsgård and Gael García Bernal.

The collection itself was defined by the pursuit of effortlessness which has defined Alessandro Sartori’s tenure at the house so far (the Italian designer was appointed creative director in 2016). He described the silhouette for the season as ‘dégagé’: just-oversized tailoring, in seersucker or more vivid stripes, met roomier smock-style shirting with deep V-shaped necklines fastened across the chest with metal clasps. Cut from silk, leather or croc, and coming in short- and long-sleeve iterations, they met tailored shorts, safari-style parkas, and knit jackets recalling styles from the 1960s and 1970s. A vivid use of colour enlivened the collection’s closing act: a joyful section in vivid aqua, orange and green was Sartori’s boldest palette in some time.

‘In this collection, I wanted to express a Zegna take on summer, our vision of leisure dressing as something that’s drenched in a cultivated attitude, in a discerning gaze that's profoundly Italian,’ he said. ‘Everything here starts from fabrics, which have texture and pattern, and look endlessly renewed by simply twisting and turning the subtlest elements, even just a thread. Constant evolution is what we strive for.’

The show was the second major European fashion show of the week, with Hermès showing a ‘Second Chapter’ of its A/W 2026 womenswear collection the evening before in Bel Air, while last month, Jonathan Anderson staged his first Cruise show for Dior at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). Part of this appears to be a bid to capture the American consumer (Gucci and Louis Vuitton also showed Cruise collections in New York in May), something Zegna will further capitalise on with the opening of the ephemeral Villa Zegna in Los Angeles’ Chateau Marmont. A private members’ club of sorts, it allows invited clients to purchase made-to-order pieces from the collection amid surroundings evocative of a 1970s Italian villa – a concept which follows previous iterations in Shanghai, New York, Dubai, Miami and Milan.

A languid elegance defines S/S 2026’s most desirable menswear, where lines between the ornamental and the utilitarian are blurred, and perfection is eschewed in favour of the effortless and the undone.

A series of these looks are captured in the pages of the May 2026 Design Issue of Wallpaper* (on newsstands now), photographed by London and Paris-based image-maker Ana Garcia and Italian stylist Nicola Neri amid the serene interiors of Ed’s Shed, a wooden Adjaye Associates-designed home in London’s De Beauvoir neighbourhood (it takes its name from owner Ed Reeve, an architectural photographer).

Each captures a juxtaposition between the functional and the dressed up – whether the voluminous line of a pair of Dior cargo pants, their layered back inspired by a Winter 1948 haute couture ‘Delft’ dress, or the purposely creased texture of a Zegna suit, its surface covered in safari jacket-style pockets.

Elsewhere, the mood is conjured through intriguing layering: a Loro Piano jacket slung around the waist, a cardigan emerging from the neck of a Loewe jacket. Other pieces simply capture the effortless elegance of the S/S 2026 season, like a JW Anderson wool coat, worn here with a decorative Dries Van Noten necklace, and nothing underneath.

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Models: Amedeo Mancini at The Claw, Vincent Rockins at Kate Moss Agency. Casting: Monika Domarke. Grooming: Lachlan Mackie using Sam McKnight. Set stylist: Haruka Kogure. Photography assistant: Ricardo Muñoz Carter. Fashion assistant: Olivia Renouf. Production assistants: Danielle Quigley, Archie Thomson, Indy Davy. Set assistant: Cedrick Jison. Photographed on location at Ed’s Shed, London N1, edsshed.co.uk

Despite a lean show schedule – largely down to the number of Italian brands choosing to go co-ed in recent seasons, including Gucci and Fendi – Milan Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2026 edition provided a nonetheless intriguing line-up of runway shows, from those that asked the big questions (at Prada, in ‘uncomfortable’ times, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons asked what do we take from the past, and what do we leave behind) to those that revelled in the joy of dressing (Ralph Lauren’s return to the Milan runway for the first time in 20 years was one such show). Others introduced fresh perspectives: in his second on-schedule show for his brand Setchu, 2023 LVMH Prize winner Satoshi Kuwata – a Kyoto-born designer who lives and works in Milan – was a rare representative for emerging talent at the week (typically Milan has been dominated by its blockbuster names).

Here, Wallpaper* selects the standout shows of Milan Fashion Week Men’s, which we saw runway-side as they happened (also see our Milan live blog, where we recorded all the action as it unfolded).

Zegna

Themes of inheritance are prescient at Zegna: on 1 January Edoardo and Angelo Zegna, fourth-generation members of the textile dynasty, became co-CEOs of the house founded by their great-grandfather, Ermenegildo Zegna, over a century ago (they succeeded their father, Gildo Zegna, who will become executive chairman). For his latest show – a return to Milan after showing last season in Dubai – creative director Alessandro Sartori mined similar themes, transforming Milan’s Palazzo Del Ghiaccio into a vast dressing room, complete with a series of towering closets, each filled with pieces from the real-life wardrobes of Gildo and his cousin Paolo Zegna. They spanned the personal and the inherited: an impromptu history of the house through the clothing of its protagonists. Sartori said he was fascinated by the idea of a garment as a vessel for memories; of creating clothing that is built to last and passed through generations. ‘I am after the sense of wonder that happens when one finds a piece that was owned by one's father, grandfather, uncle; the discovery that comes from studying other ways of dressing, which prompts a willingness to try something new,’ he said.

As the show began, models wove their way in and out of the wardrobes, Narnia-style; their own looks, which had a nostalgic elegance, captured a mood of ease and eclecticism as if they were picking out garments as they went. Indeed, Sartori described the look as dégagé: silhouettes were cut with his eye for generous, contemporary proportions, while a rich melange of fabrics spanned heritage tweeds, Shetland wools and a mohair gabardine in classic hues of brown, anthracite grey and black (shots of sapphire and mustard enlivened the look). Like last autumn/winter, outerwear was a true highlight: boxy overcoats took on roomy silhouettes with clever double-breasted fastenings (buttons were reduced into a line of three, held in place by the middle button), while utility jackets in suede had a 1970s flavour, as if plucked from one of Sartori’s time-travelling wardrobes. ‘We take deep pride and make a lot of effort in doing what we do,’ he said. ‘So the idea of creating something that can be kept, reused and reinterpreted for a long time energises us.’

Paul Smith

In the collection notes, Paul Smith name-checked his new head of men’s design, Sam Cotton, whom the stalwart British designer credited with helping him see his archive through ‘fresh eyes’. That archive is physical: a vast storage facility in Smith’s native Nottingham, comprising over 5,000 pieces, collected by the designer over the near-half century since he opened his first shop in 1970. ‘The joy of having the archive like this is that my own design team visits regularly and comes back with great enthusiasm for things they found there,’ Smith said in a voiceover to the salon-style A/W 2026 show, held in his Milanese headquarters on Saturday afternoon. ‘Seeing it through their eyes gives me energy, makes me see things in a new way.’

As such, tropes from the archive reemerged, like a series of ‘inside-out’ tailoring from the late 1990s, an era towards which that Smith and his design team had been drawn back. There were also elements from the 1980s, too – broad-shouldered tailoring recalled corporate attire of the era, while a riff on the tricorne hat had a New Romantics feel. Botanic prints, hanging glass bag charms and ‘bookish’ glasses added to the eclectic mood of the collection – Smith said another inspiration was French artist and filmmaker Jean Cocteau. As Smith, who turns 80 this year, bounded down the stairs to take his final bow, there was a celebratory mood: in the post-show chatter, there was a broad consensus that this was his best show in some time.

Setchu

For his A/W 2026 show, Setchu’s Satoshi Kuwata invited guests into his new Milan studio, a light-filled space which, for the occasion, had been lined with tatami sleeping mats. Though he now lives and works in Milan, Kuwata’s native Japan (the 2023 LVMH Prize-winning designer was born in Kyoto) remains prescient in his work; here, it emerged in woven straw sliders and booties (recalling both the tatami mats and traditional woven baskets), as well as the often unconventional cut of his garments, something now synonymous with contemporary Japanese fashion design.

This season, for Kuwata, as he elaborated in a charming introduction to the collection (the designer appeared on the runway personally to introduce its themes), had begun with fishing – his favourite pastime. Particularly, a recent trip to the barren landscapes of Greenland, a stormy mecca for fishing aficionados, who travel to its plentiful (if dangerous) waters. As such, garments had a feeling of function and protection (albeit in often unconventional style), from bags that, via a series of zips, transformed into garments to cocooning outerwear (jackets looped over the head and were curved at the sleeve) and flourishes of fluffy white ‘fur’ that loosely drew on historic garments in the Greenland National Museum in Nuuk (he likened them to those of the Ainu shamans of northern Japan in their use of natural materials to protect against the elements).

Now in his third season showing on the runway – the first show took place at Pitti Uomo, the second in Milan last season – Kuwata is bringing fresh energy to Milan Fashion Week Men’s, which has been notorious for its lack of emerging talent (the city’s banner names have long dominated). Judging by the buoyant mood in the room afterwards, he is a much-appreciated new fixture.

Prada

At Prada, co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons said that they were looking back to the past to look forward to the future with an A/W 2026 menswear collection that was about ‘evolution not erasure’. Backstage, Simons likened it to a kind of ‘archaeology’. ‘There is a lot here from the past,’ he said. ‘If you take the layers away, you always find a kind of beauty. There’s the knowledge that you still want to celebrate and use, but you also want to innovate.’ Befitting the collection’s thematics, the show took place amid an OMA-designed set that looked as if an Italian palazzo had been sliced away through its floors – whether in the midst of its destruction or renovation.

Mrs Prada and Simons looked towards menswear archetypes – among them the businessman’s shirt, the raincoat and the double-breasted suit – skewing their proportions until they became something new. Cuffs of shirts became supersized, layered under ultra-narrow double-breasted tailoring and overcoats, while mackintosh-style jackets came with colourful overlays and matching sou’wester hats. ‘It’s a moment of really big change,’ said Mrs Prada, who was keen to note the ‘uncomfortable’ political climate that backdropped the show. ‘Who knows the future? So [you have to think about] what you want to keep. What can you transform?’

‘Think about the businessman's or the politician’s shirt in this moment,’ added Simons. ‘You can transform that in two steps, in three steps, in four steps – what if you made the stripes horizontal? What if you gave it a T-shirt neckline? What if you age it? It’s about transforming things that you respect and love. Maybe they have the wrong connotation at a certain moment of time, when we don’t want that American corporate, masculine power. But what if you make it young, make it in beautiful colours?’

Read our full review of the Prada show here.

Giorgio Armani

Having eschewed the usual Emporio Armani show on Saturday evening (the menswear is expected to be shown alongside the womenswear collection in February), the house hosted its A/W 2026 Giorgio Armani show on the closing day of Milan Fashion Week Men’s. A starry crowd gathered for the occasion (including Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams, who earlier in the week walked for DSquared2 in a much-Instagrammed moment). It marked the first menswear show since the death of Mr Armani this past September, and the solo debut of Leo Dell'Orco, the longtime head of the men's style office of the Armani Group (as the designer’s right-hand man, he worked with Mr Armani on the menswear house’s collections; as it stands, the future creative directorship of Giorgio Armani remains unknown).

This was a collection of evolution, not revolution: a respectful continuation of Mr Armani’s legacy of louche elegance, from lustrous collarless silk suiting (the house said ‘cangiante’, an irridescent silk, was a ‘metaphor’ for the collection – ‘something in constant transformation... catching the light in ever new ways’) to oversized trench coats and fluid tuxedos, the last studded with glimmering crystal brooches. There were also some great pieces in leather – the tie-waisted flight jacket worn by Kit Butler, cut to the roomy proportions of Mr Armani’s 1980s oeuvre, shows how contemporary (and indeed borrowed), the designer’s archive still feels. As ever with Armani shows, the reception was rapturous: all the more so when a visibly emotional Dell'Orco took his final bow.

Ralph Lauren

The Ralph Lauren show marked the brand's first in Milan for two decades, with the eponymous designer opting for an intimate salon-style presentation in Palazzo Ralph Lauren (a Mino Fiocchi-designed villa that the brand acquired in the 1990s) over a more blockbuster happening. It worked: his Polo Ralph Lauren and Ralph Lauren Purple Label presentations were shown back to back, and there was a charm to seeing the clothes up close and in motion, an optimistic offering that mined the designer’s hallmarks – from the preppy uniform of Polo Ralph Lauren (an aesthetic being readily embraced by a new generation of fans, as well as here at fashion week) to on-the-ranch Americana, old Hollywood eveningwear and plenty of brilliant denim (Lauren’s patched-up and repaired jeans are also having a street style comeback)

Styled eclectically – often these tropes were mashed up into a single look – Lauren said the collection itself was ‘inspired by the different ways men live’ (a message from the 87-year-old designer, who did not travel for the show, was placed on attendees’ seats). At over 70 looks – closed out by Tyson Beckford in a shaggy-pile coat, tuxedo, cowboy hat and hiking boots – there was, simply put, something for everyone. But what united the broad collection was a certain Ralphness that makes these much-reinterpreted archetypes distinct. ‘When I began designing menswear, I was drawn to the timeless elements of tradition, but I was never bound by it,’ he said. In this welcome return to the runway, it’s clear this attitude lives on.

Welcome to Milan Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2026

As Pitti Uomo culminates in Florence (catch up on our highlights from the menswear fair here), eyes turn towards Italy’s capital of style, Milan, where the A/W 2026 edition of Milan Fashion Week Men’s takes place this weekend (16-19 January 2026). There is something of a back-to-school feel to the event: the four-day happening marks – bar a handful of guest designers at Pitti Uomo, including Hed Mayner – the first runway shows of the A/W 2026 season, which will continue after Milan in Paris, later this month (after that, the A/W 2026 womenswear season will begin in February, in New York).

As ever, the Wallpaper* style editors are on the ground: despite a relatively sedate schedule, there are still a number of notable runway shows happening across the weekend, including Prada (expect a transporting OMA-designed set and a runway show that will no doubt set the tone for the season ahead), Dolce & Gabbana, Zegna and Giorgio Armani (the last marks the first menswear show since the eponymous designer’s passing last year). Elsewhere, British designer Paul Smith will also host his A/W 2026 show in Milan, following his move to the city last season, while Ralph Lauren will make its menswear runway return to Milan, having last shown here 20 years prior. Numerous presentations and events – including Ferragamo’s celebration of its ‘Tramezza’ shoes on Sunday evening – will take place alongside the main shows.

Here, follow our real-time look at Milan Fashion Week Men’s A/W 2026 – from behind-the-scenes glimpses to access to the shows, presentations and parties – as seen through the eyes (and iPhones) of the Wallpaper* editors. Stay tuned.

Zegna opens Milan Fashion Week Men’s by delving into the ‘family closet’

And so it begins – the first looks of Milan Fashion Week Men’s came from Zegna this afternoon, where Alessandro Sartori made his return to the Italian style capital after showing his S/S 2026 collection in Dubai last season (the house also moved from its traditional spot closing the week to opening it). The setting was Palazzo Del Ghiaccio, whereby the expansive main hall had been transformed with a series of towering ‘imaginary closets’ which were nonetheless filled with real clothing sourced by Sartori from Gildo and Paolo Zegna, both third-generation members of the Zegna family (Gildo is the house’s Group Executive Chairman).

Inherited through the family line, they inspired a collection of eclectic, nostalgic elegance – nonetheless cut to Sartori’s generous, contemporary silhouette. ‘I am after the sense of wonder that happens when one finds a piece that was owned by one's father, grandfather, uncle; the discovery that comes from studying other ways of dressing, which prompts a willingness to try something new,’ said Sartori. ‘The idea of creating something that can be kept energises us.’ The casting was equally cross-generational – an age-diverse casting that has become Sartori’s signature in recent seasons.

Ralph Lauren returns to the Milan runway after 20 years

Ralph Lauren opened the doors to his eponymous Milanese palazzo this evening, hosting an intimate presentation of his A/W 2026 menswear collections in the striking Mino Fiocchi-designed building that the brand acquired in the 1990s. Moving away from the usual static presentation format, Lauren instead chose to show his latest Polo Ralph Lauren and Ralph Lauren Purple collections for men in a back-to-back runway show that marked his first catwalk show in the city for two decades.

He said that the A/W 2026 collection itself was ‘inspired by the different ways men live’, eschewing tight thematics for a broad collection which married his distinct style tropes – from the preppy uniform for which he is best known (here: houndstooth jackets, yellow cable knits, Polo-branded caps and the like) to on-the-ranch Americana and old Hollywood eveningwear. As ever, it felt impossible not to be seduced by his optimistic vision. ‘[These collections] stand for the worlds I have believed in and lived,’ he said. JM

Jacob Cohën opens a one-night-only hotel

The dramatic Luigi Perrone-designed Circolo Filologico Milanese was momentarily transformed last night into a for-one-night-only Jacob Cohën hotel to present the brand’s A/W 2026 collection (an undertaking only a little less ambitious than last season, where owner and creative director Jennifer Tommasi Bardelle created a whole Jacob Cohën village). Cue Jacob Cohën bell boys who led guests through to the ‘lobby’, where models lounged on Chesterfield sofas while a jazz band provided a live soundtrack (champagne, naturally, was on tap). Upstairs, there was a chance to see the highlights up close: highlights included the super-lightweight suedes in Jacob Cohën’s signature denim blue, some lined with fluffy shearling for warmth. JM

Simon Holloway looks to Lord Snowdon’s personal wardrobe to inspire his A/W 2026 collection for Dunhill

This season, Simon Holloway chose to show his A/W 2026 collection for British heritage house Dunhill at Villa Mozart, one of Milan’s discreet architectural gems (the Piero Portaluppi​-designed villa is recognisable for its ivy-covered exterior). A shift away from the runway presentations of recent seasons, Holloway instead hosted a series of intimate talk-throughs for press, introducing a collection which was inspired by the insouciant style of Antony Armstrong-Jones, Lord Snowdon. For Holloway, the British photographer – who married Princess Margaret in 1960 to become the Earl of Snowdon – encapsulated the mood of the heady decade which followed, where high society mingled with rockstars, and the stuffy dress codes of the 1950s were abandoned (American photographer Ethan James Green sought to capture the era in an accompanying photo series, starring artist and model Henry Kitcher).

‘[It’s about] the tension between aristocratic formality and unguarded artistic expression,’ said Holloway of the collection, which came largely in shades of grey (it is an ‘always favourite’ he told Wallpaper* of the hue at the preview this morning). Bolder flourishes came in ‘haberdashery’, like colourful silk pocket squares and cashmere scarves, while motifs drawn from Arts & Crafts textiles adorned jacquard tailoring and slippers. Indeed superlative fabrications were the order of the day: from fluffy alpaca and hand-finished double-faced wool to soft-to-the-touch suede, which was used to construct a (very desirable) pair of ‘jeans’.

A fishing trip to Greenland inspired Satoshi Kuwata’s latest Setchu collection

For his sophomore Milan show, Kyoto-born designer Satoshi Kuwata – winner of the 2023 LVMH Prize for his 2020-founded brand Setchu – welcomed guests into his new brand’s ‘home’, a light-filled studio on Via Privata Rezia (for the occasion, the space had been lined with tatami mats, traditionally used for sleeping in his native Japan). Ever hospitable, Kuwata appeared at the start of the show to welcome guests, going on to talk through the collection’s inspirations, which included a memorable fishing trip to Greenland (fishing is one of Kuwata’s favourite pastimes; Greenland’s waters offered plentiful supplies). It led to a series of intriguing garments which married outdoorsy function (bags that transformed into garments through clever zip placement, warm layers of quilting, enveloping bombers and the like) with his signature unconventional pattern-cutting, honed by the designer during his time on Savile Row. Playful flourishes – like booties and slides made woven from straw, or shaggy, yeti-like ‘furs’ – added to the uplifting mood. ‘It just makes you happy,’ said my seatmate. JM.

Dolce & Gabbana was about the multiplicity of man

This season, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce moved away from the singular themes of past collections (for S/S 2026, it was ‘pyjama dressing’) towards a more wide-ranging ‘portrait’ of style that sought to capture the multiplicity of man. ‘The runway becomes a contemporary gallery of living portraits, where every look functions as a psychological and sartorial self-portrait,’ said a booming voiceover at the start of the show. ‘[It] unfolds through a sequence of micro universes, each representing a distinct portrait of man – the introspective thinker, the creative visionary, the Mediterranean sensualist and the restless romantic’. As such, an eclectic mode of dressing was the order of the day, shifting between the bold (an enormous striped shaggy ‘fur’ coat which opened the show; colourful jumpers in fuzzy mohair), the bookish (thick-rimmed glasses, jackets in heritage fabrications), and the sporty (a handful of models in walked the runway in a Dolce & Gabbana-branded football kit). And – in a nod to last season – a pair of pyjamas and a leopard print robe. ‘There are infinite possibilities. Each one deserves its portrait,’ the voiceover concluded. JM

Paul Smith looks back into the archive for his latest Milan show

For the second season running, Paul Smith chose to show in his Milan headquarters – an ‘intimate, salon-style’ presentation narrated by the designer via voiceover. ‘[It’s about] putting classics together in a way that’s a bit irreverent and odd, sometimes playful,’ he said, noting that several of the designs were rooted in pieces his design team had discovered in his expansive Nottingham archive (it numbers over 5000 pieces of clothing and ephemera, collected over the course of Smith’s career). The 1980s and 1990s were particular touch points: some memorable inside-out tailoring was revisited, while other blazers recalled the wide-shouldered, double-breasted silhouette of the 1980s (albeit in louche, contemporary style). Meanwhile, playful flourishes – from hanging glass bag charms and botanic motifs to a jaunty riff on the tricorne hat – captured an artistic sensibility, which Smith said was inspired by Jean Cocteau. Consensus in the room was that this was the designer’s best collection in some time. JM

Stone Island presents its latest ‘Prototype Research_Series’

It is well-known that Stone Island has an avid, cult-like following, a group of technical-wear obsessives who devote their time to establishing comprehensive collections of rare and limited-edition garments. The ‘Prototype Research_Series’ is one such project – an annual initiative which showcases the spoils of the brand’s latest Wonka-like experiments in textile manufacturing, for which they remain best known (we took a trip to their extraordinary research lab in Ravarino, Italy last year, to find out more). For its ninth edition – presented in an immersive installation in Stone Island’s Milan headquarters last night – the technology in question was an ’air-blown lamination knit’, a 3D process which uses hot air to bond a membrane onto the chenille knit using an inflatable mannequin (doing it onto the ‘body’ in this way ensures perfect adhesion, according to the brand). 100 colourful pieces have been made in total – the race is no doubt on as to who can add it to their collection first. JM

A first look at the show set for Prada’s A/W 2026 menswear show

A first look at the OMA-conceived set for Prada’s A/W 2026 menswear show, taking place in Fondazione Prada this afternoon in Milan. Transforming the hangar-like Deposito space – where Prada traditionally holds its shows – the pastel-coloured set is a cross-section of a traditional Italian villa or palazzo, as if sliced through its floors. It comes complete with wood-panelled doors and fireplaces in differing marble hues.

Prada’s A/W 2026 menswear collection was about ‘evolution not erasure’

‘What can we build, from what we have learned?’ asked Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons at their A/W 2026 Prada menswear show this afternoon, which took menswear hallmarks – from cuffed shirts to double-breasted tailoring – and reimagined them in renewed proportions.

Presented in Fondazione Prada’s Deposito space – which appeared as if an Italian palazzo had been sliced away through its floors in a show set by OMA – the designers elaborated that this was a collection about ‘evolution not erasure’. ‘There is a sense of the before, which interests us, even as we search for the new,’ said Miuccia Prada. ‘That is a sign of respect – you want to move on but not erase what came before. Holding an idea of beauty and changing it into something new.’

‘We wanted to focus on important things, beautiful things that feel familiar but can be reconsidered,’ Simons added. ‘I have always liked that from the very start Miuccia’s work has been about challenging, questioning and investigating. [Here], we questioned what should remain, from the past – and what can you build, from what you learn?’

Read our full report on Prada’s A/W 2026 menswear show: ‘It’s a kind of archaeology’

Raf Simons likened his and Miuccia Prada’s latest menswear collection to a kind of ‘archaeology’. ‘There is a lot here from the past,’ he said backstage. ‘If you take the layers away, you always find a kind of beauty. There’s the knowledge that you still want to celebrate and use, but you also want to innovate.’

The show took place in Fondazione Prada’s hangar-like Deposito space, which this season had been transformed by OMA into the ruins of an Italian palazzo. Though there was no dust or rubble; instead, it was as if the various floors had been neatly cut away to reveal a cross-section of the rooms inside (in typical Prada style, they were painted in pastel shades and were installed with wood-panelling and marble fireplaces, suspended at height around the room). Only the jagged remains of ceiling beams and floorboards were evidence of any destruction having happened before.

Perhaps, then, this was a collection not of archaeology but of renovation: to make something that exists new, what do you keep, and what do you strip away? Or, as Simons elaborated: ‘We questioned what should remain, from the past – and what can you build, from what you learn?’

Continue reading our A/W 2026 Prada menswear show report.

Tod’s takes over Villa Necchi to present its latest menswear collection

For its latest menswear presentation, Tod’s once again took over Villa Necchi, the Piero Portaluppi-designed home on Via Mozart that is perhaps best known as the setting for Luca Guadagnino’s I Am Love. The house’s latest menswear collection was scattered across the villa’s ground floor, with the Gommino – its signature driving shoe – continuing to take centre stage. This season, it was the ‘Winter Gommino’, a heftier version of the style which also comes in a lace-up boot iteration (for A/W 2026, they had fluffy shearling or cashmere linings). For ready-to-wear, leather was central: a new ’Pashmy’ leather – named after the pashmina as a nod to its softness and lightness – was used to coach jackets and patch-pocket blazers. JM

Giorgio Armani holds first menswear show since the death of the eponymous designer

This morning, guests gathered at the Palazzo Orsini headquarters of Giorgio Armani on Milan‘s Via Borgonuovo for what would be the first menswear show since the death of the eponymous designer last September. What followed was a respectful continuation of the Armani’s singular aesthetic: namely, louche, unrestricted silhouettes and a rich melange of fabrics. This season, the nexus was ‘cangiante’, an irridescent silk, that here became a ‘metaphor’ for the collection – ‘something in constant transformation... catching the light in ever new ways’. The show would mark the debut of Leo Dell'Orco, head of the men's style office of the Armani Group and Mr Armani’s right-hand man, who took an emotional bow at the show’s close. JM

An imagined meeting between photographer Robert Mapplethorpe and couturier Yves Saint Laurent – two men responsible for honing the aesthetic of the 1980s – provided the inspiration for Anthony Vaccarello’s A/W 2025 menswear collection for Saint Laurent, presented in the Tadao Ando-designed rotunda of Paris’ Bourse de Commerce earlier this year. Hanging chandeliers – lowered to just a few feet from the floor – lent the space a moody half-light, inspired by those which hung in the ballroom of Paris’ Intercontinental Hotel, where Yves Saint Laurent held his couture shows from 1976 onwards.

Out of the darkness emerged his protagonist for the season: part-Yves Saint Laurent in ‘bookish’ houndstooth and flannel tailoring, a recreation of his distinctive Parisian uniform, part-Mapplethorpe in the thigh-high leather boots worn atop, inflected with the suggestion of kink that ran through his photographic oeuvre (Mapplethorpe remains best-known for his homoerotic male nudes, which often featured elements of fetish and BDSM-wear, from leather boots, chaps and harnesses to gimp masks and latex). Vaccarello described the collection as capturing ‘a menacing, seductive elegance’, further figured in hefty leather overcoats and flourishes of ‘fur’ (in fact, these pieces were constructed from thousands of meticulously placed feathers).

Dangerous elegance: A/W 2025’s new menswear mood

This feeling of ‘menacing elegance’ ran through the season, with 1980s-inflected designs capturing a mood of dangerous sensuality through moments of leather, denim and western-wear, often clashed with classical tailoring or corporate attire. At MM6 Maison Margiela, tasselled leather gilets and pants looked to have stepped out of a Karlheinz Weinberger photograph; at Versace, slick leather tailoring was worn with silk shirts adorned with animal prints and baroque motifs; while at Prada, an influence of western-wear came in cowboy boots tweaked upwards at the toe, and tailoring made from a patchwork of leather. Playing out amid a scaffold show set designed to evoke the intimacy of a nightclub, co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons called it a collection of ‘instinct and passion’.

Here, taken from the cover shoot of the September 2025 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, a series of these looks is captured by French photographic duo Melanie + Ramon and Wallpaper* fashion and creative director Jason Hughes. Together, they encapsulate the A/W 2025’s dangerous, sensual mood – an invitation to embrace a sense of risk when dressing for the season ahead. Our short film of the shoot, above, plays out to the voice of a young Marlon Brando, as recorded in an early screentest for Rebel Without a Cause (the part later went to James Dean).

Model: Colin O at Tomorrow Is Another Day. Casting: Noah Shelley at Streeters. Hair/grooming: Michael Harding at Blend Management using Davines. Digi tech: Grzegorz Stefanski. Photography assistants: Joe Conway, Jason Colledge. Fashion assistant: Anna Sweasey. Production assistant: Danielle Quigley. Retouching: Courtoisie.

A version of this story appears in the September 2025 Style Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print on newsstands, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today

In the blaring 39-degree heat of a Dubai summer, Zegna constructed a serene oasis in the city’s Janus Rostock-designed Opera House to present its S/S 2026 collection – the menswear house’s first show outside its native Italy, and the unofficial start of menswear month (Pitti Uomo begins next Tuesday, with further stops in Milan and Paris following).

Part of a ‘Villa Zegna’ installation that will remain in the Dubai Opera for the coming days, the dramatic mise-en-scene was conceived to pay ode to both the natural landscapes of Dubai (a sandy desert-like floor stretched across the space) and the architecture and gardens of founder Ermenegildo Zegna’s Trivero mansion, the Italian birthplace of the house.

Zegna holds its S/S 2026 show in Dubai

An accompanying soundscape, played during guests’ arrival, featured birdsong recorded at Oasi Zegna, a lush national park in the Biella Alps, where the house’s first wool mill was opened in 1910 (in the century since, over 500,000 trees have been planted by Zegna in the locale). ‘Ermenegildo’s vision is still an inspiration, the determination to see beyond, sharing the legacy of Oasi Zegna around the world, possibly bigger,’ said the house in a statement.

The collection itself, designed by artistic director Alessandro Sartori, captured a mood of simplicity and ease – albeit rendered in superlative fabrications – which has defined the Italian designer’s near-decade-long tenure at the house so far. A feeling of lightness ran throughout the collection’s clever layering: gently crumpled blazers were designed to be as lightweight as cotton, while roomy collarless shirts, some double-layered, took inspiration from the Indian Nehru jacket.

Fabrics spanned linen, leather and silk – the last making up a suit that weighed just 300 grams for easy packing (the idea of travel infused the collection, evoked too in the crease-effect fabrics which appeared to have emerged from a suitcase or travel bag). Leather was also ultra-lightweight and was treated to be washable – a reminder of Zegna’s ongoing fabric innovations, which interplay with traditional techniques.

Though it was Sartori’s use of colour that proved particularly seductive: evocatively named hues of burro di montagna, olio, cognac and barolo were designed to appear as if scorched by the Dubai sun. This same mood was evoked in the fabrics, which were treated to look washed out or faded, ‘like the heat of Dubai had left a permanent mark’.

‘There is an immediacy and a liveliness to the earthy allure of this collection that belies the layered thought process behind it,’ says Sartori. ‘While researching, we came across an image that felt illuminating, and that perfectly summed up my intentions. It depicts a chair, upon which items of clothing are piled up after being taken off, probably, ready to be picked up the day after. The casualness suggests a life lived intensely, which is what we are after.’

The decision to show in Dubai spoke to the importance of the market for Zegna, which has an outpost in the Dubai Mall, a landmark that attracts over 100 million visitors each year. Other outposts in the Emirates include stores in Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, with plans to open five more in the next three years. ‘The potential is still enormous,’ Gildo Zegna, chairman and chief executive officer of the Ermenegildo Zegna Group, told WWD, praising the city’s entrepreneurial spirit. ‘It is increasingly becoming a point of reference for Asia outside China.’

As such, the latest iteration of ‘Villa Zegna’ will remain at the Dubai Opera for the next week, allowing visitors – largely the house’s highest-spending clients in the region – the opportunity to explore the show set, alongside various other spaces which trace a line from Ermenegildo Zegna to the present day. And, after stepping through the founder’s own wardrobe, avid shoppers will be able to pre-order S/S 2026 looks straight off the runway and into their own.

Villa Zegna will run at the Dubai Opera until June 16 2025.

zegna.com

As the dust settles on Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025 – which concluded in Paris last week after previous stops in London, Florence and Milan – we revisit the season’s showstopping runway sets, which spanned the surreal, the transporting, and the serene.

From a ‘fairytale ravescape’ at Prada to the enormous cats that populated the runway at Dior Men – a collaboration with South African ceramicist Hylton Nel – we pick S/S 2025’s best sets and showspaces, which backdropped the month’s defining collections.

Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025: the best runway sets

Dior Men’s giant cats, inspired by the work of ceramicist Hylton Nel

The inspiration for Kim Jones’ S/S 2025 collection for Dior Men was the works of South African artist-potter Hylton Nel. ‘He’s an old friend of mine, I’ve known him maybe 12 years,’ Jones told Wallpaper*. ‘I love his work, and I wanted to take that idea of working with an artist and working it through the Dior archive.’ While Nel’s naive motifs featured across the collection, a series of his cat sculptures were blown up by Jones to populate the Val-de-Grâce showspace in a celebration of what the British designer described as Nel’s ‘homespun monumentalism’.

Prada’s ‘fairytale ravescape’ at Fondazione Prada’s Deposito

On arrival at Fondazione Prada’s Deposito space – where Prada’s runway shows are held each season – guests were transported to what the house described as a ‘fairytale ravescape’ complete with a white cabin, door ajar, out of which techno music blared. As the show began, models emerged from the structure and down onto the runway wearing a collection that co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons described as ‘capturing a spirit of freedom, of youthful optimism and energy’. ‘We wanted to create clothes that have lived a life, that are alive in themselves,’ they elaborated. ‘There is a sense of spontaneity and optimism to these clothes - they reflect instinctive but deliberate choices, freedom.’

Zegna’s field of linen in Milan

This season, Zegna recreated a field of linen in a vast warehouse on the outskirts of Milan just a short drive from the city’s Linate airport. Doubling as the runway set for the house’s S/S 2025 show, each blade of ‘linen’ was created from lightweight strips of metals that moved gently as the models walked. Creative director Alessandro Sartori – whose summer collection used the fabric in a multitude of iterations and weights – said he wanted to evoke the feeling that nature was invading the industrial space. ‘Linen is a wonderful medium,’ said Sartori. ‘Not only [is it] traceable and true to our commitment to sustainability, but it is also as malleable and sensual as the idea of summer dressing we are prompting.’

A celebration of ‘artistic freedom’ and independence at Loewe

Taking place at Paris’ Garde Republicaine, Loewe’s stark white showspace doubled as an art gallery of sorts, seeing works from Paul Thek (a collection of miniature metal mice), Carlo Scarpa (an easel from the 1990s), Peter Hujar (a photograph of a single high-heeled shoe) and Charles Rennie Mackintosh (a chair and coat hook, the latter draped with a red boa) populate the runway. Meanwhile, a vintage copy of Susan Sontag’s Against Interpretation lay open on the floor. Described by the house as ‘an exercise in curatorial subjectivity and narrative association’, each artist was chosen for their ‘fierce adherence to independence and artistic freedom’. ‘I like that these people are singular in terms of their vision,’ said creative director Jonathan Anderson.

Gucci’s celebration of design at Milan’s Triennale

This season, Gucci creative director Sabato de Sarno chose the atrium of Milan’s Triennale museum – the city’s temple to design – to host his sophomore menswear show for the Italian house. While the Giovanni Muzio-designed space was unchanged for the show, ’a testament to our deep appreciation for its intrinsic essence’, a series of specially constructed green lacquered stools lined the museum’s corridors. They were dedicated to architect Gae Aulenti, the subject of an exhibition at the institution which runs until January 2025.

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake’s windswept dandelions

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake’s latest collection was titled ‘Up, Up, and Away’, its breezy, lightweight garments inspired by the wind: ‘the phenomena caused by wind, crafts and designs that react to wind, and forms that embody wind,’ described the Japanese brand. The showspace, constructed in the courtyard of Paris’ Mobilier National reflected the collection’s mood, seeing dandelion-like structures by Vincent de Belleval shudder gently in the breeze.

A silver runway for Dries Van Noten’s runway finale

Dries Van Noten transported guests to St Denis, a suburb on Paris’ northern outskirts, for his final show as creative director of his eponymous brand (earlier this year, the Belgian designer announced he would be stepping away from the label after 38 years). Staged in a vast warehouse transformed for the event – which was attended by well-wishers including designers Pierpaolo Piccioli, Ann Demeulemeester and Stephen Jones – a runway made of silver leaf ran the length of the space. As models from the label’s past and present walked, shards of the foil hovered in the air, reflecting the S/S 2025 collection’s celebration of the fleeting and the ephemeral.

A Louis Vuitton takeover of UNESCO celebrating ‘global unity’

The rooftop of Maison l’Unesco in Paris was temporarily transformed into the show space for Pharrell Williams’ latest Louis Vuitton menswear collection. While the grass-covered runway was checkered to recall the house’s Damier motif – which has become a hallmark of Williams’ collections so far – the show centred around Erik Reitzel’s ‘Symbolic Globe’, which depicts the world as a vast, interlinked spherical grid. It was part of Williams’ plea for global unity with a collection designed to celebrate connection and community. ‘Activating the maison’s mind-expanding travel gene, the collection illustrates the degrees of similarities which bind us across the globe,’ Williams said via the collection’s notes.

Workwear has long been the bedrock of men’s fashion, endlessly riffed upon, honed and upgraded – from the classic denim shirt and jeans, adopted by cowboys and miners in the American West, to chore jackets, cargo pants, and hi-vis jackets. This sense of utility was seen throughout the S/S 2024 collections – from Prada’s danger-red pocket-covered gilet, a play on the uniforms of security details, to Givenchy’s khaki bombers, Celine’s camo-adorned pants and hardy suede jackets at Miu Miu.

Utilitarian men’s fashion gets an upgrade for S/S 2024

The season’s functional mood is captured in a series of carefree combinations by Italy-born, London-based stylist Nicola Neri and photographer Luca Strano, who is based between London and Milan. As seen in the May 2024 Milan Preview Issue of Wallpaper* (on international newsstands now), this series of portraits puts the utilitarian aesthetic in the hot seat – leaving you with a blueprint of how to upgrade the everyday this spring and summer.

Models: Tom Davison and Milo Boaten-Rolfe at Xdirectn, Oscar Young at Premier, Rea at Milk Management, Zakaria Dau at PRM, Mason Marchetti and Yertai Abdibekov at Next London. Casting: Miro Raynov. Hair: Kanae Kikuchi at Haco+ using Instant Icon. Make-up/grooming: Jo Banach using Chanel Les Beiges Summer Spirit and Hydra Beauty Micro Serum Lip. Interiors: Olly Mason. Photography assistants: Domizia Salusest, Farid Ghimas. Fashion assistant: Hope Palmer. Hair assistants: Takuro Watanabe, Rio Shimmaki. Interiors assistant: Archie Thomson.

A version of this article appears in the May 2024 Milan Preview Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

As Salone del Mobile 2024 and the wider Milan Design Week got underway this week in the design capital, one thing quickly became clear: the majority of the fashion contingency among the schedule was in a reflective mood.

While some brands looked to design masters past, others mined their archives: Bottega Veneta worked with the Le Corbusier Foundation to re-interpret its LC14 Tabouret Cabanon stool; Yves Saint Laurent collaborated with the Gio Ponti archive to create an exclusive porcelain collection; and Gucci presented archival re-editions in its now-signature Ancora red from the likes of Tobia Scarpa and Venini.

Elsewhere, Hermès and Armani placed their new furniture and design creations beside the sartorial objects that inspired them (with Giorgio Armani sharing personal photographs that span his career) and Loewe worked with its Craft Prize alumni to create 26 unique lamps that spotlighted the time-honed craft techniques that still exist around the world.

It’s a move that reflects a recent trend in their primary medium of fashion, where reminders of iconic codes are increasingly served up to highlight the importance of respecting the signatures that stand the test of time.

Here, in our comprehensive round-up, is the Wallpaper* edit of the best fashion moments at Milan Design Week 2024.

Fashion moments at Salone del Mobile and Milan Design Week 2024

Armani Casa

Held once again in Palazzo Orsini on Via Borgonuovo (also known as Armani HQ), Armani Casa’s Salone installation took visitors on a journey of the places founder Giorgio Armani has been most inspired by during his illustrious career. His travels have taken him far and wide – all over Europe, as well as Japan, China, Saudi Arabia and Morocco – and over the years, homages to the craft and skill he has discovered in each have appeared in his ready-to-wear collections. For this installation, called ‘Echoes From The World’, he placed his exquisite couture creations and his own personal collection of souvenirs (from Samurai swords to kimonos) alongside new pieces of furniture such as the Venus console with a hand-painted lacquered glass top backed in gold-leaf to give a luminous shimmer in the room dedicated to China and the blue velvet bed in the room celebrating Morocco that took months to make (only seven centimetres of this fabric can be woven in a day and this bed took 12 metres of material). A highlight waiting at the end of the show was a room with supersized images from Armani’s private photo album in a few of the locations celebrated here. ‘For this edition of the Salone del Mobile, I imagined a “cinematic” journey to the countries that have always inspired me: places and cultures that spark highly personal reworkings,’ shared Armani, adding: ‘I like to present myself to the public in the most authentic and direct way possible.’

Hermès

Taking over the sprawling La Pelota space for the week, Hermès presented ‘Topography of Material’, an installation conceived ‘to create a dialogue between roots and movement, between materials and know-how’, shared the brand. Suspended below foot-level on a diagonal catwalk of sorts, guests were welcomed by 16 intersecting floors that brought together 16 different types of stone, ten types of earth, four types of wood and many variations of terracotta brick all sourced from either Italy or France arranged in intricate ways to celebrate the skill of timeless handcraft. It formed a powerful introduction to the presentation of objects itself as this year Hermès made a point to highlight its own enduring codes. Behind a 35m-long and 6.m-high suspended black wall lay objects from the house’s archive juxtaposed with recent masterpieces and objects making their debut. For example, the silver Timour choker necklace from 2002 sat beside the new Diapason D’Hermès chair designed by the Hermès Studio this year in homage to the piece of jewellery; the original Mangeoire pouch from 1949 (used to feed horses) stood beside the new Derby leather buckets, also launched this year; and the Drag travel bag from the 2010s was presented next to Jasper Morrison’s Equilibre chair for Hermès from 2020. As intended, it effectively presented the virtues in time-honed skills and luxurious designs that retain a forever relevance.

Valextra

Valextra worked with Bergamo-based Studio Temp (with whom it also collaborated for Casa Valextra) on its Valextra Vocabolario concept that transformed its John Pawson-designed Via Manzoni flagship into the Valextra Spa. The idea was to highlight the exceptional care that goes into each of Valextra’s leather goods, from the hands that craft them to the after-care that the brand offers its clients. Inside a huge, simulated sauna, guests were invited to sit and observe the brand’s artisans hand-painting its signature black lacquered Costa edging onto handbags in real time. In the pink-carpeted space around, the brand’s new Assoluto collection – a three-piece capsule crafted from Econyl – was unveiled as machines worked in real time to 3D-print the new Iside Onda handbag. Combining state-of-the-art handbag development and best-in-class customer service through a radical architectural lens, it beautifully captured the DNA of this Milanese brand.

Bottega Veneta

Bottega Veneta presented ‘On The Rocks’ at the Palazzo San Fedele, a special location for the house as it was the setting for creative director Matthieu Blazy’s first show and is its soon-to-be HQ. Partnering with Cassina and Fondation Le Corbusier, the brand honed in on the iconic LC14 Tabouret Cabanon stool that it described as ’a timeless icon of Le Corbusier that embodies the excellence of the Cassina carpentry workshop’. First conceived by the designer for his Côte d'Azur cabin, it was inspired by a washed-up whisky box he found on the shores beneath the residence, hence the title of the installation, which saw several iterations piled high, one on top of the other, reminiscent of a jagged coastline. This isn’t the first time Blazy has affiliated himself with the object; at his recent A/W 2024 womenswear fashion show set, guests sat on bare wooden versions. For Salone, they came in the same rendering but also covered in the brand’s famous intrecciatio leather to create 160 limited editions.

Loewe

Loewe creative director Jonathan Anderson primarily worked with alumni from the brand’s prestigious Craft Prize on his first-ever lighting installation at Salone del Mobile. Staged at Palazzo Citterio in the heart of the Brera Design District, the presentation featured one-of-a-kind lighting designs from 24 artists who the brand has either worked with or supported in the past. Remarkably, it was the first time that any of the featured makers had worked with light, which accounted for the originality on display. From Enrico David’s curved Onyx table lamp that features the face of a woman on closer inspection and Dahye Jeong’s spherical structure using an ancient weaving technique using horsehair, to Young Song Lee’s hollowed-out calabash fruits covered in twisted mulberry-tree paper and Dame Magdalene Odundo’s cinched leather hanging lamps (above), each captured the celebratory spirit of Loewe in the world of craft and design that promotes and helps preserve the most exquisite techniques from all over the world. While each of the 24 pieces was for sale at the start of the week, by 5pm on the second day the majority were – predictably – all snapped up.

Gucci

Gucci’s creative director Sabato de Sarno’s ‘Ancora’ campaign continues to thrive in Milano as the brand unveiled Gucci Design Ancora in its newly reopened flagship on Via Montenapoleone. Entering through a carpeted staircase surrounded by lacquered walls in the dark red ‘Ancora Rosso’ hue that is a signature of the De Sarno era at Gucci, visitors were presented with an antidote in acid green when they reached the top. Inside this starkly saturated mini maze, architected by Guillermo Santomà, were five objects De Sarno had chosen from several Italian masters over the years that had been re-issued in the Ancora-red hue for the occasion. The Le Mura sofa by Mario Bellini for Tacchini from 1972; the Clessidra rug from an iconic design of Piero Portaluppi made by CC-Tapis; the Storet tallboy by Nanda Vigo for Acerbis in 1994; the Opachi vase by Tobia Scarpa for Venini in 1960; and the Parola lamp by Gae Aulenti and Piero Castiglioni for FontanaArte in 1980 each stood in their own space to be admired from all angles. ‘Through Design Ancora, Gucci doesn’t simply celebrate old icons, it creates new ones,’ said Michela Pelizzari, founder of P:S Agency, which co-curated the project. ’The aura emanating from the brand spotlights five pieces by Italian masters that are perfect from a design standpoint but less known to the general public.’

Thom Browne

For his Salone del Mobile debut, Thom Browne took over the Palazzina Appiani to unveil his collaboration with the 160-year-old home textiles expert Frette with his performance, entitled Time To Sleep. True to his reputation for subverting traditional settings and concepts into unexpected scenarios, Browne placed six identical beds under the frescoes in the Hall of Honour and had models undress themselves before getting into bed. In the models’ getting dressed, rather than undressed, to sleep, Browne intended to ‘challenge the audience to question the role of dress in public life’, highlighting that the act of sleeping is just as important as the hours we are awake. ‘I think it's so much more interesting, and it elevates the product launch, when you create an installation that transcends the specific world that it’s in,’ Browne told Wallpaper* during rehearsals for the performance. The collection, which is available immediately, comprises sheets, blankets, terry-towel and cashmere robes, bath towels, and a quilted bath mat in crisp white cotton-sateen. ‘The reason I wanted to work with Frette is because they’re the best at what they do,’ added Browne.

Saint Laurent

The Paris-based house turned the clock back to 1953 and the private collection of Anala and Armando Planchart who commissioned the legendary architect Gio Ponti to mastermind their hilltop Venezuelan villa overlooking Caracas. On finishing the project, Ponti commissioned artisans from his native Italy to help furnish the space and turned to Ginori 1735 to create a collection of porcelain plates featuring motifs from around the villa and the couple’s initials. It is these plates that creative director Anthony Vaccarello curated and had reissued by the ceramic experts for Saint Laurent’s special installation in the cloisters of the Chiostri di San Simpliciano. Displayed in oscillating tubes on a raised platform that mirrored the height in which they originally lived in Villa Planchart Segnaposto, the presentation marked a coming together of multiple design icons.

Prada

Once again collaborating with FormaFantasma (above), Prada staged its Prada Frames seminar discussions on the theme of Being Home. Throughout the week, luminaries in different fields came together – including Paola Antonelli, Brigitte Baptiste, Kate Crawford, Jack Halberstam and David Van Severen – to cover myriad topics that were contextualised by Alice Rawsthorn. Each of the 17 sessions took their leave from different rooms around the home: for the bedroom, Gulsum Baydar and Philippe Rahm discussed the bedrooms role as a comfort zone; for the living room, Jayden Ali and Jack Halberstam were in conversation with Andrés Jaque exploring the rituals of diaspora communities in architectural spaces; and in the library, Isabella Rossellini and Mary Kuhn examined the relationship between humans and nature in the home, past and present. Staged each year to invite people out of their everyday lives and explore new and alternative analysis of familiar situations, it continues to be a highlight. Read more about Prada Frames.

Issey Miyake

60,000 bamboo skewers were used to create the one-of-a-kind carpet collaboration between Issey Miyake and the Dutch collective We Make Carpets. Famous for transforming everyday objects into artistic works of beauty, the artisans channelled Issey Miyake’s own skill at finding the sweet spot of robust-delicacy with the piece that was created by inserting the skewers one by one by hand into a thick piece of foam. The resulting patterns emerged organically as their dipped ends started to create surface patterns. Issey Miyake praised the group’s tenacity in making something meaningful without the need for ‘fancy gadgets and advanced technologies’, praising their labour-intensive and synchronised teamwork in bringing the piece to life. Transported flat to Milan city centre from where it was crafted in the Netherlands, in a nod to the national emblem it was presented resting on wooden beams crafted from tulip trees at the Via Bagutta flagship.

Versace

‘If These Walls Could Talk’ is an apt name for Versace’s Salone del Mobile presentation staged in its original atelier, the Palazzo Versace on Via Gesu. As many a fashion aficionado will know, it is at this residence that many of the fashion house’s famous catwalk shows have taken place over the years (including that 1991 show that birthed ‘the supermodel’) and where many of its globally recognised logos and icons were first designed, including the Medusa, Barocco and Greca emblems. They were omnipresent through this presentation that guided visitors from room to room, with even more opulence around each corner – an experience heightened by an audio experience created in collaboration with Radio Raheem for each space. They featured pieces new and reworked including The Medusa ’95 Conversational Sofa, the La Greca Bed and the Lady Desk, each a conversation starter in the space they stood.

Loro Piana 

Paying tribute to the late Milanese designer and architect Cini Boeri, Loro Piana showcased the most iconic pieces from her archive and presented them in its famously luxurious interiors fabrics. The collaboration with the official archive of Boeri, marks not only what would have been the year of Boeri’s 100th birthday, but the year Loro Piana also celebrates its centenary. Honouring Boeri’s insistence that furniture should be engaged with at all times, visitors to the presentation were encouraged to touch and sit on the pieces as they moved through the space. ’The thinking of Cini Boeri is extraordinarily contemporary,’ shared Francesco Pergamo, Director of Loro Piana Interiors. ’Just as extraordinarily contemporary remain the pieces we have chosen to exhibit together with Arflex and Archivio Cini Boeri, and to dress with our fabrics.’ Featured in the presentation are the famous modular Strips system, that won the prestigious Compasso d’Oro in 1979, the corresponding bed, the Bobo and Boborelax armchairs and the Botolo Chairs that have been covered in the brand’s ‘cashfur’ and made in a limited edition of 100. ’The dual centenary of Cini’s birth and the founding of Loro Piana has offered us the opportunity to contribute to the appreciation of the architect's figure,’ added Pergamo, who revealed plans to work with the archive on additional projects over the next three years.

Fendi Casa

Welcome to the world of Fendi Casa where the family keeps growing. This year, the Via Manzoni space was masterminded by Silvia Venturini Fendi and realised by Controvento creative collective. Together, they kept the house’s ‘double F’ logo of the house front and center, creating intimate spaces that invite people to cosy up, much like the emblem. The perfect example lies in the new Fendi F-Affair sofa by Controvento that is an interlocking platform of seats and suspended tables presented with a champagne bucket and glasses. It was joined by other collaborations in the sumptuous sofa department, the F-Stripes by Ludovica Serafini and Roberto Palomba and the Sohoft by Toan Nguyen. Existing families grew their brood, too: Thierry Lemaire’s Parsifal sofa was joined by the Mrs Parsifal armchair; Stefano Gallizioli’s Adrianand’s Audrey chair was complemented with square-shaped Audrette chairs; and Cristina Celestino's Ottavia chair was delivered of a sister, the Lazy Ottavia armchair.

Zegna

Zegna staged something of a takeover of Milan as it released its new Rizzoli tome, Born In Oasi Zegna. Named after the 100km of forested land north of Milan in the Biella Alps where its founder Ermenegildo Zegna initiated a reforestation programme in 1910, the book marked a moment for the brand to celebrate both its values and association with the city of Milan. In celebration, mini Zegna-branded newsstands (‘edicolas’) that are famously found on most corners were giving out limited-edition tote bags, while over in the piazza in front of the landmark Duomo, tulips transported in from the area were being planted in the square’s new flower beds. ’The project aims to convey the value and urgency of respect for the Earth and nature, as well as the importance that urban green spaces can bring people closer to natural ecosystems and the protection of biodiversity and social responsibility,’ shared the brand, ’concepts that are fundamental to Oasi Zegna.’

Dolce & Gabbana

Fresh from setting the city alight with its extravagant Milanese exhibition, ’From the Heart to the Hands’, Dolce & Gabbana staged an intimate reveal of its new interiors offering, The Dreaming Collection. Here, it was all about sitting comfortably, as the Moss Curved Sofa, which sits on a polished metal base in black nickel, and the DG Casa Moon Island armchair (above, which the brand said was ‘reminiscent of a warm embrace’) were joined by the Moon Island Sofa – designed to steal the spotlight in any room it’s in, much like everything this brand turns its heart and hand to.

Lanvin

Parisian house Lanvin looked towards its heritage for its installation at Milan Design Week; specifically, Lanvin Decoration, a furniture and decoration line which was first introduced by founder and couturier Jeanne Lanvin in 1920. Lanvin united with Rooms Studio – founded by two Georgian designers Nata Janberidze and Keti Toloraia in 2007 – for the project, which saw the pair curate a number of their pieces, including a series of sculptural chairs and benches, which were displayed at Lanvin’s Milan outpost.

And so it begins again: as the warm early days of June roll in, so too does Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025, a Europe-wide menswear tour with stops in London, Florence, Milan and Paris, seeing designers both emerging and established present their vision for the season ahead.

Beginning today (7 June 2024), the first stop is London: the relatively scant schedule, with just a handful of designers showing over the weekend, serves as sedate warm-up for crowded days of shows in the coming days (accompanied by a new culturally minded schedule of talks and exhibitions). The next stop is Florence for historic menswear fair Pitti Uomo; there, subversive French designer Marine Serre – best known for her sliced-up, upcycled garments and signature crescent-moon print – and British design legend Paul Smith will both show as guest designers. 

In Milan, British designer Martine Rose joins the schedule for the first time, alongside heritage house Dunhill, which also makes the move from London to the Italian fashion capital (both will show on Sunday 16 June). Meanwhile, in Paris, highlights will include Pharrell Williams’ latest blockbuster menswear outing for Louis Vuitton and the final show from Dries Van Noten (the designer announced he would be exiting his eponymous brand last month).

Here, in an ongoing list, is everything Wallpaper* knows about Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025. 

Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025: what to expect

London Fashion Week (7 – 9 June 2024)

London Fashion Week’s 40th anniversary celebrations will continue this June with the event’s summer iteration, which, as in previous years, spans shows from both mens- and womenswear designers (prior to the pandemic, it was exclusively menswear on the schedule). This season, expect a new format from the British Fashion Council-helmed event, beginning with a program of activations at the Institute of Contemporary Arts – including exhibitions, panel discussions and performances – that will focus on highlighting designers spotlighting Black, South Asian and queer cultures. Elsewhere, across London a ‘40 for 40’ schedule will see 40 designers and brands host events across the city, while Soho nightspot Groucho Club will become a ’dynamic activation space’ hosting designers both established and emerging. 

‘The new format is a direct result of the conversations we are continuously having with the BFC community,’ says BFC CEO Caroline Rush. ’We want to ensure we are recognising the business needs of our designers and providing them with a global showcasing platform which is both relevant and beneficial. This iteration of London Fashion Week is a really exciting opportunity to future-proof and innovate the UK’s fashion showcasing capabilities and highlight the city’s point of difference during men’s fashion month.’

Elsewhere, in an intimate off-schedule presentation at his Docklands studio earlier this week (5 June 2024), Craig Green held his first runway show after a two-year hiatus, a heartfelt musing on ‘sons and fathers’. Over the weekend, a handful of other designers and brands will show on the relatively scant schedule, including Charles Jeffrey Loverboy, Qasimi and Denzilpatrick. 

Pitti Uomo (11 – 14 June 2024)

Each season, Pitti Uomo – a historic menswear and trade fair that takes place twice yearly in Florence, Italy – selects a handful of international guest designers to show as part of the unique line-up, which sees runway shows held in an eclectic array of venues across the city, from Renaissance palazzos to abandoned industrial lots. Recent iterations have seen appearances from Fendi, SS Daley, Martine Rose, Grace Wales Bonner and Luca Magliano, while Vivienne Westwood, Raf Simons, Giorgio Armani, Jonathan Anderson and Yohji Yamamoto have all previously shown as part of the definitive menswear event.

This year (see our Pitti Uomo 106 highlights) the first guest designer is Marine Serre, a buzzy French designer known for her sporty, subculture-infused pieces, which often feature reworked deadstock garments and her signature crescent-moon print (the latter, usually adorning second-skin tops, body suits and leggings, have gained her a legion of famous followers, from Beyoncé to Rosalía). Showing on 12 June 2024, she will present a menswear collection at a location that is yet to be announced. ‘I am really excited to present my next show in Florence,’ she says. ’We’re looking forward to bringing the essence of Marine Serre to Florence, mixing craftsmanship our way, and shaking the lines of what’s expected to be, bringing imagination at the service of transformation.’

Meanwhile, British design legend Paul Smith – who has shown at the fair previously – will begin proceedings with the launch of his S/S 2025 menswear collection on 11 June 2024. The choice of Pitti Uomo to show next season’s offering comes from the British designer’s ‘reverence for tailored clothing’, he says, noting that after first appearing as a guest designer in 1993, ‘the return to Florence feels like just the right thing to do’.

Milan Fashion Week Men’s (15 – 19 June 2024)

Highlights of Milan Fashion Week will no doubt include Sabato De Sarno’s sophomore menswear collection for Gucci, where he will continue to hone his elegant new vision for the house, which draws inspiration from the insouciant style of the Italian street. The show will take place on Monday 17 June, a move from last year’s Friday spot. Prada, meanwhile, will present its S/S 2025 collection amid a typically dynamic set created in association with OMA/AMO – Rem Koolhaas unpacked the architectural practice’s 25-year collaboration with Prada in Wallpaper’s March 2024 Style Issue.

Elsewhere, there is something of a British invasion: Martine Rose will show on Sunday 16 June in her first outing in the Italian city, as will heritage house Dunhill, which showed its first collection under new creative director Simon Holloway in London this past February. JW Anderson will also continue to show its menswear collections in Milan, also on Sunday evening.

Rounding out the schedule are Italian stalwarts Dolce & Gabbana, Zegna, Armani and Fendi, while rising Bologna-based brand Magliano will return to Milan after showing as guest designer at Pitti Uomo last season. MSGM, meanwhile, will celebrate 15 years with a co-ed show runway show on the morning of Saturday 15 June. ‘In June 2009, I presented the first MSGM men's collection alongside the women's resort,’ says founder Massimo Giorgetti. ’I would like to celebrate that memory and recreate the same energy.’

Paris Fashion Week Men’s (18 – 23 June 2024)

After the announcement that ex-Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele is set to take the helm at Valentino, replacing Pierpaolo Piccioli, fans of Michele will have to wait a little longer to see his vision for the Roman house – earlier this month, Valentino confirmed that it would not present a men‘s or haute couture collection in June, saving his debut for womenswear fashion week in Paris in September.

That said, an expansive schedule awaits elsewhere: notably, Pharrell Williams will show his third menswear collection for Louis Vuitton, which follows a Western-themed outing for A/W 2024 (a precursor of sorts to Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter, the musician chose to wear a look from the collection for her appearance at the 2024 Grammys). His last June show, which marked his debut, saw him shutting down central Paris’ Pont Neuf for the extravaganza, while in January he erected an enormous box in Paris’ Jardin d'Acclimatation, complete with a flurry of faux-snow for the dramatic finale. His upcoming show will likely be just as social-media ubiquitous, taking place at 8.30pm on June 18, 2024. Another notable moment will be Dries Van Noten’s final show on the evening of June 22, after the designer announced he would be exiting his eponymous brand last month.

Elsewhere, expect impactful shows from Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, Véronique Nichanian at Hermès, and Rick Owens, who will reveal whether the move to hosting his shows in his own Paris home – as was the case for his last mens- and womenswear shows – is permanent. Watch this space.

Stay tuned to Wallpaper.com for more coverage from Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025.

Zegna strides into spring with the launch of ‘Triple Stitch Secondskin’, a new iteration of its ‘Triple Stitch’ sneaker – a foundational style for the Italian house, which was reinvigorated last year when it returned for S/S 2023.  

Staying true to the style’s principles of functionality and tradition – where a sleek, minimal design meets the historic craft for which Zegna is known – this new version is elevated with the use of ’Secondskin’, a material pioneered by the house. 

Light-footed: Zegna introduces ‘Triple Stitch Secondskin’ sneaker

The research for ‘Secondskin’ began with the brand honing in on the type of leather traditionally used for the creation of gloves to create the exterior of the shoe, while experimenting with a lightweight toe-counter for dexterity. Aptly named, the resulting ‘Secondskin’ leather is less than one millimetre thick and is coupled with Stroblem – a flexible suede-leather fabric finished with a napped surface – for the insole, while a fine lining helps the sneaker to be perfectly form-fitting.

This latest design is expertly crafted in Parma, Italy. Each Zegna artisan is trained for 12 months to become a master of their craft, and a team of 13 is involved in making each pair of ‘Triple Stitch Secondskin’ sneakers. It requires 68 components to create each shoe, involving careful working of the New Zealand calf leather, which has been tanned in such a way as to create a soft, buttery leather made to resist creasing. 

The slip-on ‘Triple Stitch’ sneaker is recognisable for it streamlined silhouette and elasticated criss-cross fashion, which the house says is designed to recall the three hand stitches on a suit lapel. This latest version continues the signature style’s evolution, honing the combination of form and function at its heart.

zegna.com

It has been proven that colours have a mood-elevating property, particularly when worn on your person. And when does one need a lift more than the first days of winter, when temperatures drop, skies grey, and the day seems over in a flash? 

Cue our edit of colourful cashmere, which not only protects and envelops against the elements – the noble fibre is well-known to be one of the world’s softest – but adds a much-needed jolt of energy to winter’s typically understated palette. 

From a vivid Hermès orange scarf to Extreme Cashmere’s electric pink sweater, our pick of rainbow-hued colourful cashmere for men and women – whether to gift to your loved one as the festive season approaches, or simply treasure yourself. 

Mood elevating: colourful cashmere for winter

Extreme Cashmere

Extreme Cashmere founder Saskia Dijkstra began the Amsterdam-based label with a simple desire: to create the perfect sweater. Crafted from impeccably sourced Mongolian cashmere – Dijkstra worked in garment production before founding the label – with the slightest stretch, this ‘Crew Hop’ sweater, was the result (the brand now does an extraordinary array of other cashmere garments, from tasselled skirts to balaclavas). We love this version in electric pink, for men and women – expect guaranteed compliments. 

Alternatively, their ‘Be Game’ cardigan (top) comes in a multitude of hues; buttoning completely down the back and front, different colours can be mixed and matched, half and half, as you choose.

Available from Mytheresa

Zegna x Elder Statesman

California-based cashmere Elder Statesman has always been known for a liberated use of colour, a philosophy it brings to a collaboration with Italian luxury powerhouse Zegna. Cue sweaters, hats and scarves in eye-watering shades, playful naive motifs and colour-soaked checks – all crafted from super-soft Mongolian cashmere. Best in class are these striped ultra-soft Oasi cashmere socks in the same kaleidoscopic palette as the collection.

Available from Mr Porter

Gucci 

Cashmere has long been a part of Gucci’s luxurious roster of fabrics, with this buttercup-yellow cashmere sweater a guaranteed injection of Italian sunshine. And, despite its bold palette, it is designed for ease – cut less like a jumper and more like an athletic sweater, it has a sporty ribbed crew neck and cuffs. 

Available from Mytheresa

Johnstons of Elgin

Johnstons of Elgin has been weaving fabric for close to two centuries in Elgin, Scotland, a small mill town on the River Lossie. Now the country’s only vertical weaving mill – where pieces are dyed, blended, spun, teased and produced – its output remains some of the best cashmere in the world. Which is not to say the company is staid: alongside classic beiges, greys, and whites, it also offers a vivid rainbow of colour – including this ‘Orkney’ blue beanie hat, inspired by the waters that surround the remote Scottish archipelago. 

Available from Selfridges

Hermès

What colour is quite so synonymous with luxury as the distinct orange hue of Hermès? The house’s ‘Unie Brodie’ – which translates to ‘plain embroidered’ in reference to the discreet Hermès stitching on its edge – is an everyday scarf originally designed for men in the house colour (though it could be worn by anyone). One of the Hermès’ ’muffler’ styles, it is large enough to warmly envelop the neck and face on even the coolest winter days.

Available from Hermès

Prada 

The cardigan – for both men and women – is having something of a comeback, largely down to Miuccia Prada, who has riffed on the knitwear staple at both Prada and Miu Miu in recent seasons. This butter-yellow one from Prada’s men’s collection, crafted from an amalgam of wool and cashmere, will give a satisfying injection of colour whether worn in the depths of winter or into spring.

Available from Farfetch

Raey

Crafted from recycled cashmere – no less soft or warm than its virgin counterpart – these satisfyingly long gloves by Raey are hand-knitted into the company’s distinct rib by Nepalese artisans. A pinch of extra-fine merino in the mix lends them a smooth finish and makes them less likely to succumb to the dreaded pill. 

Available from Matches

Barrie + Sofia Coppola

Released earlier in November, cult film director Sofia Coppola brought her distinct aesthetic eye to a collaboration with historic Scottish knitwear producer Barrie, which was recently purchased by Chanel. Promising the ‘ultimate travel wardrobe’ – ‘my fantasy of what you would bring on a trip with pieces that go together that are comfortable and casual,’ she said at the time – classic tones of black, navy and grey, meet flashes of khaki and pink, the latter adorning the collar and cuffs of this colour-block sweater.

Available from Selfridges

Burberry

Burberry check, redux. Daniel Lee’s electric-yellow take on the British house’s classic motif adorns this oversized and enveloping tasselled scarf, crafted from cashmere with a super-soft brushed finish.  

Available from Net-a-Porter

Loro Piana 

The sweetly titled ‘Clear Blue Clouds Me’ shade of this sweater might be more muted than some of the aforementioned styles, though the soft sky blue hue conjures up a similar feeling of levity. Crafted by Loro Piana – one of the most experienced and revered cashmere producers in the world – it is knitted to a traditional cable-knit pattern, though its cashmere fabrication makes it both soft and surprisingly lightweight. 

Available from Net-a-Porter

Autumn fashion for art lovers: as Frieze London 2023 takes over town this week, photographer Dham Srifuengfung and Wallpaper* fashion director Jason Hughes capture a series of curated ensembles for cultural influencers and artistic types, backdropped by London gallery David Zwirner.

Spanning the quotidien – a Miu Miu hoodie, a classic Bottega Veneta overcoat, slouchy Zegna trousers – and the surreal – Loewe’s sprouting metal wings, a furry Sportmax suit – it is a recipe for impactful dressing for cultural excursions this autumn and winter.

In the background, the colourful compositions of Brazilian artist Odoteres Ricardo de Ozias line David Zwirner’s walls as part of an exhibition that took place in the gallery in September 2023, the artist’s first solo exhibition outside his home country. Here, his bold approach to colour and texture provides a fitting backdrop to this autumn’s wishlist wardrobe.

Autumn fashion, photographed at David Zwirner London

Models: Chieloka at Xdirectn, Thijs Leushuis at Chapter Mgmt, Sona at Majin Scouting, Gem Refoufi at Present Model Management, Kiran Farebrother at Premier Model Management, Yangying Long at The Hive Management, Jordan Djadi at Storm Management, Lars Baena Boer, and Aramish Mangi at Viva London. Casting: Hien Le at Diller Global. Hair: Maarit Niemela at Frank Agency using Amika. Make-up: Sunao Takahashi at Saint Luke using Dior Forever Foundation and Capture Totale Le Sérum. Photography assistants: Jed Barnes, Coco Bagley. Fashion assistants: Kris Bergfeldt, Sabrina Leina, Ady Huq. Hair assistant: Aimeric Aimot Make-up assistant: Ruby Yu. Production assistant: Minna Vauhkonen. Photographed on location at the David Zwirner gallery, London, W1.

This article appears in the November 2023 Art Issue of Wallpaper*, available in print, on the Wallpaper* app on Apple iOS, and to subscribers of Apple News +. Subscribe to Wallpaper* today.

The arrival of the highly anticipated Zegna x The Elder Statesman collaboration –between the luxury fashion brand and the Los Angeles-based knitwear label – is being feted with a temporary installation at the iconic Maxfield boutique on Melrose in Los Angeles. Housed within one of Jean Prouvé’s ‘Nomade’ structures from 1957, which Maxfield owner Tommy Perse collected and installed in the retail destination’s parking lot, the pop-up has been exquisitely designed to celebrate a shared vision of craftsmanship, design and sustainable values that transcends geography. 

First premiered during Paris Fashion Week A/W 2023 last February, the vibrant collection is the beginning of an ongoing dialogue around Oasi Cashmere, a pioneering platform that proves Zegna’s commitment to establishing a fully traceable cashmere supply chain by 2024. Zegna’s collaboration with The Elder Statesman is a testament to the mutual respect and admiration for craft shared between both brands. Together, Zegna artistic director Alessandro Sartori and The Elder Statesman’s founder Greg Chait have rightly put the focus on material excellence, the expertise of master craftspeople, and a respect for nature. This not only starts from the clothes themselves, which showcase a fresh aesthetic that brings together Zegna’s classic masculinity and The Elder Statesman's signature infusion of craft and levity, but extends to the technical fabrication of how the pieces are made. 

Zegna x The Elder Statesman launches in Los Angeles

‘Greg was very technical and into [the idea of] making and craft, starting from the yarns. It was a good surprise, and it’s very rare to find someone that speaks about these, because it literally [comes] before creativity. [The yarns are] the genesis of creativity,’ says Sartori, ahead of the installation’s unveiling.

This innate respect for materials and the raw building blocks of creating fashion was something the two instantly bonded over. ‘To me, these are the most important. You can’t have fashion without the materials. If one doesn’t exist, you can’t have it,’ says Chait. ‘When I was first starting out – I was actually just trying to make a blanket – I was super lucky that my first foray into things was from the fibre yarn, and building a yarn by hand. They are really the building blocks.’

‘Inside Zegna, it’s very common because we are grounded in craft, but in the industry it’s not that common,’ says Sartori. ‘We usually discuss the stitch, yarn and fabric and starting from that, let’s go. In contrast here, we started with the fibre and we took that part of the journey that goes from the fibre to the yarn. I was fascinated by Greg because he was asking me about that process, which is very unusual.’

He continues, ‘We shared values from day one. We shared the vision of very high quality, long-lasting products, of things that are here to stay. Oasi Cashmere is a platform for collections. We wanted to have a totally traceable product from the source, so if you source the water, you know where the first drop is. We know the farmers, how many animals they care for, how much cashmere they can produce, the type of raw quality they produce, the area of Mongolia where they are. They know that we treat them well and we have secured and locked the quantities. We buy all that they do. We don’t blend the cashmere with any other cashmere. And once it's selected and collected there, we lock it and send it to Italy. We wash it internally, we do all the processes internally. And the yarn that we put together is according to the final product that we want to create, from a beanie to a cardigan.’

Suffice to say that there is an exquisite quality to the cashmere used in the collection. Highly technical and designed to last, each piece is an explosion of colour and texture, be it a brushed cashmere and wool robe cardigan in black and white checks, or a multi-coloured stripe cashmere and wool puffer coat that is fully made from cashmere and wool.

Following the launch in Los Angeles, the collection will be celebrated in Chengdu and Singapore this month. The pop-up at Maxfield will be ongoing until 23 September 2023 with exclusive colourways of the range’s off-kilter patterns available.

www.zegna.com
www.theelderstatesman.com
www.oasizegna.com 

When it came to the A/W 2022 menswear season in Milan, aficionados at home – and those watching IRL in the Italian city – had a sweep of style heroes to choose from. At Prada, a host of actors emerged from a futuristic illuminated tunnel at its Fondazione Prada Deposito space, including Twin Peaks’ Kyle MacLachlan, dinosaur-digging (and previously unofficial Prada mascot) Jeff Goldblum, Moonlight’s Ashton Sanders and Sex Education’s Otis Butterfield. Meanwhile, at Dolce & Gabbana, the label appealed to Gen-Z fans, with a performance from a sequin suit-clad Machine Gun Kelly. 

While the A/W 2022 season has been beleagured by the threat of Omicron and rising infection rates in Europe, a host of behemoth and burgeoning brands presented both physical and online shows from the Italian capital. DSquared2 celebrated its in-person return after a Covid-19 induced hiatus, and Prada presented its first physical menswear show under the co-creative directorship of Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons. Ermenegildo Zegna and MSGM favoured a digital presentation, as did JW Anderson, the British brand which had originally been scheduled to present its first physical fashion show in Milan - this will now take place in June 2022. 

6 key takeaways from Milan Fashion Week men’s A/W 2022

Classicism is back on the menswear menu

Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, designers have postulated on the future of the menswear cannon, considering the relevance of tailoring and the staying power of relaxed silhouettes. At Prada, the Milanese label turned this concept on its head, shirking seemingly endless conversations around comfort and loungewear, in favour of a wardrobe firmly rooted in work. ‘The language of sartorial tailoring, a formality which confers an importance,' read the brand's press release, of a collection which welded the executive with the utilitarian, featuring exaggerated leather trenchcoats, asymmetric blazers accented with shearling armbands, hazard-hued slacks and glossy boilersuits. A vital accessory for your vending machine change? A triangle motif coin purse attached to your belt buckle.

At Fendi, Silvia Fenturini Fendi was also captivated by notions of classicism. The Roman house presented a ‘treasure trove of future heirlooms' that riffed on the elegance and sophistication of old world silhouettes: Vichy check tweed overcoats, boxy cropped tuxedos, pilot's jackets and short suits, imagined in raspberry, mocha, taupe and white. In a dandyish flourish, sweeping coats were pinned with shearling corsages, Mary Jane brogues buckled with wristwatch strapes and bags had evening time proportions.

Elsewhere, Aspesi's Laurence Steele was struck by archetypal silhouettes, combining finesse with function, while Brunello Cucinelli mediated between differing sartorial codes, presenting luxurious pieces from peacoats to down jackets, incorporating super fine wools, shearling and Prince of Wales houndstooth. Tod's took inspiration from contemporary Italian art, tracing the line of its A/W 2022 silhouette back to the country's creative cannon, with updated classics in forest tones like fur-effect bomber jackets inspired by the traditional lining of outerwear and cashmere gymwear. 

Deep burgundy and bold blue: choose your favourite hue

Flavoursome news for wine buffs: a deep burgundy bolstered the Milan catwalks, as demonstrated by brands including Fendi, Ermenegildo Zegna and 1017 ALYX 9SM. Zegna's meditations around the ‘new suit', featuring softly rippling tailoring, drew on an organic palette, terracotta and tangerine, while 1017 ALYX 9SM – which presented in Milan for the first time – drew on lilacs, cherry reds and nude. Elsewhere, oceanic blues were favoured, with Brioni's Norbert Stumpfl creating bold suiting, including daytime double-breasted wool suits and striking silk satin tuxedos in exuberant turquoise. 

Inspect your new errogenous zone

Skin was a central element of the S/S 2022 shows, and continues to take extrovert effect for autumn. The erogenous zone of choice for the upcoming season? A sultry sliver of chest. At Fendi, this was demonstrated with heart-shaped cut-outs on cable knit roll-necks and V-necks in cricket white and glittering raspberry. At JW Anderson - whose digital runway show reveled in party silhouettes, fantastical flourishses and an all-out abandon into weirdness, the chest was revealed in knitwear weaved into chunky loops and hula hoop hemline crop tops in bright paintbox tones.

Power to the shoulder

Designers weren't concerned with playing proportions safe for A/W 2022, serving up striking strong-shouldered silhouettes that even David Byrne would be driven to. You'll need to watch out for Prada's work-inspired power-shouldered trenchcoats when you're in the office. Ardusse's Gaetano Colucci was also inspired by the strong shoulder. The label's collection fluctuated between decades, drawing on the frilled prom shirting of the Seventies, grungey long-sleeve tees and Ivy League style of of the Nineties and the power shoulder tailoring of the Eighties, with bold blown up check mohair coats in a square silhouette. 

Meet me in the Metaverse

Brands continue to experiment with the physical and online worlds: JW Anderson and Dolce & Gabbana recently launched NFTs, Phillip Plein accepts cryptocurrency, and glitchy, pixelated prints abound in brands collections - just look to the checkerboard and graffiti prints at Dolce & Gabbana. At Fendi – a brand that continues to experiment with the tech accessory world – the label teamed up with Ledger Nano X, on a Baguette bag shape that incorporates digital hardware wallet for cryptocurrency. JW Anderson also experimented with the digital realm. In anticipation of the brand's online show, the label released short films of female avatars sporting its A/W 2022 designs, jumping from the screens of iPhones and springing on stars. Video also unveiled blinking eyelids accented with bold make-up, with a JW anchor monogram logo at the centre of their pupil. 

Adventure is always on the cards

Happy campers have even more reason to be cheerful, as a host of brands celebrated the great outdoors, revelling in a nomadic and adventurous spirit. DSquared2 went wild with layered silhouettes that nodded to a range of outdoor pursuits from rock climbing to camping, to bouldering and birdwatching, with ponchos and sequinned cagoules, snuggly sleeping bag coats and quilted shorts, that riffed on the high-tech and the hippy. Missoni was also about high altitude. The brand's Mountain Calling capsule collection features psychedelic Nordic knits, featuring alpine scenes and a trippy logo. Etro too inclined to the outdoors, with a collection featuring wolf, fox and snowflake intarsia knit jumpers, jewel tone raincoats and puffers, plus velvet robe coats for a more resplendent take on around-the-campire dressing.

Technical outerwear specialist C.P Company, which continues to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary milestone and is fresh from a collaboration with Emporio Armani, also hosted the exhibition ‘Cinquata', featuring seventy iconic archival designs, sketches and memorabilia, that have defined the label's half-century. A-Cold-Wall also presented a digital film revelling in the label's performance and sportswear tropes, featuring striking foiled trousers and tracksuits swathed in paint, inspired by building materials like clay and plaster. 

There are some people who would describe their current style as slovenly. If you are one of those adherents, then we suggest you now step away from those slouch-inducing sweatpants and oversized sweaters. Your aspiration for spring should be sprezzatura, an Italianate nonchalance most effectively achieved through investment in appearance-uplifting, lightweight suiting.

Men’s suits for spring: the post-pandemic transition piece

Think of the springtime suit as a post-pandemic transition piece, sitting serendipitously between the sportswear silhouettes of your lockdown wardrobe, and the stiff, starch-filled tailoring of your former office-bound existence. Look to subtly oversized proportions that have a laidback lilt, easy unlined silhouettes and fabrics that welcome the warmer weather.

As we ease gently back into the outdoors, it’s only natural to feel the pull of organic tones, such as chestnut, honey and walnut. At Ermenegildo Zegna, artistic director Alessandro Sartori has looked to the hues of the label’s Oasi Zegna nature reserve, in the Biella Alps in northern Italy, for inspiration, while at Jil Sander, softer silhouettes have been imagined in slate, caramel and sky blue.

For those keen to emerge from lockdown with a more exuberant energy, we recommend offsetting that spirit with an insouciant stance, hands shrugged into loose trouser pockets. Turn your attention to Bottega Veneta’s bouclé suiting, which is striking in its textural fabrication. There’s another winning adjective for your new season style glossary.

INFORMATION

This article appears in the May 2021 issue Wallpaper*, available to download

Chances are, that after months in slouchy separates, you're considering splashing out on something a little smarter. The post-pandemic world calls for a return to more rigorous dressing codes, from tailored suits to smart jackets to shirting. Can't decide which tailoring style to invest in? Here, we present a selection of shapes and silhouettes, guaranteed to enhance your out-out wardrobe, from brands including Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo, Ermenegildo Zegna and Marni.

Tailored suits: how to smarten up your act

The nylon jacket

A sure fire way to bring a relaxed ease to suiting? Opt for a style in a sports-inspired technical fabric. Case in point: Prada's suit jacket, imagined in the brand's signature nylon fabric.

The pinstripe jacket

A pinstripe blazer is the pinnacle of the 1980s Wall Street wardrobe. Add a touch of 2021 insouciance with a pattern in a wider stripe. This tailored suit speaks of power but is pleasingly laid-back too.

The asymmetric jacket

For the more avant-garde, a jacket with an aysmmetric fit ticks all your alternative buttons. Opt for a style that fastens off-centre. This will brings an eye-catching edge to your collar proportions and corresponding shirt and tie choices.

The workwear jacket

If you can't quite imagine yourself in a fitted jacket, a more workwear-centric silhouette is for you. Think boxy, oversized and with a four-button fastening and opt for stiffer utilitarian fabrics like cotton-drill or canvas.

The skinny jacket

Obsessed with the skinny silhouette that dominated early Noughties fashion? Button yourself into a narrow blazer shape and pair with an equally skinny trouser silhouette. The Noughties has never felt so now.

The white jacket

When black-tie events return to our schedules, you'll want your tailored suit to stand out. Opt for a pristine white tuxedo jacket with a luxurious satin lapel. Avoid red wine and colourful cocktails at all costs.

The oversized jacket

A slouchy, unlined jacket makes for a comfortable spring silhouette. Wear with a light underlayer, like a T-shirt or gauzy jumper, for laid-back modern ease, a look that’s enhanced when rolling up your sleeves.

The check jacket

While check or plaid jackets might feel a touch fusty, they're instantly updated with feel-good colours. Steer away from browns and greys and explore a colour palette rich in turquoises, purples and greens. 

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc on our physical lives, this month's A/W 2021 menswear shows are taking place largely online. But a lack of a physical audience doesn't make for a lack of creativity, and designers continue to evolve using alternative digital mediums. Here, we round-up the brands that are catching our attention, and determining the fashion trends of 2021, from Pitti to Paris.

Prada

The show’s AMO-designed set - a series of rooms swathed in shaggy faux fur, marble and resin - reflected the starting point of the collection: ‘The need to feel, the pleasure of tactility.’ Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada’s sophomore creative outing centred around a star piece - the intarsia knit long john - which as a second skin, was layered under pinstripe suits, paired atop of shirts and roll necks, or popped beneath brightly-hued oversized coats. The effect nodded to the odd style rituals we’ve picked up in the post pandemic world, like the Zoom meetings attended in smarts and slacks or evening wear paired with indoors shoes. Silhouettes were simultaneously concealing and revealing, swathed or stood away from the frame, like XL MA-1 bomber jackets (a Simons favourite) imagined in fuschia leather and all-in-ones swathed in retro patterns. ‘Juxtaposition of colour, juxtaposition of softness and hardness, to express the reality of the world,' Simons explained of the collection, as part of a Q+A after the show's live stream, featuring questions from students around the world.

Fendi

Creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi turned techno queen for A/W 2021, not only designing the brand’s menswear offering, but creating the vocals for its soundtrack too. ‘Hello, it’s Silvia. I just wanted to tell you about normality. What is normal today?’ she said at the opening to Fendi’s runway film-come-music-video, which featured models striding through a mirrored tunnel, illuminated with neon tubing, designed by Bureau Betak. The chromatic collection was a nod to the new silhouettes that suit our at-home, comfort-focused lives, from robe coats to quilted silk  boxing shorts, cable knit salopettes to suits with piped pyjama hemlines. An unexpected artistic collaboration came courtesy of Noel Fielding, who created scribbled dreamscapes, which were emblazoned across outerwear and knitwear.

Martine Rose

Peering from our windows across urban streets, where its inhabitants are largely confined indoors, we’ve gained new insights into our neighbours lives, like their home workout rituals, their morning routines or what time they walk their dog. This intimate sense of voyeruism was reflected in Martine Rose's A/W 2021 offering ‘What We Do All Day’, which was presented as part of an interactive digital presentation, allowing viewers to access a simulated housing block from their screens, before sneaking Through the Keyhole-style into its different apartments. Viewers were treated to a series of domesticated films, watching Martine Rose-clad home-goers across the globe, from Nairobi to Toronto, enact their every day routines. The virtual tour was created in collaboration with experience studio International Magic – who recently worked on an AR project with Judy Chicago. The most famous guest in the housing block? Drake, tuning in from a recording studio in Toronto, clad in Martine Rose football shirt.

MSGM

Struggling to adapt to the shifts in today’s new normal has been dizzying, a feeling that the Italian label’s founder Massimo Giorgetti has so identified with, he titled his autumn offering ‘Vertigine’. Giorgetti was searching for something steadying as inspiration, settling on the peace and reassurance he takes from snow-topped landscapes. His collection of Nineties-inspired alpine wear features jacquard fleece gilets, lug-soled boots, cornflower blue puffer jackets and check cargo shorts, styled alongside bowling shirts and jackets with retro ski resort-centric prints, inspired by 1930s postcards from Chamonix, St Moritz and Courmayeur. Giorgetti also mined his archive for inspiration, reinterpreting a motif into a ‘trees on acid' print, inspired by the feeling of lying on the ground and staring into a tree-filled sky.

Ermenegildo Zegna

‘We all are experiencing a new reality concerned with new needs, which lead us to previously unseen lifestyles and attitudes. It is precisely at a time like this, when everything is under discussion, that we, at Zegna, have decided to (Re)set,’ said the Italian label’s artistic director Alessandro Sartori. In a film directed by Mattia Benetti, models strode through different rooms of a luxurious, caramel-toned home – passing others playing chess, eating pasta, or reading the newspaper - clad in Sartori’s organically-hued take on indoors dressing. Cashmere suits were slouchy with robe-inspired jackets, shirts were swapped for shawl collared sweaters and slippers were crafted from hand-cut jersey. Zegna's ‘wfh' look is infinitely comfortable and luxurious, two essential tenets for the contemporary man's wardrobe. 

Tod's

For A/W 2021, creative director Walter Chiapponi took viewers to the Villa Ronchi in Vigevano, designed by Giuseppe De Finetti in 1936, for a film starring young actor Lorenzo Zurzolo, who we meet spending seven days alone learning lines for a script. Familiar themes for today, Zurzolo muses on the notion of time and the experience of isolation during his stay, musing on the ‘parallel reality' he finds himself in. As part of the film, viewers witness Zurzolo assessing different outfits in a three-part mirror, which reflect Chiapponi's take on today's relaxed yet sophisticated mood. Cue quilted jackets and overcoats, college sweatshirts and cardigans, all imagined in a subtly retro colour palette of greys and greens. The hero accessory of the collection? An XL ‘T’ logo shoulder bag for stowing all your shopping.

Woolrich

‘Functionality, comfort, versatility’ - three words that represent not only the brand DNA of the American outerwear label, but also the essentials of our clothing. Woolrich's A/W 2021 collection ticked all of our dressing boxes, with the brand presenting the three elements of its collection, ‘charming versatility’, ‘authentic comfort’ and ‘iconic performance’ in a cinematic film, which saw technicolour models juxtaposed against grayscale urban and rural landscapes. To encourage optimism, we'll be opting for pieces in purple, olive and burnt orange, which are rain-resistant, windproof and modular in their design. 

Sunnei

Brands from Balenciaga to Gucci have got their game faces on it recent weeks, celebrating collection launches through their own interactive gaming landscape or through platforms including Pokémon Go. For A/W 2021, Sunnei got in on the arcade-inspired action, inviting fans to feast their eyes on its latest offering through a gaming format. Here, players were able to select their chosen avatar and runway look before entering a combat situation, which required throwing rubber dipped hoop earrings at their opponent. The gaming platform taps into the interactive element behind Sunnei’s offering: ‘Sunnei Canvas' allows buyers worldwide to adjust their orders through a digital platform, such as altering the shape, material and colour of the brand's Dreamy Shoes.

Hed Mayner

The designer - who spends his time between Paris and Tel Aviv - celebrated the performance of getting dressed, something many of us have lost touch with over the last twelve months. So, silhouettes were exaggerated and oversized, like Judo seam trousers that ruch at the ankle, double breasted jackets with large lapels and rounded shoulders and suits with dropped shoulders. For spring, Mayner's ‘supple architecture’  imagined in butter, rust, ivory and copper and places focus on the tactility of fabrics, including tweed, cashmere and English cloth. Standout pieces include tabards deconstructed into open front ponchos and slouchy leather boots that beckon to be tucked into with a trouser.

JW Anderson

The London-based brand tapped Juergen Teller to shoot the images for its A/W 2021 menswear and Pre-Fall 2021 womenswear collection. Shooting in Teller’s studio last month, the photographer has transformed models, including actress and singer Sophie Okonedo into living sculptures, sporting exuberant and oversized silhouettes, including architectural trousers with XL side panels, long mohair tunics which tie at the waist and dresses with leg of mutton sleeves. Inspired by Dutch still life paintings, vegetables including carrots and butternut squashes are printed onto hoodies and shearling bodices are dyed bold hues by hair stylist Anthony Turner. Like the uplifting and immediately collectors' item printed matter Jonathan Anderson created last season to accompany his spring collections, the designer created a poster book of Teller’s images, produced in collaboration with OK-RM, annotated by Teller himself with confusing conceptual effect, and posted it to global guests in cardboard triangular mailing tubes .

Homme Plissé Issey Miyake

Issey Miyake attracts loyal fashion fans, who once they’ve felt the soft folds of its signature silhouettes, opt to wear nothing else. For Homme Plissé Issey Miyake's A/W 2021 collection, the Japanese label celebrated its signature fabrics and shapes, whilst positing on how to launch them into the future. In a film directed by Kyotaro Hayashim, models moved to the rhythm of the brand’s mythic pleating machines, sporting slouchy pieces in newly developed fabrics. This included trousers pleated using a fabric woven with yarn-dyed polyester which resembles the texture of tweed, printed cagoules inspired by the shapes of hand woven baskets, relaxed jewel tone pleated suits in raspberry and cerulean and shapes formed from the brand's signature pleated polyester, but in 100% recycled form.

Rick Owens

Owens chose a poignant reference to reflect the purgatorial state the world finds itself in - the Garden of Gethsemane, where Jesus prayed the night before the crucifixion. The designer always errs on the apocalyptic, peppering his collections with Biblical and pagan overtones, and his A/W 2021 silhouettes were shaped to protect its wearers from the end of days, featuring skinny ribbed knitwear with oddly shaped holes, cropped puffer jackets and religious robes reimagined as recycled cashmere sweaters and leather leggings. The collection was severe and seductive, revealing and rebellious. The most devilish of details? Models strode in tighty wighty briefs with 5 point pentagram-detail flys, paired with thigh high cow hide over-the-knee boots. He described the combination as reflecting ‘unhinged male energy.' Sound familiar?

Louis Vuitton

Pioneer of democratization and diversity, Virgil Abloh has worked to change the stereotypical image of the fashion designer - white, bourgeois and working from an ivory tower. For Vuitton’s A/W 2021 collection, Abloh was fascinated by archetypal characters, like the ‘drifter’ and the ‘architect’, and how we shape meaning and impression from the dress codes associated with them. In a runway film-come-music video, directed by Josh Johnson, models strode in an indistinguishable setting, resembling an airport lounge or art gallery, clad in thickly grained green marble, sporting styles that satirized definition, like hoodies and denim overlaid with tartan drapes formed from Ghanian Kente cloth, and trompe l’oeil jackets that resembled architectural models of Paris and New York.  

The collection asked viewers to free themselves from definition and restriction, and Abloh drew on James Baldwin’s 1953 essay Stranger in the Village, which focuses on the parallels between Baldwin’s experiences as an African-American man in a Swiss village and his life in America. Saul Williams and Yasiin Bey (Mos Def) both provided spoken word overtures as part of the performance. ‘Take down the walls. Deconstruct the narrative,' Williams commanded.

Dior

Kaws, Raymond Pettibon, Hajime Sorayama, Daniel Arsham, Amoako Boafo: a whole host of artists have worked with Kim Jones to bring his street-smart yet haute couture technique-celebrating vision to Dior. For A/W 2021, Jones teamed up with famed Scotland-born figurative painter Peter Doig, whose artworks were transposed onto the maison’s collection, and pieces balanced the pomp of ceremonial attire with a contemporary mood. Militaristic frock coats were reworked with star motif buttons and paired with side stripe detail trousers and wellingtons, painterly jacquard camo cagoules and cargo pants were teamed with snow boots and bowler hats, and thick ribbed jumpers were pinned with twinkling brooches resembling military medals of honour. The look was luxurious yet laid back, flamboyant but with Jones' signature sporty flair, with painterly pieces imagined in Doig-esque tones, like vibrant orange and lemon yellow and moodier purples and greens.

Paul Smith

Unable to visit museums or exhibitions, Smith thought back to the subcultures that have passed him by over the last half decade of his career. His A/W 2021 collection moves through mod, skin head and punk and nods to Northern Soul, featuring an array of relaxed and refined silhouettes, from sharp four button suits in tartan flannel to ankle skimming trousers, painterly floral print overcoats to striped knitwear. Smith thought back to Northern Soul obsessives, who after a night dancing came to his Nottingham store the next morning, testing out the movability of floral Hawaiian print shirts by doing backflips. ‘I used to import boxes of Hawaiian shirts from America,' he says. ‘Usually 20 were good and 30 went straight in the bin.' The other references he drew on? Sharp double-breasted blazers or a ‘posh person's jacket,' paisley print denim jeans and jackets inspired by 'uniform dressing for a night out'  and the louche lockdown wardrobe of someone popping from home to the shops - silk pyjamas with a merlot pea coat popped on top.

Lemaire

There’s always been a luxe practicality behind the Parisian label’s aesthetic, which focuses on expertly crafted designs for everyday living. These tenets resonate today more than ever, and its founders Sarah-Linh Tran and Christophe Lemaire, described the brand's A/W 2021 offering as ‘concise' and ‘essential'. In a film which saw models including composer Jaakko Eino Kalevi and electronic DJ and producer Elena Hauff stroll round a darkened space, models walked in pared-back city essentials in organic hues, that touched on oversized Eighties suiting and utilitarian silhouettes, which could be layered and paired together in versatile ways. There were degradé trench coats, soft puffer jackets and loose tailoring, soft cardigans and multi-pocket waistcoats. Pops of colour emerged in pillar box red suits, and accessories slouched and curved around the body, like oversized cross body shoulder bags and backpacks.

Hermès

One of the benefits of brand’s presenting their shows digitally, is that away from physical runways, luxury houses have approached presentation with a more relaxed ease. At Paul Smith, models smiled to the camera and at Martine Rose, we saw them carrying out everyday domestic activities. At Hermès, menswear designer Véronique Nichanian teamed up with fellow Parisian Cyril Teste of Collective MXM on a live digital performance featuring seven split screens, allowing its audience to focus on different perspectives, as models talked and mingled on the stairs of the Mobilier National. For autumn, the mood was luxurious and laid back, and silhouettes were imagined in a spectrum of rich hues from mustard to petrol blue, lime green to raspberry. Models strode in ribbed knitwear and tactile jogging bottoms, untucked shirts and workman's jackets, all imagined in the brand's signature sumptuous fabrications, from cashmere canvas to calfskin.

Jil Sander

Unsurprisingly the home has featured as a domestic setting for many of A/W 2021’s presentations and films. For Sander’s autumn offering Lucie and Luke Meier, transported its audience to the dilapidated interior of Château de Franconville in France, with peeling walls and crumbling ceilings, in a film shot by Stephen Kidd. The tactility of the setting reflected the textural layers in the collection,  alongside funnel neck pea coats, zip-detail suiting and tartan mohair jackets, featured chunky knit sweaters and silver jewellery. The latter formed a protective layer, with circular beaded necklaces stacked over roll necks and outerwear. Even more reinforcing were the laced wellington boots in sorbet shades, layered on top of trousers.

Ernest W. Baker

In a film inspired by dream sequences, and drawing on the surrealist tropes of Wim Wenders and David Lynch, Inês Amorim & Reid Baker presented their A/W 2021 offering through using distorted filmic landscapes. The label, which has a foundation in tailoring, looked to break free from its own signature silhouettes, responding to today’s need for more relaxed shapes. There was a retro riff on pieces including Western jackets and tartan flares, robe-inspired coats and crochet scarves. Amorim and Baker both live in Portugal, in close proximity to where their collections are produced, but studied in Milan together: velour cheetah print pyjamas and coats nodded to the sartorial choices of old Milanese women they spotted out on the street. For autumn, the brand has also launched a series of organic cotton t-shirts, printed with its signature rose motifs, and evolved its cowboy boot range, in shades of silver and with bourgeoise quilted detailing.

Phipps

‘We started looking at ice, and then the explorer Ernest Shackleton, whose boat got stuck the ice in the Antarctic for like two years,’ says designer Spencer Phipps of the starting point for his A/W 2021 collection. ‘I thought that was a pretty great metaphor for where we are at right now!’ For autumn, the eco-minded designer created an impressively well produced, shot on the Skaftafellsjökull glacier, which was presented as a trailer for a feature film titled ‘Endurance,' which documents the threat of earth's extinction. The clothing suited to his supporting actors? Items that mashed up different clothing archetypes, like overcoats beloved of metal heads, retro Nordic knits in recycled cashmere and Seventies skiwear like long johns and onesies. Up clothes, clothing had a twisted edge, like cute band tees with glitter pink typography, emblazoned with the phrase ‘Save the fucking wales'. ‘Very tongue-in-cheek but totally earnest too,' Phipps says. 

Dolce & Gabbana

Lockdown has allowed designers to focus on trends which are not only emerging on catwalks, but on social media, including Tik Tok - think e-boys, e-girls, cottage core, grandma core. There were elements of these subcultures present at Dolce & Gabbana's A/W 2021 runway show, which in a democratic move, was live streamed not only on the brand's own digital channels, but through online retailer Farfetch too. This was a show that reveled in ostentation and exuberance, featuring clothing that would look stupendous through a screen: glitchy Technicolour knits, oversized metallic puffer jackets, shaggy fake fur robe coats and glittering paint-splattered denim. The brand also placed focus on its tailoring heritage, showcased patchwork pinstripe suits, paired with fluffy slippers and moon boots. We expect these items to be replicated on a Tik Tok Challenge any time soon.

Kiko Kostadinov

For Kostadinov’s A/W 2021 collection, the designer didn’t only take 30 traditional catwalk images of his offering (a classic way to distribute collections to media outlets), but also offered a further 60 silhouettes through a ‘Projection’ window on his eponymous website. The decision is a reflection of the collection as a whole – one that defies parameters or linear evolution, and has silhouettes which are open to interpretation. For autumn, Kostadinov looked to two texts, Christopher Priest’s ‘A Dream of Wessex’ (1977), which delves into a future trapped within virtual reality, and Patience Grey’s Honey From A Weed (1986), which charts the author’s culinary adventures of foraging across the Mediterranean.  What evolved was an offering in hothouse and coastal shades, featuring spliced jackets in bourgeois French tweeds, gardening aprons, V-neck knits and utilitarian trousers. Hybrid floral silks swathed sarong skirts and suiting and uniform silhouettes were layered to striking effect.

Given the past four months that Italians have lived through, any ability to return to a semblance of normalcy is just cause for applause. Earlier this month, with the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Trade Agency, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana did more than that by facilitating its first-ever Milan Digital Fashion Week to present the latest Spring/Summer 2021 menswear and men’s and women’s pre-collections from 42 brands on a dedicated digital platform.

For all intents and purposes, it certainly came close to feeling like a traditional fashion week, with shows scheduled on a structured calendar, even if there was a significant multimedia twist.

Two labels, Dolce & Gabbana and Etro, went as far as sticking their necks out to stage the first two in-person shows since February, with social distancing rules elegantly imposed. Etro, the first label to do so, chose the outdoor garden of Milan’s treasured Four Seasons Hotel (itself closed to visitors for just as long) as the backdrop for its vibrant, pattern-centric men’s and women’s pre-Fall collection. Dolce & Gabbana also stepped away from its regular indoor venue, and instead set its runway amongst the gardens of the Humanitas University to showcase its Gio Ponti-inspired collection. With guests generously spaced out in both cases, the shows were a tantalising precursor to how a return to in-person fashion week may look like come September.

For the most part though, video continued to prove its worth as the next best option in lieu of convening in person, with many fashion houses creating alternate realities for both fashion insiders and fans to dive into.

One of the week’s most resonant forays came from Prada, whose Multiple Views SS21 collection saw the house hand over the creative reins to five image-makers and artists; Terence Nance, Joanna Piotrowska, Martine Syms, Jurgen Teller and Willy Vanderperre, who each captured a different facet of the latest collection against an aspect of the Fondazione Prada. Subtitled ‘The Show That Never Happened’, the intentionally individualized five-part series opens with Vanderperre emphasising the label’s utilitarian, pared back aesthetic, which returns with prominence this season. Followed by Teller’s and Piotrowska’s contributions, which both show off the collection’s everlasting modernity, construction and abundance of quiet details, the series culiminates in Syms’ and Nance’s more stylized interpretations that highlight Prada’s quirky, intellectualized nature while still revealing an inherent whimsy.

Although seemingly discordant, the varied panoply captured Prada’s quintessence to a tee – minimalist and complex, classical and futuristic, all at once. Radical in its treatment of purity, yet also light-heartened at times, the collection and its presentation felt all the more significant given its standing as Mrs. Prada’s solo swansong before her collaboration with Raf Simmons as co-creative director commences next season.

Just as captivating was Gucci’s multi-dimensional film titled ‘Epilogue: Final Act of a Fairy Tale in Three Parts’, which sees behind-the-scenes footage from the shooting of the collection’s advertising campaign at the spectacular Palazzo Sacchetti in Rome (which was also live-streamed for 12 hours) layered with audio clips of Michele and an AI voice describing the inspiration and explaining the context for the collection, and images of the newest collection, novelly modeled by members of the Gucci design team. Spliced together with a surveillance-style treatment, the film’s engaging point of view not only offers viewers behind-the-scenes access to the creative process, but also comments on the industry’s cyclical nature – an aspect that Michele continually seeks to disrupt.

In the collection’s statement, he writes, ‘My fairytale in three parts wants to generate a questioning about the rules, the roles and the functions that keeps fashion going,’ adding. ‘The epilogue that I deliver to you really feels like an overture. A watershed that closes and opens at the same time, a threshold of a new beginning from which we try to imagine our tomorrow.’

This idea of rebirth and re-emergence was particularly palpable at Ermenegildo Zegna, Ferrgamo and Santoni, who all looked back to their origins to take stock of how far they have come. Zegna marked its 110th anniversary with a video reaffirming its past, present and future. Filmed at it historic wool mill and its surrounding nature reserve, the video combines sweeping landscape views of the Oasi Zegna, where the company has planted half a million trees since it was founded in 1910, with peeks of the inner workings at Zegna HQ as models pace through both natural and man-made environments in easy, generously tailored silhouettes.

Ferragamo asserted that it too had weathered the storm with a triumphant video combining snippets of its Hollywood-steeped legacy with proud demonstrations of its Tuscan heritage. Filled with highlights from over the years, its montage reiterates the house’s resilience and finishes with models donning its latest collection while basking outdoors amongst the trees and in the sea – a true luxury after living through weeks in lockdown.  

Santoni shared in these feelings of liberation by tapping the natural beauty of its Le Marche home region as backdrop for its newest collection. Its signature footwear and accessories are set against stunning swaths of the glittering Adriatic sea and bucolic countryside, with the tour also including glimpses of natural stone quarries and breathtaking mountaintops – unequivocally Italian and hard to beat.

The video medium was a particularly appropriate choice for Sunnei to unveil an experimental new offering, Sunnei Canvas. Comprised of 20 signature styles realized all in white, just like blank canvases, these pieces can be subsequently customized, according to buyers’ and boutiques’ wants and needs. Debuted on digitally engineered 3D avatar models in an anonymous virtual space, produced together with the digital studio Pezzo di Studio, the inaugural video presents the shapes, fits and fabrics that are up for modification and is part of an ongoing series that will be continued in September.

A final honorable mention goes to the British label Qasimi, whose evocative video portrait of its new collection eloquently blends tenents of its Middle Eastern heritage with a contemporary modernity, Spring/Summer 2021 sees the introduction of womenswear alongside to its menswear line. The collection also features details inspired by the geometric Al Sadu weaving tradition of the Bedouin people that has been adapted for contemporary use. Luxurious, yet relaxed silhouettes that offer comfort with their softly sculptural forms, are teamed with woven stripes, trim and embroidered panels to poetically distill the best of both worlds - providing just that dose of fresh perspective, which the industry needs.

Over the last month, we’ve transitioned to viewing the world from a smaller viewfinder. As the perspective of our new parameters has shifted, so we’ve found uplift in everyday domestic details or striking beauty in the natural world, now seen largely through our windows. As fashion designers have acclimatised to this new, four wall-defined way of life, from Beijing to Berlin, London to Longiano, we’ve invited those within our creative community to document by hand what they can see from their work desk or window. Here we present our rooms with a view.

Manolo Blahnik, Bath

‘The sky was blue almost Mediterranean,’ says the footwear behemoth of the lush garden view from his bedroom window.

Maria Grazia Chiuri, womenswear artistic director Dior, Rome

A unifying Italian flag hangs from the window of Chiuri's home in Italy's capital.

Michael Halpern, London

Jars of citrus fruits and bowls of fiery chillis sit on the colour-inclined womenswear designer's work desk.

Margaret Howell, Suffolk

‘One drawing is my sheep’s trough with planted tall, reed grass. The other is my hazelnut tree, which planted itself by seed many years ago. I drew this just as it’s new leaves are coming out. At least nature is carrying on as normal' – MH.

Bryan Conway, design director Tiger of Sweden, Stockholm

Titled ‘Spring in Sweden,' Conway's sketch offers a tree-lined street scene in the country's capital.

Marco de Vincenzo, Rome

From his window, the womenswear designer can see the splendid baroque architecture of Rome.

Massimo Giorgetti, founder MSGM, Milan

Plant-festooned balconies greet Giorgetti as he looks across Milan from his apartment.

Eudon Choi, London

From the view of his kitchen table, the womenswear designer sees a selection of sculptures and stacks of his husband's copies of Wallpaper*.

Karl Templer, artistic director Ports 1961, London

A green garden view greets the artistic director from his work desk in London.

Pierre Hardy, Paris

The window view through the accessories and jewellery aficionados wood panelled apartment reveals the splendour of the River Seine.

Thom Browne, New York

The designer presents an abstract view from his Central Park West location.

Petar Petrov, Vienna

Mannequins and a cutting table make up the designer's view across his mid-century apartment and live-in studio.

Isabel Marant, Paris

Natural beauty greets the progenitor of Parisian chic from her window.

Samuel Ross, founder A-Cold-Wall*, London

The boundary-pushing menswear designer shares a domestic scene from the London-based home he shares with his family.

Maria Skappel-Holzweiler, head of design Holzweiler, Oslo

For the head of design of the family run, Norwegian brand, respite comes in watching her children painting Easter eggs, outside in a pergola.

Sean Suen, Beijing

The menswear designer, who has been on lockdown since late January, shares a domestic scene in pencil and coloured wax crayon.

Lorraine Acornley, creative director Begg & Co, Hertfordshire

Quick daily observational sketches of a plant pot on Acornley's desk, ‘explore line and materials'.

Giuseppe Zanotti, Longiano

The Italian footwear behemoth is currently residing in his home in Longiano, Emilia-Romagna, a short distance from the brand's factory.

Daniel Rosenberry, artistic director Schiaparelli, New York 

‘My window, my desk, my things and me' – DR.

Tammy Kane, co-founder and creative director Christopher Kane, London

A view of nature across a conservatory has been imagined using oil on canvas and oil crayon.

Albert Kriemler, creative director Akris, St Gallen

Lines from First Suprematist Standing Poem (1965), by writer, visual artist and gardener Ian Hamilton Finlay, greet Kriemler.

Giuseppe Marretta, menswear design director, Pringle of Scotland, London

Exhibition posters and verdant plant life offer visual distraction for the menswear designer.

MM6 design collective, MM6, Paris

The eclectic collective serve up a symbolic sketch inspired by the inversion of social structures. ‘Even so, we are still singing,' they add.

Cecilie Bahnsen, Copenhagen

A huge Scots pine tree stands outside Bahnsen's window in the Danish capital.

Erdem Moralıoğlu, London

A sketch of rooftops from Moralıoğlu's window sits amongst ready-to-wear illustrations and swatches of fabric.

Alessandro Sartori, artistic director Ermenegildo Zegna, Milan

An abstract artwork, cosy chair and Cire Trudon candles all make up Sartori's domestic set up.

Roksanda Ilinčić, London

Linck Ceramics vases – from a curated Matchesfashion collection with Wallpaper's Picky Nicky – stand next to a window plastered with a community-focused NHS poster. 

Molly Molloy, co-founder Colville, Milan

‘I look out on to a courtyard of bright yellow apartments and have a balcony full of tropical plants. When the sun is out I have the windows open, you can hear the clattering of plates at lunch time and the smell of amazing Italian dishes cooking.' – MM

Ramesh Nair, artistic director Moynat, Paris

Stacks of artist monographs and a feline friend sit on Nair's busy work desk.

Feng Chen Wang, Shanghai

Shanghai's built up skyline forms the backdrop to the menswear designer's studio space.

Gherardo Felloni, creative director Roger Vivier, Isola del Giglio 

A burnt sun setting over the ocean greets the footwear designer from his island home.

Alexandre Mattiussi, founder AMI, Paris

A window view completely free of buildings offers the natural gift of a clear blue sky.

Scene setting: The staging for Alessandro Sartori’s A/W 20 show amplified his commitment to sustainability with dramatic savoir faire. Imagine a large former foundry, grey and collapsed into darkness. Then thousands of fabric ribbons suspended from the ceiling swarm into view, their blues and greens quivering under the spotlight. A field of vivid strips made from stock materials, devised by New York-based artist Anne Patterson, served as a fitting backdrop to Sartori’s balanced mood. Models marched through a pathless wood with gusto and grace as the bass of the techno soundtrack smacked the glass windows. It was more than just another graphic backdrop to runway images – the set provided a physical manifestation of the brand’s commitment to the #UseTheExisting project.

Mood board: Zegna’s #UseTheExisting is a philosophical commitment to developing more refined, less harmful textile milling and dyeing processes. It’s time to remake and reuse. 50% of the A/W 20 collection was made from salvaged fabrics including recycled cashmere flannel and suiting wool derived entirely from remnants. The look explored a hybridised approach to smart dressing. The line was neat, clothes layered. Boxy three-button suits one-breast-and-a-half jackets and carrot-shaped tapered trousers were worn under lightly padded blousons. Standout were tailored one-button waistcoats and bold, elegant macro moiré suiting.

Sound bite: There is always room to build new archetypes for menswear. ’The collection is all about reshuffling or hybridising categories, breaking boundaries in order to explore new territories,’ Sartori said. ‘One experimentation leads to the next, in one seamless dialogue, always keeping in mind that our art should always respect the earth. That’s our mission, as both humans and fashion-makers’. The Zegna man is suited and sensitive.  

We live in liquid times. The choppy politics of both identity and place have washed hoary notions about what is certain. With deep fakes and shallow truths, now is the time for honesty and integrity. Fashion is taking note. ‘To me, this time is about being conscious. Being real. Don’t be afraid to say who you are – whoever you are,’ Ermenegildo Zegna’s artistic director Alessandro Sartori says. Zegna’s latest campaign is concerned not only with the cut of a cashmere blouson or the smarts of sustainable suiting but hopes to harness fashion’s ability to foster conversation. The question? What makes a man today.

Since Sartori graduated from Istituto Marangoni Milano in 1989, much has changed. The pace of fashion for one, the unexpected emergence of a constant feedback loop care of social media and, more exhilaratingly, the shift in attitude to use clothes to enhance a personality rather than use them as uniform. ‘I have noticed more of a sense of wanting to dress yourself in a way that shows who you are and it wasn’t always like that.’ Sartori’s A/W 2019 collection was inspired by life in perpetual motion; the show was staged inside Milan’s vast central station to illustrate the many paths crossed throughout a single day. The company is placing its product at the centre of a wider, more critical dialogue. ‘Borders keep being narrowed throughout the world. We felt the urge to advocate the power of openness and multiplicity,’ Sartori says.

The latest campaign, starring two-time Oscar winner Mahershala Ali, channels a new sincerity and sensuosity. It proffers a roll-call of men with something to say. ‘After a long time of presenting men without fear, I became more interested in a man who can talk about his emotions, his personality. How do we love, how fragile are we? It’s about sensitivity and sensibility. All of this is super important because we don’t dress machines,’ Sartori says. ‘We dress human beings.’

Sartori shifted his attitude after noting the vivid and unfeigned talk in the design studio. Millennials flood their dialogue with candidness and frequent self-reflection and this has impacted much of the fresh approach. ‘The studio is 50 per cent men and 50 per cent women and about a year ago we started to have more open discussions and I cannot tell you how many ideas – how many creative ideas – I got from it!’ he says. ‘When we show what we are going to do for the coming season, it’s not just a presentation now, it’s a conversation.’ In this mood, the campaign proposes masculinity as a state of mind, not a set of given rules. It places man in the outdoors, face down in the minutiae of the natural, awesome world.

The environment is at the heart of Zegna. It is the only luxury brand to be vertically integrated and own the entire supply chain. In 1993 the group founded Oasi Zegna as a project to promote the work of its founder to transform mountain territory near the company’s wool mill in Trivero into a nature reserve by planting half a million trees in the late 1930s. In 2014, Zegna purchased the family run Achill Farm in Armidale, northern New South Wales, so they could support the struggling Australian farming industry. ‘Our sheep at Achill Farm are fed with organic food and then by the time their merino wool comes into the store as fully finished garments, there have been so many steps involved. Today we have bigger possibilities and we can use this full supply chain differently to really try and have zero waste. We are lucky to have it.’

For the coming season and beyond, the attitude is one of regeneration: re-use and resurrect. The call to action is #UseTheExisting. Suits are made entirely from wool remnants. Eco down jackets, quilted coats and long parkas are in recycled polyester. A knitted sweater is in salvaged cashmere. This approach is rooted in an openness to do traditional things differently. ‘It’s a mind-set that you have to change first. Then you have constraints, but little by little you can find solutions and new processes. Is it possible to have 100 per cent sustainable today? No, but we are working hard to explore how we can achieve this. If we can recycle and repurpose something three or five times that’s great. But what happens when there is still that 5 per cent left?’ Sartori asks. It’s curiosity that makes the man.

INFORMATION

zegna.com

Mood board: Post Pitti and onto the first of the Milan menswear shows, the mood is still one of regeneration: re-use and re-do. The call to action on the notes at Alessandro Sartori’s S/S 20 show asked us to  #UseTheExisting and so the collection had a sustainability-first style. The company is committed to using more wool, as well as technical fabrics developed in-house, to help close the circle of traceability. Suits were made entirely from wool remnants at Zegna’s Achill farm; a bomber in plum had a sun-bleached patchwork print. The silhouette was lean. Blousons and sleek three-button blazers were paired with soft, slim trousers. Sportier pieces featured voluminous, curved pockets and tailoring had flattened crinkles. Macro chiné motifs gave a painterly feel and denim came washed with mineral dyes.

Scene setting: Renewal is at the forefront of Sartori’s mind. The show was staged underneath the immense industrial shell of Area Falck – once the foundations of one of Italy’s oldest steel companies. Located in Sesto San Giovanni, the area powered the economic boom that allowed Italy to recover after World War II. Yet since the 2000s it has become a wasteland and is now in the middle of regeneration under the watchful eye of Renzo Piano. Soon it will become a hub for health and science, along with green and residential areas including an oasis 65 hectares in size. The show had a dystopian atmosphere, as piles of rubble let off clouds of beige smoke as the sun set around us. Designed and produced by Bureau Betak, the space created a tough, brooding mood for the show; the clothes were smart in rusty tones.  

Sound bite: ‘It is our duty as denizens of this world to live responsibly,’ Sartori says. ‘Everything is connected, and everything conveys the same idea: we do not need to create the new from scratch, but we can reuse and reinvent the existing, getting progressive fabrics out of discarded ones, translating traditional techniques into innovative lifetime tailoring, turning an abandoned place into an area of creation.’

Scene setting: No-one has filmed the ordered chaos of a busy train station better than Alfred Hitchcock in his 1959 masterpiece North by Northwest. Though the police try to hunt their dashing fugitive from justice, they cannot break through the bustle and tempo all around them. Stations in major cities are vast energetic spaces. Paths cross, glances exchanged, routines played out. Now the grand foyer of Milano Centrale station became the stage for Alessandro Sartori’s autumn/winter 2019 show at Ermenegildo Zegna. Bureau Betak dressed it in large LED columns, onto which the endless scrolling of numbers – train timetables lost in translation – trickled up and down as the models walked. For a moment, we joined the 330,000 people who pass through the station every day.

Mood board: The collection of tailored pieces, confident outerwear and hardy, detail-laden boots were inspired by life in perpetual motion. ‘Borders keep being narrowed throughout the world. I felt the urge to advocate the power of openness and multiplicity,’ Sartori said. This multiplicity played out in a hybridized composition of sartorial codes. Cargo pants in smart wools had straps around the calves, reminiscent of a cyclist on the move; the wide lapels of classic men’s coats were grown onto short, cropped blousons. Storm cuffs poked out from the hem of smart trousers. Standout was a metallic jacquard with a repeat illustrated pattern of commuters reading the papers, cut into a lean suit.

Finishing touches: The company’s classic Cesare sneaker was worn in many variations and was available online for customization after the show. The high-top leather style with mesh inserts and XXX logo can be created in diverse ways. Sartori’s cross-generational, metropolitan vision goes from head-to-toe.

Lately, Anna Zegna has been spending more time in her 100 sq km garden. Well, not exactly her garden, so much as that of the Italian textile giant and menswear brand Ermenegildo Zegna. The brand’s founder, Anna’s grandfather, opened his mill back in 1910, when he was just 18 years old, and he later began planting what would come to be known as the Oasi Zegna. A public idyll around Trivero, the Oasi is now home to many a fruit, herb and leaf that another of the garden’s fans, Zegna’s artistic director Alessandro Sartori, has used to provide the dyes for a cashmere collection launching later this year. Remarkably, it’s not all beige.

‘Just a few years ago, all you could do without using chemical dyes were the lighter shades – and there was a lot of beige,’ says Sartori. ‘You’d start out with, say, this beautiful deep red and, by the time you’d washed the garment, 90 per cent of that colour was gone. But now there are ways of fixing the colour – rich purples from iris, camels from teas – by a process of repeated dip-dyeing. We’ve even managed to fix black, which is the real challenge. It all uses a lot of water, but at least there are no chemicals.’

The result, says Anna, president of Fondazione Zegna, is the kind of interesting idea only likely to appeal to a more connoisseur customer, not least because the process is expensive: it adds around 10 per cent extra to the cost of a cashmere piece, but would add around 50 per cent to the likes of a woollen jacket, the kind of thing which may come later. ‘It’s a fascinating story, though, because it’s about a real relationship to the land, to history,’ she says.

History is a big thing for Ermenegildo Zegna. As was typical of early Italian industrialists, the family home was built cheek-by-jowl with the manufacturing plant, so young Anna and her siblings played in the garden to the sound of the factory whistle. But this year also marks the 50th anniversary of its move into ready-to-wear, after almost six decades supplying suit fabrics to tailors.

Ermenegildo had long encouraged a spirit of progressiveness in the family firm – when most textiles manufacturers wholesaled their cloths and remained largely anonymous to the end customer, he insisted on the company name being woven into the selvedge. His money was also behind Italy’s first men’s style magazine and he established international competitions to ensure access to the finest wools. But his sons, Angelo and Aldo, didn’t want to risk throwing that good name away and the first generation of off-the-peg suits were sold under a new brand name, with the association with Zegna only introduced slowly. ‘Like any new job, you don’t get to grips with it on the first day,’ jokes Anna.

That caution was wise: it’s hard to imagine now when, as Sartori puts it, ‘men have never had so much choice or interest in what to wear,’ but Zegna’s step into ready-to-wear – providing three cuts of suits loosely targeted at three age ranges, the fits resulting from wide anthropomorphic studies – was a first for Italian men. Until then, a good suit meant a visit to a tailor – and as tailors were the Zegna company’s bread and butter, not upsetting them with this vision of future fashion was a consideration, too.

‘Ready-to-wear presented a great opportunity but also a great challenge, not least because the 1960s and 1970s were politically and socially very difficult years for Italy,’ says Anna. ‘The ideas seemed radical. We did a trousers-only line called Cantara and, until then, trousers were only worn as part of a suit. We wanted to present them as a product in their own right, that you interpreted according to your own style. We had to do a lot of explaining as to how each pair could be part of your lifestyle. And this time was revolutionary rather than evolutionary in that it was really when the idea of creating a distinctively Italian lifestyle came to the fore – Italian clothes, cars, design, Ettore Sottsass, Brionvega. It wasn’t just a matter of style. It was sociological, a matter of concern to philosophers. The likes of Umberto Eco were writing about it. It was when the Italian fashion story started – a few years later, all the designers started to come through.’

Anna Zegna might well remember: she was head of PR for Gianni Versace – enjoying the pizzazz and the chance, as a woman, to actually wear the clothes she represented – before her father called her back into the fold to play her part in the family firm’s next chapter. (‘I asked if I could stay at Versace for one more year, but he said no,’ she recalls.)

Of course, while Ermenegildo Zegna continues to supply other designers – it produces around 1,000 different cloths every year, or around 12,000 if different colour variations are counted – and even, behind the scenes, to produce a lot of their tailoring, these days it’s ranked more as one of them. All the more so given the recent push towards a brighter, more upbeat, more casual and more complete conception of its menswear. Earlier this year, the company acquired Cappellificio Cervo, one of Italy’s historic hat-makers, as well as – of all things – a leather string manufacturer. Sartori has designed an accessories line for the coming autumn/winter using it. No vest is included.

‘When you look at menswear now, there’s a lot of crazy styling, some of which is not so easy to like,’ says Sartori, who grew up in the region around Trivero and recalls seeing the Zegna name everywhere he went on his bicycle. ‘But the fact is that, such are the changes in attitudes among men to the way they dress, that even streetwear brands are our competitors now. Zegna has had to undergo something of a transformation. And that doesn’t mean just creating some kind of marketing story, but also thinking of relevant ways of doing things.’

By way of example, Sartori returns to the new cashmere, with its emphasis on natural processes and sustainability – what might sound like green-washing were it not for the fact that Ermenegildo Zegna can genuinely claim a track record in corporate social responsibility that’s much older than the zeitgeisty phrase. Today, it still puts 5 per cent of its profits into environmental and educational causes – and given that it’s now a company with an annual billion euro-plus revenue, that’s not to be sniffed at. It’s a reminder that, for all that its cloths are crafted and its tailoring crisp, ultimately it’s about big business.

‘I think the company’s most important contribution to menswear over that 50 years, over its history, has been its achievement of total verticalisation – the fact that the family controls what it does from the sheep to the shop,’ says Anna. ‘That level of integration isn’t easy to do, but it really improves the products. And it allows you to move forward by building on what’s gone before without having to rely on anyone outside of the chain. That doesn’t make Ermenegildo Zegna a brand that’s all about heritage. But it does, I think, give it meaning.’

As originally featured in the September 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*234)

INFORMATION

For more information, visit the Ermenegildo Zegna website

Mood board: Men’s ready-to-wear has been infiltrated by the sorts of well-cut sweatshirts, roomy tailored cargo trousers and logo-laden accessories that were once the hallmarks of outsider/skateboarder cool. The result is a new standard. From wide, longer length shorts to small zipped accessories worn across the chest, a certain West-coast nonchalance has become the blueprint for much of what is presented during the seasonal shows.

Designers working with luxury fabrics and fine tailoring have taken note. For spring, artistic director Alessandro Sartori continued to interpret this look within the artisanal vocabulary of Zegna. Entitled ‘Weightlessness’, the collection married the look of sports and performance wear, together with the fabrications of couture tailoring.

Scene setting: The show was staged on a narrow catwalk, stretched across the surrounding lake at publisher Mondadori’s extraordinary offices, designed by architect Oscar Niemeyer in 1975. Located close to Linate Airport, the monumental building mirrors the headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that Niemeyer completed five years earlier in Brasília. Both are set on vast stretches of calm, flat water making them look as if they are suspended in mid-air. 

Best in show: The look had an Eighties sensibility. Silhouettes were wide and sportif – boxy shirt jackets, dégradé check tracksuits and tailored high-waisted double-pleat trousers had roomier fits. Guests sported the brand’s high top Tiziano sneakers in leather, stamped with the XXX logo, and the models wore calfskin and mesh styles available to buy direct from the catwalk.

Trackpants can be zipped off at the knee to become shorts; long parkas borrowed their lightness from summer shirting. ‘Creation for me always stems from a technical challenge. I am presenting shapes that are bold and voluminous, yet very light, in layers of meshes, wools, silks,’ Sartori said. Standout were the pieces shown in a textured Tussah silk produced by Lanificio Zegna using yarns foraged from the wild. Techno couture indeed. 

Left, Lemaire

A jolt of colour contributed to Christophe Lemaire and Sarah-Linh Tran’s ode to German aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s.

Shirt, £270; trousers, £395; shoes, £340, all by Lemaire


Right, Christopher Kane

The designer’s saccharine yet sensual domestic goddess favoured frothy ruffled details and scarlet shades.

Coat, £3,995, by Christopher Kane. Earrings, £225, by Fay Andrada

As originally featured in the February 2018 issue of Wallpaper* (W*227)

Far left, Céline

Powerful proportions informed Phoebe Philo’s collection, like this draped dress with an accentuating leather waistline.

Dress, €4,500, by Céline. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler. Tights, £35, by Wolford


Left, Lanvin

In a collection inspired by our fragmented digital age, different looks were spliced together, such as this utility-focused boiler suit and jacket.

Coat, £2,250; jumpsuit, £2,650; collar, £280, all by Lanvin


Right, Jil Sander

As part of their debut for the German house, Luke and Lucie Meier offset monastic shapes against skin-baring chequered fabrics.

Dress, £2,220; culottes, £560, both by Jil Sander. Earrings, £240, by Ambush. ‘Stromboli’ table, €5,800, by India Mahdavi

Left, Dior Homme

Sharp tailoring was offset by a soft nostalgia, evoked by ribbon scarves bearing the Rue de Marignan address of the Dior men’s studio in Paris.

Jacket, £1,600; trousers, £590; scarf, £230, all by Dior Homme. Shoes, £387, by Pierre Hardy


Right, Dior

Maria Grazia Chiuri paid homage to Niki de Saint Phalle, this trench coat nodding to the French-American sculptor’s bold use of colour.

Coat, £4,700; boots, £1,150, both by Dior

Left, Raf Simons

There were Japanese elements to the Belgian designer’s offering, which featured oversized blazers buttoned across the chest in homage to the cut of a kimono.

Blazer, €1,239, by Raf Simons


Right, Hermès

Workwear stitching and movement-friendly shapes did the heavy lifting in Véronique Nichanian’s relaxed offering.

Shirt, £590; trousers, £540, both by Hermès. Scarf, vintage, from Kiliwatch Paris. ‘CH23’ dining chair, £569, by Hans J Wegner, for Carl Hansen & Søn

Left, Saint Laurent

Anthony Vaccarello continued his love affair with the 1980s with voluminous puffball silhouettes inspired by vintage haute couture.

Dress, £12,855, by Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler


Right, Louis Vuitton

For his Hawaii-inspired collection, menswear director Kim Jones juxtaposed monogrammed surfer tops with oversized Wall Street suiting.

Jacket, £1,950; shirt, £600; top, £440; trousers, £650, all by Louis Vuitton. ‘D.156.3’ armchair, €4,524, by Gio Ponti, for Molteni & C


Far right, Louis Vuitton

Meanwhile, head of womenswear Nicolas Ghesquière used leather to add a modern edge to the high necks and wide collars of regimental frock coats.

Coat, £7,500, by Louis Vuitton. Earrings, £225, by Fay Andrada

Left, Gucci

Part of a catwalk collection that blended gender, genre and decade, Alessandro Michele’s gently flaring suit has real retro flair.

Jacket, £1,310; shirt, £355; trousers, £435; shoes, £2,070, all by Gucci


Right, Loewe

The Madrid-based house celebrates contemporary craft in this reinterpretation of the trench coat, shredded into curling streams of fabric.

Coat, £4,890; boots, £725, both by Loewe. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler. ‘Henri’ bench, €4,860, by India Mahdavi

Far left, Prada

The women’s collection sported polka dots, plastics and fake folds, emphasising Miuccia Prada’s fascination with punk, 1950s fashion and trompe-l’oeil. 

Coat, £1,810, by Prada. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler


Left, Prada

For menswear, her triple-layered silhouettes looked to comic strips, retro spacesuits and colour-blocked bowling shirts.

Coat, £3,005; shirt (tan), £435; boiler suit (red), £1,030, all by Prada


Right, Ermenegildo Zegna

Alessandro Sartori matched sports-luxe silhouettes with organic shades, as seen in this combo of caramel overcoat and trousers with jogging bottom detail.

Coat, £2,860; trousers, £800, both by Ermenegildo Zegna Couture. Shoes, £340, by Lemaire. Scarf, vintage, from Kiliwatch Paris. ‘Henri’ table, €11,880, by India Mahdavi

Left, Proenza Schouler

With this corset-detail overcoat, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez gave outerwear silhouettes an eveningwear vibe.

Coat, €3,170, by Proenza Schouler. ‘D.156.3’ armchair, as before


Right, Chanel

Karl Lagerfeld took on the elements with plastic fantastic double-breasted coats, rain hats and gloves.

Coat, £11,740, by Chanel. Earrings, €635, by Proenza Schouler. Tights, £35, by Wolford. ‘Henri’ bench, as before

Mood board: the Zegna man is always at his best when he swaps the toil of the city for the tranquillity of nature. So, for A/W 2018, artistic director Alessandro Sartori presents a modular wardrobe fusing indoors and outdoors, tailoring and sports. Colours are taken from the Oasi Zegna – the park above the Zegna factory in Biella, owned and maintained by the company since the 1920s. (It even has its own ski slope.) Cashmere has been dyed using a sustainable process developed by Lanificio Zegna; hues are drawn from flowers, herbs, wood, leaves and roots – the nature of nurture.
 
Scene setting: Christmas may be a distant memory, but the lights are still up in Italy. Only last week Moncler installed giant snowmen outside its new Florence boutique. At Zegna, guests walked through a snow shower, whilst it was unseasonably warm outside. Guests descended into the basement of the brutalist Università Bocconi, their shoulders and hair studded with flecks of white. The mood was influenced by a collection of photographs of frozen landscapes by Swiss artist Thomas Flechtner. In his series SNOW, published in 2002, Flechtner muses on the relationship between the metaphysics of nature and our own state of mind; Sartori dressed it. A long stretch of fresh fake snow bathed in icy blue light formed the catwalk.
 
Best in show: the bright, full-puffa ski suits on display in Pitti last week were dialled down for the mainline collection – here, they’re in a chevron, cut short and away from the body shown in navy and black. The show opened with single-button tailored jackets with ski-wear inspired wider belts across the waist – a ‘one 1/2 breasted’ construction. Elsewhere a pleated jumper and track pant were as sharp as they were fluid. The ‘XXX’ logo was splashed across the collection in various iterations; writ large as in a jacquard across jackets or small across the rim of knitted beanie hats.

Mood board: Artistic director Alessandro Sartori continues to present his vision of the modern man, having rejoined the company last year following his time at the creative helm of Z Zegna from 2003 to 2011. For S/S 2018, the collection maintained the sports-lux mood. Smart bombers, canneté cuffed trousers and suiting came in century cashmere, pure mohair and flowing washed silks which can be scrunched up into a ball. The fashion message felt fluid and fresh. Standout was a tailored suit in mesh jacquard and the evolution of the leather technique, Pelle Tessuta, which weaves together thin strips of leather in a contemporary take on artisanal textile on tailoring and sneakers.
 
Scene setting: Guests entered through a large maze, clad with bright green astro turf, puzzling mirrors and digital screens showing artisans at work in the atelier. The show was held in a futurist forest in the historic courtyards of the University of Milan. ‘I couldn’t imagine a better place than this courtyard, where I often spent time in my youth reading, writing and sketching,’ Sartori said. 
 
Finishing touches: Twelve of the looks shown are available to order in selected worldwide boutiques. A selection of ready-to-wear and accessories can be made to order with additional handmade knotting, painting and embroidery. Mesh cut calfskin leather, suede intarsia, hand bleached denim – Zegna’s passion for the artisanal was on full display. 

Arriving this month in Ermenegildo Zegna stores worldwide is a capsule collection of 23 pieces called 'Second Skin', the first set delivered with artistic director Alessandro Sartori’s signature.

'Second Skin' is trans-seasonal, designed and engineered for year-round use. According to Sartori, it has ‘volume but no weight, so you can travel and feel almost nude’. The garments offer high comfort, exceptional performance and help regulate the body as it moves from indoor to outdoor environments – between planes, cars, trains and transport terminals, and from one climate to the next.

With a palette of vicuña, off-white, teal, brown, navy and light grey, the look sits comfortably between tailoring and sportswear, but with precision detailing so considered that you will never feel underdressed or overdressed. The fit is slim, and details are discreet. Take the rib on the knits and blouson: look closely and you will see a herringbone pattern. Minimal leather trims add interest but never weight or bulk.

Key pieces include the bomber in waterproof wool and silk, a garment Sartori describes as superleggera (super-light), explaining that even the collar is cut from a single layer of cloth. The fabric weighs just 180g per metre and the finished jacket only 470g. This piece, like others in the 'Second Skin' collection, benefits from the years of experience of Lanificio Zegna, the company’s own mill. The blouson has a detachable hood and is made from vitellina, an exceptionally soft vegetable-tanned calf leather. It’s finished as a micro nabuk, which Sartori says is ‘halfway between a classic nabuk and nappa, so the pello, or “hair”, is very short and super soft’. Of all the pieces, this is the one that needs to be touched to be believed.

Although fully tailored, a two-button blazer in garment-dyed cashmere and silk has a natural shoulder so it fits like a glove. The trousers are described by Sartori as ergonomic and the cotton has a mano fredo, or ‘cool hand’. They ‘feel fresh but very light’, the designer says, and the extra-compact weave reduces creasing.

Sartori also waxes lyrical about the polos, which have no buttons but instead a round neck with a collar. ‘The yarn is high performance,’ he says. ‘Specially selected extra-long fibres are given an extra twist.’ The crew-neck knitwear, which comes with a small nabuk leather sweatshirt detail, is made from a cashmere and silk mix that looks almost like towelling. The softness of cashmere combined with the crispness of silk is like ‘having sweet and salty at the same time’, says Sartori.

The collection’s ultra-light, calf-soled nappa moccasins have a reverse construction, whereby the upper and lining are stitched to a flexible leather sole on the reverse side and then turned inside out, which means they can be folded in half for packing.

Last summer, Sartori was installed as Ermenegildo Zegna’s first artistic director, with responsibility across all its brands. In many ways, he was coming home. The son of a seamstress, Sartori was born in Biella, just a valley away from Ermenegildo Zegna’s home town of Trivero. He spent eight years at the company, designing 'Z Zegna', followed by five years as artistic director of Berluti in Paris, before returning to the fold.

Sartori enthuses about the company’s vertical production, as he gets to eliminate weight at every stage: in the yarn and fabric development, as well as the construction of each piece. Most 'Second Skin' garments have crease-proof qualities. As a rule, crease-proof clothing is chemically treated, but Ermenegildo Zegna works in a different way. It selects only the longest fibres and develops a very high twist at yarn stage, allowing for minimal creasing in the final garment.

Sartori has already air-tested some pieces himself, including on a trip that took in wintry New York and sunny Los Angeles. As a frequent flyer, he has trained himself to reduce volume. For weekend travel, he packs just one change of clothes, plus essential tech such as noise-cancelling headphones. For longer trips, he organises his wardrobe into small poplin bags made by his mother. He demonstrates how he folds his jackets inside out for optimal packing; he recommends quickly unpacking and hanging tailoring over a bath filled with hot water, so the steam can work through the fibres.

The entire 'Second Skin' collection of 18 pieces (two blousons, one bomber, two blazers, two sweatshirts, two shirts, two long-sleeved polos, three short-sleeved polos, one pair of trousers and three five-pocket pairs of jeans) weighs just 7.2kg. And if you pack one of the five pairs of shoes, it’s just 280 grams more. A case of less but better.

As originally featured in the April 2017 issue of Wallpaper (W*217)

INFORMATION
’Second Skin’ is in stores now. For more information, visit the Ermenegildo Zegna website

Scene setting: His first show for Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, artistic director Alessandro Sartori staged his debut within Anselm Kiefer’s Seven Heavenly Palaces. The permanent installation at Milan gallery HangarBicocca features seven crooked towers created from reinforced concrete, and these were contrasted against a set created from gold metal cubes and geometrically ordered angle brackets.

Mood board: Echoing the texture-heavy setting of his debut, Sartori experimented with luxurious fabrications, from suits constructed in ultralight cashmere to papery calfskin bomber jackets, creating using an unusual wax tanning process. The collection was imagined in elegant earthy tones, and completed with geometric jacquard tailoring and cushiony padded coats.

Finishing touches: Sartori debuted his alpine-inspired Z Zegna collection at Pitti Uomo on Tuesday, and these ski influences manifested here in sturdy mountaineering boots, leather gloves and functional rubberised zip details. Balaclavas were swapped for baseball caps and beanie hats with cross stitch detailing, which bought a contemporaneity to Sartori’s more suited looks.

All through history, people have woven tapestries to tell stories. A new one by South African artist William Kentridge, hanging in the Ermenegildo Zegna store on New Bond Street in London, tells several interconnected tales, including that of the visionary Italian entrepreneur Ermenegildo Zegna, who took his father’s looms and built a wool mill in Trivero, in the Alpine foothills, in 1910.

Today, the fourth generation of Zegnas carry on the story of this family-run company. When they planned a new shop for London, Ermenegildo’s granddaughter, Anna Zegna, sought out Kentridge to create a tapestry for the company’s Art in Global Stores series. ‘There are so many connections between what we do – our work, passion, tradition and heritage – and how he treats materials is the same,’ says Zegna. ‘We needed to connect the dots in weaving this history of ours into a tapestry that could be a sort of film, connecting the bits and pieces.’

Although unfamiliar with the Zegna brand prior to this commission, Kentridge did own something by it. ‘By chance I looked inside a jacket I’d bought several years ago and discovered that it was from that shop,’ he says. He has also produced a great deal of artwork in Italy, including mosaics for a metro station in Naples, a frieze on the banks of the River Tiber, and work for the staging of The Magic Flute at La Scala in Milan.  

Kentridge works in a wide range of media and has created more than 40 tapestries in the past decade or two. Many of them show shadowy images of people against a backdrop of maps, what he calls ‘a sense of people moving across the world’. To help feed his imagination, Zegna sent the artist archival documents and images of the company: photos of the wool mill and of Ermenegildo, ledger accounts, and cardboard patterns. 

The resulting tapestry is titled Dare/Avere, Italian for the debit and credit columns in accounting ledgers. Four figures, three men and a woman, are portrayed in silhouette against a map of northern Italy. They are, Kentridge says, ‘somewhere between human figures and a man who is simply a suit’.

When Zegna looks at the tapestry, she sees ‘my grandfather, who was going around the world to bring Zegna fabric to sell’. One figure appears to be carrying a newspaper. One wears a hat, while another has a Zegna label stuck to his lapel and an old sewing machine instead of a head. The sewing machine is Italian, Kentridge points out. 

‘In the 1960s, when I was a child, Italy existed in South Africa in the form of motor cars, scooters, typewriters and sewing machines –the Necchi sewing machine my mother had.’ Anna Zegna recognises the machine as the same kind her grandmother used.

Behind the figures’ heads appear pale yellow and green patterns used to make suits, and a ledger page from 1944, complete with a woven image of Ermenegildo Zegna’s own handwriting. It was a key year for Ermenegildo Zegna, who lacked the funds to buy raw materials due to the war and whose business was rescued by a Swedish purveyor who appreciated the beauty of his fabrics.

This tapestry is also a story about fine wools and the anonymous craftspeople who spin, dye and weave them. Kentridge says one of the many reasons he is drawn to tapestries is because they are pixelated images ‘made up of thousands of decisions at each place where the warp meets the weft’. First-rate weavers have ‘the dexterity of harp players and must make the decisions more like a musician as to the exact moment of transition from one line to another, of how a very fine detail gets rendered in the less exact form of the tapestry.’

For decades he has collaborated with the Stephens Tapestry Studio, founded in 1949 in Northern Swaziland by Coral Stephens and now run by her daughter Marguerite. For this work, he gave Marguerite a small collage, which she blew up photographically before annotating it and laying it behind warp threads on big Gobelins-style upright looms. She says it was a particularly complicated piece, requiring five weavers to work for two and a half months. In fact, she asked Anna Zegna for permission to make it bigger than the originally agreed-upon size to accommodate the tiny mountain symbols (each with shadows) and the names of Italian towns. Knowing full well the complexity of weaving techniques, she agreed.

The weft is made of mohair handspun in Swaziland. The edges are woven in the palest natural grey of Lesotho goats, the only kind that produce this particular shade. The sections representing suit patterns are woven from a fine Mohair Trophy goat, the winner of an annual competition that Ermenegildo Zegna conducts in South Africa, and that the company uses for its suits. Stephens says this thread comes from goats that are specially raised and handwashed. Touch this section and you’ll feel that it’s softer than the rest.

Now that the tapestry is hanging on the third floor of the Zegna store, on the one wall large enough for it to be properly admired, Kentridge is keen to see how it occupies its place in the shop and in the company’s ongoing story. ‘I’m interested to see how the tapestry earns its keep,’ he says. ‘How it feels in the space. The men in suits on the tapestry, and the men in suits on the shop floor.'

As originally featured in the December 2016 issue of Wallpaper* (W*213)

INFORMATION

For more information, please visit the ZegnArt website

ADDRESS

37-38 New Bond Street
London W1S

VIEW GOOGLE MAPS

Mood board: Stefano Pilati gave new meaning to the name of the brand he works for - Zegna Couture - in a collection that was seeped in the sort of old-world craft and minute, whisper-weight detail that defined the haute couture salons of last century. With fine suiting broken down into carefully considered, key wardrobe pieces, the mood here was refined, regal and yet understatedly wearable. The results were spell-bindingly beautiful.

Best in show: The majority of the looks in this collection shone, from the gently printed overcoats to the fine, precisely cut wool suiting that harked back to an another era. Best of all were the knit sweaters that came embellished with rich silver flower and crystal embroideries, creating scintillating, sturdy canvases above gently flowing wool pants or top coats with belted backs.

Finishing touches: Everything was considered in this show, from the perfectly combed model’s hair, the top hats they held in hands, and the leather number badges that were tied to their wrists like old-fashioned salon models. The numbers popped up on buttons pinned on jackets and were paired with fuzzy white shearling portfolio cases and gentlemanly leather gloves.

INFORMATION

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Wind, water, rock and even dirt ruled the A/W 2015 catwalk. Stefano Pilati’s collection for Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, presented in a room with thick soil walls, featured traditional Harris tweeds glazed with a needle-punched recycled plastic coating.

Stone Island’s emerald green vest is water – and wind – resistant but reveals itself in new ways thanks to a reflective underlying material coated in thousands of glass microspheres. And Victorinox’s limited edition Gallen Parka is designed for country and city.

So this season, jackets are softly sculpted, padded and worn layered. Pockets are deep and tailored trousers are paired with rubber-soled Chelsea boots.

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The bucolic scene pictured was created by Matt Wright, one half of garden accessories brand Wright & Doyle, with partner Bella Doyle. Wright describes his design as ‘prairie planting on a small scale’, and explains that ‘I wanted to make a selection of plants that would complement each other in the studio but could also be found in a more natural environment.’ 

To create the natural effect, he used grasses such as Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’ and Stipa tenuissima, along with a mix of herbaceous perennials including Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, calamint, valerian and Helenium 'Potter’s Wheel’. They brought an unexpected extra too: ‘They added a wonderfully sweet scent to the studio,’ says Wright. 

As originally featured in the December 2015 issue of Wallpaper* (W*201)

INFORMATION

Hair: Hiroshi Matsushita using Kiehl’s. Make-up: Rebecca Wordingham at Saint Luke using Shu Uemura. Manicurist: Saffron Goddard using Chanel Christmas 2015 and Body Excellence Hand Cream. Set design: Matthew Wright at Wright & Doyle. Model: Nathan Saignes at Established. Fashion: Jason Hughes

Silk might seem like an unlikely automotive fabric but a new version of the material – especially developed by fashion brand Ermenegildo Zegna as a new trim line for Maserati – intends to prove otherwise.

The two luxury brands have things in common beyond their Italian roots and 206 collective years of heritage, Zegna's CEO Gildo Zegna citing 'innovation, "something unique" and an appeal to women as well as men' as useful extra markers. But despite the mutual admiration, Maserati's no-nonsense CEO Harald Wester took some convincing that silk was the right collaborative path.

'I was skeptical, so I said "supply me the best and strongest material you have" and we started testing. Making a crash-test dummy jump up and down into a seat 250,000 times with normal auto fabric is no problem, but with silk it was, so we had to start again. Then there were temperature changes to consider, humidity and strong sunlight. It took us two years to solve. We did a special edition first, but now every customer that wants it can have silk in our cars.'

The edition Wester refers to was the 2013 100-edition Quattroporte Ermenegildo Zegna, with suit-style woven fabrics inside the cabin. Following that success, Maserati has now announced that the Zegna name will become a specific and long-standing trim option, used for the seats, door linings and ceiling headliners on its regular production models.

The material created for the seats is much heavier, at 320g per metre versus 150g for suits, but despite Zegna's highly complex weaving machines the process still involves human hands and judgement, creating a warmer fabric than the typical metal, leather and wood automotive staples. As chairman Paolo Zegna explains, 'We learned a lot from this collaborative process, using Chinese silk woven in Italy. We believe it will be very hard for anyone to copy it due to the amount of work we've put in.'

As a place to sit and drive, the Zegna trim models are comfortable, cool and non-stick in hotter climates, where full-leather can be unpleasant. And in terms of design and placement, the material's use is subtle and understated. Indeed, the only Zegna badging on the car is on the back of the sun visor when folded down, a bit like the label on a suit's inside pocket. Refreshing.

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Kickboxers throwing punches at a live match hosted by Snoop Dogg, who rapped his heart out in front of tattooed, motocross-padded models at Philipp Plein’s men’s show

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Hunchbacked models at Maison Margiela

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Metal cage-covered rooms, of varying proportions, built by OMA for the Prada men’s show space

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‘Boob bag’, handcrafted from dark shiny leather, on Christopher Lemaire’s runway (‘Free the nipple!’ cried social media immediately afterwards)

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Thugged-out Looney Tunes characters dripping in bling at Jeremy Scott’s women’s Moschino show

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Kilograms of culatello consumed by 1,000 people in three hours, together with 170 bottles of Fortana del Taro red wine, at Caruso’s Milan presentation

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Rising section of the runway at Saint Laurent, where models and rock star Julia Cumming from Sunflower Bean started their catwalk procession

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Male models blatanly flashing their genitalia in frontal windows strategiacally cut out of their flowing floor-length tunics at Rick Owens

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Million followers on Instagram for 29-year-old Balmain creative director Olivier Rousteing, the most-followed fashion designer in France

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Hands that work on Kiton’s suits

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Kickboxers throwing punches at a live match hosted by Snoop Dogg, who rapped his heart out in front of tattooed, motocross-padded models at Philipp Plein’s men’s show

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Trees and plants that Ermenegildo Zegna planted inside Milan’s former Fiera for its fashion show, all of which were later replanted as part of the Zegna Oasis environmental project

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Models swaddled in a cocoon of white bows at the Comme des Garçons show

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Headdresses in the shape of lampshades at Junya Watanabe

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Years after their first outing that Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson reprised their Zoolander roles by staging a surprise live runway walk-off at the Valentino show in Paris

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Boys at Gucci doing the girl thing in silky bow-front blouses

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Mary J Blige impromptu concert, staged by DSquared2’s Dean and Dan Caten at the end of the brand’s 20th anniversary show in Milan

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Moncler Gamme Bleu menswear models who quick-changed out of their jockey-inspired uniforms into totally new looks under flashing strobe lights

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Kanye West charity concert nights organised by Bernard Arnault’s son Alexandre at the Louis Vuitton Foundation during Paris Fashion Week

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Face and ear piercings on the female models at Givenchy, while four men had their mouths held tightly shut with cage-like metal clamps

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Couples (both hetero and gay) dressed for 25 sports at Moncler Grenoble’s pop-up ski lodge in New York, including a bride and groom in full wedding outerwear

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Days to assemble Chanel’s pop-up brasserie set inside Paris’ Grand Palais, which featured 9m-high walls, tiled floors, 100 seats and 14 barmen serving coffee, juice, champagne and croissants

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Life-sized, fully functioning roller coaster, complete with screaming riders, installed inside Milan’s retired Fiera for Philipp Plein’s womenswear show

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Books in the pop-up library at Julie de Libran’s Sonia Rykiel show

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Age of ex-model Benedetta Barzini, who was the star of Antonio Marras’ runway show

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Spinning 20ft towers that glided across the Kenzo runway like giant chess pieces

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Infants, toddlers and children, plus one very pregnant model, walking the runway at Dolce & Gabbana’s women’s show

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Fur handbags in the shape of bird of paradise flowers on the Fendi runway

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Rare pearls on a $150,000 Calvin Klein dress, which was stolen from the hotel room of actress Lupita Nyong’o after the Oscars

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Models wearing cashmere shoe laces at the Brunello Cucinelli presentation

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Handbags shaped and printed like ceramic coffee saucers at Chanel

Mood board: A pure, glowing white set struck the cleaned up modernist mood at Zegna where Stefano Pilati dazzled with deep ebony summertime suiting.

Best in show: Apart from the fluid tailoring, which had pants spinning around the legs in striking volume, we couldn't take our eyes off the new plaids. Pilati gave Burberry a run for its money with rescaled, arty-looking pastel plaids on brilliant jackets and overcoats.

Finishing touches: Ergonomic tasselled loafers and nerd-friendly boxy briefcases with flap pockets added a cool geek edge.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

Pringle of Scotland: In a continuation of the Scottish house's 200th anniversary celebrations, Michael Clark Company dancers performed live to an intimate crowd at Corso Como wearing heritage Pringle of Scotland knitwear from as early as 1915, combined with the brand's new S/S16 knitwear pieces

Brioni: This season Brioni drew inspiration from architect Carlo Scarpa, whose work was sensitive to the changes of time, seasons and history. Models breezed in and out of a concrete structure in elegant steel grey suits worn with parkas made from high-tech parachute-thin Japanese nylon that billowed with movement

Piquadro: The Italian accessory brand focused on remodelling the backpack this season. The graphics of a 'motherboard', a symbol of modern technology and the Eighties' idea of the future, was reworked to camouflage effect in brilliant colours

Diesel Black Gold: The denim titan pushed outerwear into a realm that was quite simply out-of-this-world for S/S 2016.

Salvatore Ferragamo: One of our favourite design gallerists, Claudio Loria of Leclettico, designed the brand's jungle-inspired S/S 2016 set, packed with real plants and design pieces from Gabriella Crespi, for Ferragamo this season

Bally: The Bally man took to the mountains this season in a collection inspired by the great outdoors. Jackets came with multi pockets while hiking boots and a Swiss Army inspired backpack were given a luxe overhaul in python skin

MSGM: Swedish artist Anton Alvarez of graffiti 'Yarn Bombing' fame inspired in a new era of knitting at MSGM.

Sportmax: During men's week in Milan, several women's brands got in on the fashion action like Sportmax who unveiled its latest artist collaboration with LA-based illustrator Langley Fox Hemingway

Facetasm: Showing at the Armani Teatro, Hiromichi Ochiai of Facetasm presented a collection of oversized shapes with an architectural edge that merged a street style swagger with a sartorial elegance.

Z Zegna: For spring Z Zegna fused city tailoring with the energetic world of kite surfing in a collection of weightless silhouettes with flighty kite-inspired shapes paired with sharp formal attire

Ports 1961: Marble skateboards took us back to our youth at Ports 1961

Missoni: The house of the zig-zag checked into the season's plaid trend for S/S 2016.

Calvin Klein Collection: Italo Zucchelli took to America's west coast in a collection inspired by Ed Ruscha's photographs of Palm trees and the surf culture of the area

Santoni: In addition to the footwear brand's superb S/S 2016 collection of new elegant sandals and formal shoes, the brand collaborated with Patrick Kinmonth and Antonio Monfreda on its latest Milan presentation. The duo created hand-cut collages that were used on shoe pillows, a film and a giant book that was over two feet tall and all presented within Palazzo Bocconi that had been transformed into a summer garden to celebrate its 40th birthday. Here's a peak at the video

Santoni: The new Santoni colour card for spring 2016

Kiton: Naples in the 1940s and the distinct style of Neapolitan men inspired luxury tailoring brand Kiton's S/S collection. Once again fabric innovation was key with the development of a super light micro wool appeared as elegant double-breasted jackets in bright Mediterranean shades.

Caruso: The house paid tribute to International Yoga Day at its presentation of the finest men's tailoring

Fratelli Rossetti: A sea of plastic shoe models bobbed along the floor at Fratelli Rossetti's men's presentation

Tod's: Craftsmanship was key at Tod's with hand painted details on military inspired leather jackets and knitwear

Emporio Armani: Claw tooth lace-up shoes and wool beanie berets were the quirky extras to an otherwise sober and very cool Emporio Armani show.

Giorgio Armani: The award for best bathrooms during Milan fashion week goes to Giorgio Armani in his Tadao Ando designed theatre

Neil Barrett: This coral reef, puzzle-piece camouflage print climbed all over the floors and clothes at the Neil Barrett show

Neil Barrett: On the runway, three button jackets gave off a slightly Nineties vibe.

Andrea Pompilio: Part biker, part jogger, part boxer, part snowboarder, Andrea Pompilio's man for next spring is wholly eccentric and completely convincing. Showing outdoors in the back yard of Milan's Pinacoteca was the perfect foil for these male peacocks

No 21: Milan's Palazzo del Conservatorio was the site of Alessandro dell'Acqua’s spring collection for No 21

Brunello Cucinelli: There is nothing quite as soothing on the eyes as a Brunello Cucinelli presentation and this season it was all about the pleated and tapered pant

Corneliani: Milan fashion week started with a bang inside the richly frescoed interior of Palazzo Litta, site of the Corneliani show

In honour of Milan's Expo, which officially opened its doors on Friday, Ermenegildo Zegna's Milan headquarters have been blanketed with enormous blooms designed by artists Lucy and Jorge Orta. The latest addition of the house's ZegnArt initiative, the installation welcomed guests to a performance feast created in tandem with Italian chef Davide Oldani and the Ortas;  a true sight to behold.

Entitled 'Fabulae Naturae', the headquarters' new floral murals are part of an enchanted-forest exhibit that tumbles freely across walls and ceilings of stark cement and clean glass. Curated by art and fashion historian Maria Luisa Frisa, the project was inspired by recently acquired floral-based archival fabric and also features a second chapter of Spirit characters, which debuted this weekend wearing costumes and masks. These were invented by the Ortas for a Zegna exhibit at Rome's MAXXI museum in 2012. The Ortas have also designed a collection of limited edition Limoges plates, featuring their new floral designs, which will be sold to fund an agricultural development project in Punta Mesco, near the Cinque Terre.

'We've put together a great big mix of all of Zegna's souls,' explains Anna Zegna, president of the Zegna Foundation. 'But it makes sense. Fabrics come from our archives, nature is fundamental to our world and what we are doing with Zegna Oasis and every generation of Zegna, starting with my grandfather, has been deeply interested in the world of art.'

Though it couldn't be more apt for Milan's sustainable-food-themed Expo, Zegna's voyage into a floral and food wonderland began over two years ago when the fashion giant purchased an enormous archive of over 2,200 vintage textile volumes from Heberlein, a Swiss-based family run fabric company. 'Our fabric archive is already one of the biggest in the world,' says Anna Zegna, 'but we're always looking to expand it. We bought this one without even knowing what was in it.'

Anna Zegna poured over the enormous contents (which included 40 different themes ranging from the 1920s-1980s) for over two years with the help of Maria Luisa Frisa and finally settled on florals as a first theme to develop. The Ortas' artwork is inspired directly by this botanical material and played a beautiful backdrop to both the musical performance entitled 'Symphony for Absent Wildlife', as well as the Sprits' performance called 'XXXVII Act of the artists' 70x7 The Meal', which took place in Milan over the weekend.

ADDRESS

Ermenegildo Zegna Headquarters
Via Savona 56/A, Milan

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Loewe: Spanish leather goods house Loewe presented a limited edition collection of leather vessels inspired by Austrian potter Lucie Rie and produced by Spanish artisan José Luis Bazán

Loewe: Creative director Jonathan Anderson designed three sets of 50 different leather bowls, sculpting each one with his hands for a collection of one-of-a-kind creations 

Marni: Marni's successful fruit bazaar at last year's Milan fashion week morphed into a fruit market at the brand's Milan Headquarters during the Salone del Mobile

Marni: Baskets brimming with exotic fruit from Colombia were all put on display with woven PVC, wire furniture and tabletop designs from a group of female Colombian artisans

Brioni: The master tailors and Wallpaper* joined forces once again this Salone. Paying tribute to the Viennese elegance that inspired Creative Director Brendan Mullane's latest collection, the fashion brand teamed up with Vienna-based glassmakers Lobmeyr to create a specially oversized version of its legendary Oswald Haerdtl-designed Candy Dish, which in turn takes centre stage for a city of glass for Brioni’s mini heroes, all immaculately dressed in miniature replicas from the collection

COS: Visitors to Spazio Erbe in Brera wandered through an enormous all-white, cave-like structure created expressly for the COS clothing brand

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COS: Designed by New York-based studio Snarkitecture, the space was showered in translucent white textile strips that looked like icicles dripping from the roof of a grotto

Clarks: In honour of the 65th anniversary of its Desert Boot, British shoe brand Clarks partnered with the Halo Trust to present new versions of the boot created by 14 different UK-based artists and designers including Marc Quinn, Lee Broom and Faye Toogoode. The painting featured is entitled 'Urban Nomad' 

Giorgio Armani: In addition to a new Armani Casa collection that featured the limited edition 'Justin' desk in sea-green leather and red lacquer chairs among other items, Giorgio Armani also transformed his Armani Teatro space into an interior design studio

Alexander McQueen: Studio Wieki Somers and Kvadrat took up residence at McQueen's Via Verri home through a unique, bespoke installation. Inspired by the Spring/Summer 2015 collection, 'Blossom Rain' featured three geisha warriors holding a series of lamps against a blossom haze backdrop of laser cut textile from Kvadrat

Giorgio Armani: A retrospective of the company's top design projects over the last decade were on display in honour of the designer's 40th anniversary that is coming to a culmination next month with the debut of his new museum Armani/Silos

Giorgio Armani: Mr Armani also opened a brand new flagship store at Via Montenapoleone 2, which is dominated by sweeping curves. 

Fendi: The Roman brand has been dangling its Bag Bug fur charms from its handbags for a few seasons now, but it took the Campana Brothers to throw 100 of the playful furry creatures all together on a single seat. Entitled 'The Armchair of a Thousand Eyes,' the chair is a riot of colour, pattern and mixed tufts of kidassia, mongolia, shearling and rabbit furs

Tory Burch: Celebrating the launch of their new Lettuce Ware in collaboration with legendary Palm Beach ceramicist Dodie Thayer, the American lifestyle brand and Wallpaper* commissioned Bethan Laura Wood to create a unique installation. Inspired by retro party nibbles, Wood created a equally bright and cheerful installation of super-sized canapés. Following their Milan debut, they will next tour around Tory Burch stores in London, Munich and New York

Fendi: The house also showed a new Casa collection with the 'Blixen' lounge chair by Toan Nguyen taking our fancy

Antonio Marras: The Italian's long-running collaboration with boutique creative design agency, Segno Italiano, yields increasingly satisfying results. This year, the team created a giant bird cage featuring a series of hand-made wooden nests swinging from the ceiling and trailing with Marras' own textiles, while 50 tiny birds happily chirped and fluttered about. The same artisan who made the nests was also commissioned to weave river cane rods with strips of Marras' fabric to create a series of vases and baskets

Missoni: Apart from its latest home collection featuring graphic black and white upholstered furniture, Missoni also created a lounging experience for weary Salone visitors in its Via Solferino Showroom

Missoni: Entitled 'Missoni Mirroring,' the setup included suspended mirrors, peep-holes featuring endless reflections of ceramic vases. Walls were covered with mirrors and tapestries, and floors were strewn with carpets and poufs for guests to lounge on

BassamFellows: As part of its five-designer series to recreate the classic shoes worn by Marcello Mastroianni in the 1960s, traditional Italian footwear designer Sutor Mantellassi collaborated with Connecticut-based furniture designers Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam. BassamFellows, already intimately fond of finely crafted materials, choose strips of eel skin on a sleek, slip on loafer, and sturdy leather for their chelsea boot

Bottega Veneta: The house secured a superb location for its first free-standing home collection boutique. Located discreetly on Milan's Via Borgospesso, the store unfolds like a series of grand rooms in a renaissance palazzo with magnificent wall frescoes and double-height wooden ceilings

Bottega Veneta: This was the first time the brand properly showed off its full home offering in a single dedicated space

Versace: The latest Versace home collection comes revved up with the usual sparkle, flash and oversized shapes that drives its signature excess. The new 'Coupe des Dieux' chair, however, is cut in slim lines and covered entirely in leather (either dark grey, white, red or turquoise) and is an antidote to the usual extravagance

Bulgari: To celebrate its latest Serpenti jewellery collection, Bulgari worked with Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid to create a snake-inspired installation in the garden of the Bulgari Hotel

Bulgari: Hadid's enormous white metal structure slithered across the grass like a tunnel featuring an open mosaic of reptilian scales

Valextra: The Italian luxury handbag label teamed up with furniture designer Martino Gamper for the design of several new handbags featuring his signature intarsia work as well as a special installation at the Via Manzoni store

Valextra: Gamper lined the shop in magnetic sheets. He covered the walls with rich Kvadrat wool and then affixed handbags directly to the walls using magnets. This created a floating sea of accessories

Emilio Pucci: The Italian house partnered with industrial designer Philippe Starck on the design of a new chair produced by Kartell and presented in Pucci's new Via Montenapoleone boutique

Emilio Pucci: Entitled 'Madame,' the new chair features Kartell's signature plastic clear legs, while Pucci's 'Cities of the World' scarf prints (offered in four city graphics, including New York, Paris, Shanghai and Rome) provided a printed outer wrap to the solid silk seats

Ermenegildo Zegna: The house tapped Milan-based Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola to create a series of seating elements from recycled wine barrel wood

Ermenegildo Zegna: Entitled 'Baco,' Urquiola's concept included two forms: a tunnel shaped stool and a three-petal seat, both of which were displayed in the brand's boutique. The project was conceived by San Patrignano Design Label who has worked with over 45 designers to create modern pieces from antique casks

Adidas: In conjunction with their Body Building Design collection, which graces the cover of this month's issue (W* 194), Milan-based duo Alberto Biagetti and Laura Baldessari have also designed a pair of shoes produced by Adidas. Featuring muscle-men graphics, the shoe was presented at INNER, a boutique in Via Pasquale Paoli 4, Milan

Paula Cademartori: Atelier Biagetti has had a busy Salone. In addition to their Body Building Design exhibit and the Adidas shoe, they also created a totem shaped book shelf for Paula Cademartori, the Brazilian-born Milan based accessories designer who launched her new 'Lotus' sandal at Corso Como 10

Marcelo Burlon: Fashion designer Marcelo Burlon has quickly made strides with his eponymous sportswear label. Now the young entrepreneur is growing his brand with a collection of three graphic carpets, all hand-knot in Nepal that he designed for Italian rug company Illulian

Lawrence Steele: Marble manufacturer, Marsotto, partners with different industrial designers every year, but they've never teamed up with a fashion designer until now. The marriage with Aspesi designer, Lawrence Steel, was a happy one, thanks to Steele's three collections of tables and consoles featuring sharp lines and graphic black and white intarsia patterns

Tod's: What would the ideal bag for a male architect look like? This was the task set forth by Japanese design studio, Nendo, in its second collaboration with leather goods company Tod's. Crafted from super soft calfskin, the resulting bag features multiple pockets both inside and outside for documents and pens, while its form can morph from a carry-all tote, and a fold-over man-bag, to a strapless clutch with just a few quick snaps

Roberto Cavalli: More continues to be more in the home world of Roberto Cavalli, where the designer offers all manner of exotic pattern for every interior surface. This season's collection came brimming with lush florals and his beloved leopard print crawling on plates as well as floral intarsia rugs and upholstered dining room chairs

La Rinascente: Milan's most famous department store collaborated for the second year in a row with the Serpentine Galleries for a special commission on eight store front windows. Entitled 'Pasted' and curated by Libby Sellers, the window display featured a preview exhibition of a soon-to-be-launched collection of Serpentine Gallery wallpapers. These wallpapers were designed by various artists and architects. They also featured three specially commissioned and filmed dances choreographed by Malgorzata Dzierzon that screened against site-specific installations by emerging set designers and paper sculptors including Lydia Shirreff, Anna Lomax and Carrie Louise

Bertoni 1949: Classic Italian trunk maker Bertoni 1949 partnered for the second Salone in a row with Hangar Design Group on a 'Game Trunk'.  A traditional oak casket, covered in Bertoni’s leather parchment and alligator trim, is set on elegant steel legs and features drawers stocked with a chess set, a set of poker playing cards, a mahjong game and dominoes, all of which can be played on the pull-out table

Mood board: Creative director Stefano Pilati created an in-nature dreamscape populated by slick, sleek, eco-warriors that were ready to jump into the urban jungle.

Best in show: We loved all of the protective, in-the-field, gear that had a high-end luxury bent. The best were the wool mud-coloured coats that sprouted reptile-esque scales and were slickened with a glossy finish. Also noteworthy? The sweaters that came with their own cable-knit, baseball cap hoods.

Scene setting: There were more live trees planted inside the massive former Fiera show space than there are in most of Milan’s parks. In keeping with the show’s theme, Zegna plans to re-purpose all of the trees as part of its Biella Province-based Oasis project.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

With fashion houses and their bright spark designers searching further and wider than ever for inspiration, it’s little surprise when they suddenly look skywards - threading some of the magic and mystery of celestial exploration into their catwalk creations.

At Ermenegildo Zegna Couture, creative director Stefano Pilati’s mission has been unfolding along a somewhat more pragmatic route, that was until his autumn/winter 2014 men’s collection walked out this January backdropped by a monumental video experience of virtual space travel. Today Harrods unveils a 23-window 'takeover' of their London storefront with Zegna's film taking pride of place.

Despite the aesthetical leaps and bounds of fashion film in the past decade, Pilati’s commission takes the genre to another level. He worked with renowned scientist Dr Fiorella Terenzi, an astronomy professor at Florida International University, who both crafted the soundtrack and plotted the film’s precise, earthbound astral journey with the help of the Hayden Planetarium’s Professor Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Their arresting visuals send viewers spinning through space. The journey starts with an abstraction of cloudy nebulae shooting through the Earth’s solar system, before zooming at breakneck speed down towards Earth, then Europe, and finally into Italy’s boot-shaped terrain to arrive within Zegna’s fall show venue, the Milan CityLife Palace.

Whilst visually stunning in its own right, it may well be Terenzi’s sonic accompaniment that takes the cake here – a soundscape she created by layering Tchaikovsky with ‘acoustic astronomy’ - an element of her research that she explains 'turns radiation from space into an acoustic signature reflecting the chemical, physical and dynamic properties of the celestial object in question'.

'The natural, raw sounds of radio waves from space wash over our planet constantly,' explains Terenzi, whose appreciation for fashion and the arts spurred this unlikely pairing forward. 'I am both an astrophysicist who is moved by an artistic sensibility, and an artist who relies upon technology to express myself,' she continued. 'I want these discoveries to swim in our imaginations, to open our hearts to new ways of thinking and feeling about daily life, whether it be music, fashion, aromas, or even food. If we promote the collaborative mind, bridging astrophysics and aesthetics, we can both objectively learn about the universe and commune with it.'

ADDRESS

Harrods
87-135 Brompton Rd
London SW1X 7XL

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Ermenegildo Zegna Couture: Hollow, geometric blocks created a thought-provoking backdrop for Stefano Pilati's heavily industrial show interior, conceived to reflect the designer's take on architecture and space. American lighting designer AJ Weissbard then cemented the scene's raw feel by adding a misty, sullen lighting set-up that further enhanced the season's graphic, linear silhouettes and muted colour combinations

Moncler Gamme Bleu: Designer Thom Browne staged the next instalment of his legendary sporting events for Moncler Gamme Bleu within Milan's Palazzo del Senato. For S/S, it took the form of a boxing match. Dressed in patriotic brand colours, the sparring ring delivered a knockout fashion fight if ever there was one

Dior Homme: All eyes were initially on the floor at Dior Homme's Tennis Club de Paris presentation, where colour-blocked horizontal and vertical lines met at the runway's central cross-junction. Bold primary strips interjected the floor's sandy wooden boards, reflecting the bold stripes and hyper-hued scribbles that were drawn across Kris Van Assche's S/S collection

Brioni: For S/S 2015 we watched Brendan Mullane's Los Angeles inspiration come to life in grand cinematic form. The surrounding walls of his presentation space screened films by American artist Collier Schorr, depicting scenes from the Brioni man's LA life. As a direct reflection of this image, the show's models stood on black podium structures, replicating open-plan Californian homes, looking out across the twinkling city skyline

Cerruti 1881: Lighting aficionado Thierry Dreyfus once again set the scene for Aldo Maria Camillo's menswear show. Flashing stadium-style spotlights highlighted the venue's patch-worked wooden flooring, creating a warm glow over the simple setting

Dsquared2: The Caten twins took us to the inception of their creative process for S/S 2015, setting their show within a working artist's studio. The space's theatrically hazy skylights, aged walls and half completed paintings offered the perfect canvas for their Pop art inspired collection

Dunhill: The sophisticated surrounds of John Ray's salon style S/S 2015 presentation at One Horse Guards in London allowed the Dunhill man to feel right at home. French doors flooded the space with natural sunlight, which bounced off the venue's white surrounds - from ecru ottomans to bleached wooden floorboards

Salvatore Ferragamo: A simple, rectangular blonde wood catwalk framed Ferragamo's spot-lit show space in Milan. Similar basic benches were installed for the audience, while the setting was backed by an installation of hanging wooden beams, saturated in glowing blue light

Paul Smith: This season Sir Paul returned to Paris' Bourse de Commerce to present his bohemia tinged S/S 2015 offering. Under the building's classic domed ceiling, Smith's boys were surrounded by a terracotta-potted garden of succulents and cacti that also showed up in his prints

Gucci: Frida Giannini extended a little feminine subtlety to her creamy S/S 2015 setting in the house's traditional Milanese location, directing the focus towards the show's watery digital backdrop. The predominately beige seating was also perfectly matched with the polished ecru flooring

Maison Martin Margiela: The stark grey wood and metal features of Paris' Pierre-and-Marie-Curie University provided an aptly institutional backdrop for the house's schoolboy-inspired collection

Philipp Plein: This German designer's summer pool party at via Carlo Botta was a far cry from the backyard gathering that its name usually implies. Sharks were cast as mega mascots with Plein's PP monogram proudly inscribed between the toothy critters, before all matter of water sports began. Cue synchronised swimmers and suited jet skiers thrashing through this adult water park

Kris Van Assche: The Belgium designer explored the idea of a never-ending runway for this season's set up at the Halle Freyssinet. Referencing the show's title 'Illusion', the basic surroundings of the warehouse space were heightened by an artwork at the end of the runway, featuring continuous opening doors that the models started and ended their walk through

Raf Simons: Lighting took centre stage a Raf Simons' S/S Espace Vendome show space, which was otherwise left raw and unembellished - an aesthetic that was accentuated by the omission of seating. Spotlights cast a moody red and green glow over the scene, including the standing audience, as the models weaved their way through them

Prada: The outdoors were brought inside at this season's AMO-designed Prada show space, with Mrs Prada's boys circling a striking cobalt blue pool. Surrounded by a contrasting suede brown seating gradient, the collection was poetically reflected in the azure-hued water

Versace: Donatella Versace strung up everything but the kitchen sink on the arches of her S/S 2015 men's runway in the house's Via Gesù HQ. The church-like set offered up the full weight of the brand's homewares collection. Versace bed sheets draped the walls, which were then covered in all manner of Medusa-logoed chairs, cushions, plates and lamps - no doubt an offering to the Gods of living large

Kenzo: Paris' ornate Pont Alexandre III offered a fitting backdrop to Kenzo's S/S 2015 show, which embraced the city's key icons both as a show venue and later seen through the collection's Tour Eiffel patchworks

Kenzo: With the help of Villa Eugenie, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim walked their colourful collection over the historically elaborate landmark, while the audience sat out of the rain on blocky, pale green benches

Wooyoungmi: The South Korean brand's newly appointed co-creative director Katie Chung presented an eerie, sci-fi inspired centrepiece for S/S 2015. In the show's closing sequence, draped transparencies separated the audience from the clothes, which were mystically lit by Eyesight Productions, offering a moody finale to the presentation

Y-3: A world away from last season's cleanly graphic setting, we hit the waves at Yohji Yamamoto's summer surf shack. The Couvent des Cordeliers venue's 'wooden lodge' was plastered with paint and posters decrying 'surf now, apocalypse later'

Saint Laurent: Hedi Slimane likes a light show and this season's cube-shaped, concert-style light installation doubled as a fiery runway backdrop. Gleaming and flashing in alternate increments, the set illuminated the tiled, cubic catwalk within the Marais' Carreau du Temple

Fashion week, nowadays, is about much more than just the collections. Showmanship is the name of the game, and in the meticulously executed sartorial extravaganzas, the sound space is an element that no producer or designer can afford to overlook. Music royalty - past, present and future - is enlisted to ensure a full assault on the senses. Here, we bring you Milan Fashion Week's catwalk mega-mix from the S/S 2015 menswear collections.

SATURDAY 21/06

Ermenegildo Zegna
'The Creator Has a Master Plan' by Pharoah Sanders
Music production: James Murphy

Neil Barrett
'Bounce It' by Juicy J; 'Drunk In Love (a cappella)' by Beyoncé feat Jay Z; 'Trophies' by Drake; 'Sage the Gemini - Don't You (Joe Kay's Slowed Edit)' by Drake; 'Collard Greens' by Schoolboy Q; 'Blood On the Leaves' by Kanye West; 'Sanctified (Instrumental)' by Rick Ross; 'Bounce It French' by Juicy J; 'Pop That' by Montana feat Rick Ross, Drake and Lil Wayne

Brioni
'Your Love' by Frankie Knuckles; Instrumental by J.a.y.c.e.; 'Follow Me' by Aly-us; 'Can You Feel It' by Mr Fingers; 'Every Now and Then' by Ralph Falcon; 'Tears (Instrumental Mix) by Frankie Knuckles; 'Watcha Gonna Do with My Lovin' by Inner City

Versace
'Showroom Dummies' by Señor Coconut; 'Cumbia 8 (La La Macho)' by JD Twitch; 'The Robots' by Señor Coconut; 'Berimbau' by DJ Sandrinho; 'Source of Uncertainty' by Kink; 'Cumbia 8 + Jorge Ben - Taj Mahal' by JD Twitch
Music production: Simon Halsberghe

Philipp Plein
'Superpower' by Beyonce ft Frank Ocean; 'Tribe (Live)' by Theophilus London; 'Black Skinhead' by Kanye West; 'Hustlin' (Prince of Ballard remix)' by Rick Ross; 'Wut' by Leif

SUNDAY 22/06

Salvatore Ferragamo
'So Far So Real' by Gray; 'Aguirre (Fango remix)' by Batongo; 'Sombra da Lua' by Ninos du Brasil

Calvin Klein Collection
'Urania' by Pan Sonic; 'It's a Fire' by Portishead; 'The Box (Part One)' by Orbital;  'The Box (Part Two)' by Orbital; 'Music for Steamed Rocks' by Oneohtrix Point Never

Prada
'Trussed' by Psychic TV & PTV3; 'The Alien Brain' by Psychic TV & PTV3; 'Kiss Me (Maggot Brain) (Edit)' by Psychic TV & PTV3; 'Urgentissimo - Like Everything this Summer' by John Barry

Moncler Gamme Bleu
'Rocky Balboa Theme (Rico South vs Baltimore Bootleg)' by Bill Conti; 'Gonna Fly Now' by Ferrante & Teicher; HBO Boxing Theme; 'Going the Distance' by Bill Conti; 'Mama Said Knock You Out' by LL Cool J
Music production: Michel Gaubert

MONDAY 23/06

Emporio Armani
'Mopedbart' by Hubbabubbaklubb; 'Power' by Pompeya; 'Sentiment Acide (Jennifer Cardini Remix)' by David Shaw and the Beat; 'A Source of Light' by the Naked and Famous & Kids of 88; 'Clangour and Flutes' by Sin Fang Bous; 'Trust' by Sin Cos Tan

Ports 1961
'Chin Achin (Mononome remix)' by Cayetano; 'Red Alert' by Ben Klock

Gucci
'Sun Structure' by Temples; 'Feel' by TY Segall; 'Home' by Wooden Shjips; 'Colours To Life' by Temples
Music production: Michel Gaubert

Fendi
'Paid in Full (Seven Minutes of Madness the Coldcut Remix)' by Eric B and Rakim; 'Regiment' by Brian Eno and David Byrne; 'The Jezebel Spirit' by Brian Eno and David Byrne; 'Voices Inside My Head (a cappella)' by the Police; 'Voices Inside My Head (Roger S Classic Mix)' by the Police
Music production: Michel Gaubert

TUESDAY 24/06

Dsquared2
'A Walk on the Wild Side (Blutch remix)' by Lou Reed; 'Nowhere to Run (Bobby Cooper ReMedit)' by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas; 'Don't Bring Me Down (Nari e Milani Radio Cut)' by Electric Light Orchestra; 'Don't Bring Me Down' by Electric Light Orchestra; 'Don't Bring Me Down (Voices in Your Head edit)' Electric Light Orchestra; 'I'm Ready (short version)' by Kano; 'Native Love (Step by Step)' by Divine; 'Fame (Mojo Fitler Incognito Dub)' by David Bowie; 'Can You Feel It (Thomas Blaster remix 2014)' by the Jackson Five 

Giorgio Armani
'Late Night Session' by Ceccarini; 'Sold Out' by Just a Night; 'Feather on the Clyde (Stefan Biniak Private Edit)' by Passenger; 'I Can See Clearly Now' by Fennec & Wolf vs Johnny Nash; 'HereNow' by Phon.o; 'Let the Music Do the Talking' by Laid Back

Stefano Pilati had architecture on the mind when drawing the lines of his third collection for Italian menswear monolith Zegna. The show began quite literally with models pegged like nails into a raw cement structure and then moved smoothly into Pilati's fashion fixation with space. Graphic lines were key - both in terms of the designer's fine cutting on flattened jackets or pleat-front trousers, as well as his choice of textiles that buzzed with bold striping. But like most of the things this gifted designer does, a basic theme quickly became beautiful. The stripes, for example, were crafted from sewn-on strips of fabric that flapped like window shades over a sweater. And three differently-scaled stripes were melanged together in a soft grey mix of jacket, pant and shirt, chicly set off by a gentlemanly silk neck scarf. In the end, though, Pilati's main point centred around tension: double-faced cashmeres in inky hues of navy and black were cut into tailored pieces rather than knits; suspenders, longer jackets and exaggerated cuffs all brought a retro, dandified air to the hyper modern looks, and pillars of comfort - from tennis shoes, taffeta blousons and anoraks - all comfortably snuggled into a relaxed formality that Pilati is so quickly establishing at this venerable men's house.

Photography: Jason Lloyd-Evans

After last season's scheduling clash, which saw Florence's Pitti Immagine Uomo square off against the London Collections: Men, the Italians were no doubt keen to reassert their credentials. While London may win column inches for its fresh, young talent and enthralling subculture, they might have argued that Italy combines history with commercial might.

The timing of the 86th Pitti instead coincided with the 60th anniversary of the Centro di Firenze per la Moda Italiana. It was the perfect excuse for the city-wide style takeover dubbed 'Firenze Hometown of Fashion', involving some of Florence's most illustrious venues.

Four Florentine powerhouses - Salvatore Ferragamo, Gucci, Emilio Pucci and Ermanno Scervino - were invited to stage events. First up was Pucci, which turned the Baptistery of San Giovanni into a beacon of colour (and an apt monument to the brand, with its penchant for joyful excess) by dressing it in the label's 'Battistero' print, designed by its namesake founde in 1957.

Gucci and Ferragamo opted for something a little more intimate. The former hosted a small gathering to celebrate the reopening of the historic Kering-owned Richard Ginori flagship on Via de' Rondinelli. The boutique also launched an exhibition of three original porcelain works by Gio Ponti, artistic director of the house from 1923 to 1930. Meanwhile, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo unveiled an engaging new exhibition, 'Equilibrium', which explores balance, movement and posture through art and ephemera and shows off gems from the house's extensive footwear archive.

While the other events celebrated the aesthetic and ethos of Italian fashion, Ermanno Scervino instead hammered home the financial clout of the Italian industry. The label threw an opulent dinner for hundreds of guests at the majestic Forte Belvedere, made famous recently for the wedding of musician (and former Wallpaper* Design Awards judge) Kanye West, who was present at the event.

Elsewhere, at Teatrino Lorenese, G-Star Raw showcased its commitment to clearing the oceans of plastic pollution with its first Raw for the Oceans collection, made from retrieved ocean plastic innovated into denim. Pharrell Williams (another of our illustrious Design Awards judges) added his own star power to the project, by curating the theatre in a blue-washed scheme.

Given the prominence of the participants, it was apt that this season's menswear guest design brand was Z Zegna, which returned to Florence newly conceptualised. Zegna Sport and Z Zegna have merged into one label, and designers Murray Scallon and Paul Surridge are working together to merge the two cornerstones of menswear - sportswear and tailoring. They hope to draw a busy yet moneyed urban shopper, whom Surridge dubs 'a new kind of traveller'. 'We're all so mobile today with business trips and commuting,' he says. 'Most people don't live five minutes from work, so they're travelling or cycling.'

The pair responded to this new reality with hard-working fabrications normally only found in sportswear. Suits came thermo-regulated in water-resistant Techmerino, while outerwear in resistant stretch fabric was constructed without seams, using thermo glue. Given the focus on function, fashion almost took a back seat. Designs were understated, clean and minimal.

The focus on practicality at Zegna couldn't have contrasted more with the unapologetic celebration of excess at La Perla's menswear presentation. The showy fabrications - borrowed from women's lingerie - and quirky flying oyster print may have looked outlandish, but then Pitti wouldn't be Pitti without a bit of peacocking.