Milan Fashion Week - Men's Fall/Winter 24

The first fashion week of 2024 has just concluded but it started off the year with a BANG! Milan fashion week took place from Friday 12th January until Tuesday 16th January and fashion lovers were left in awe from the innovation and incredible looks that were brought to the runway. From designers going back in time to embrace the brand's roots to a futuristic approach that pushed the boundaries of fashion, Milan Fashion Week had it all! We’re going to dive into a select few of our favourite runways from last week and some of the events that weren’t to be missed.

GUCCI

Gucci opened Milan Fashion Week with a simple but effective industrial-esque runway for their Autumn/Winter Menswear Collection 2024. Gucci’s Creative Director Sabato De Sarno wanted to bring to life his vision for Gucci in his debut menswear collection.

The runway took place in an old factory-style building with concrete flooring and stark lighting to fit into the industrial business aesthetic. There was a focus on simplicity in both the set design and the looks themselves. The clothing fit into a business dress code including a sombre colour palette with the addition of colour through patent handbags in key Gucci colours: burgundy, beige or pea green, which were often sported with matching gloves. The business attire consisted of refined tailoring with sharp lines, they were accompanied by chunky loafers and floor length coats with high slits or double breasted suit jackets minus the shirts underneath. They made a gorgeous opening to Fashion Week in Milan this year.

Image Credit: Filippo Fior, Gorunway.com

DSQUARED2

DSquared2 went full futurism with their flashy runway show in Milan. The set was staged with completely white gloss walls and floors denoting an ‘out of this world’ feeling. They embraced more of the streetwear style with an abundance of pieces including oversized hats, leather pants and lots of layering. It maintained the juxtaposition of both the grunge and more sleek aesthetic throughout. This juxtaposition seeped into the main spectacle of their show the “Makeover Machine”. Models would walk into this machine one side and out the other would come another model in a new outfit that they had transformed into. The aim of the machine was to play on the idea that fashion plays a huge role in the transformation of a person. The message of this runway was taken home by the twin co-founders Dean and Dan, when one walked through the machine to transform into the other. This runway was a really fun take on the concept of fashion and the more is more looks paired with the super plain and sleek set pulled the whole juxtaposition theming together.

Image Credit: Daniele Oberrauch, Gorunway.com

STONE ISLAND

Despite its founding in 1982, Stone Island hosted its first fashion show this year at Milan’s Fashion Week and it was monumental. They were innovative with their display at Fashion Week, steering away from the conventional runway to putting each of their models remaining stationary for the duration of the show within sections of a three story scaffolding structure. Attendees were invited into a space where the models were already present and sections of scaffolding were lit up in accordance to the music creating somewhat of a light show. It was refreshing to see an entirely new take on how designers want to present their collections, innovation in the presentation not just in the garments themselves.

Image Credit: Marco Cappelletti

MSGM

The Men’s Autumn/ Winter 2024 collection was unveiled in a subway station, and it was inspired by the architect who designed Milan’s M1 Metro line, Franco Albini. MSGM wanted to capture some of Milan’s rich history which is evident from his focus on the Metro both in set design and within the garments themselves. The collection heavily featured the colour red which is the colour of the Metro Line. There was also a big emphasis on motion graphic prints which emulated the images you would see on a moving train. The overall collection definitely had more of a streetwear focus which gave a good balance of the designer’s style and their runway theming.

PRADA

The theme of the Prada show was the clash between man and nature, which was shown through the differences in set design across two floors and within the garments themselves. The runway was a perspex floor that had a forest-style scene beneath it, with streaming water, grass and plants it emulated a forest landscape. This entirely opposed the dull panel-lit grey office room that the models were walking in. The office-like set was finished with attendees sitting on wheely office chairs. The garments consisted of business dress code but all ensembles incorporated vivid colours which cut through the grey room. The bright fitted underlayers were paired with more neutral coloured boxy jackets. All models sported some form of bright coloured headwear; there were a selection of skull-tight knitted hats, balaclavas and black brimmed hats that made an appearance. Prada was giving business chic and the formal wear left us wanting more.

Image Credit: Courtesy of Prada

Milan affirmed that it has the title of one of the fashion capitals of the world for a good reason. As fashion continues to evolve Milan remains at the epicentre of fashion with this being one of the most sought after fashion weeks in the world. Milan set a high standard for the runway this year and it’s left us excited for the remainder of the runways to come this season.