Runway Report: Milan Fashion Week Autumn/Winter 2024 Menswear Highlights

If you boys are yearning for a fresh take on formalwear (inspired by the ghosts of the centuries past, no less) or searching for ways to put camp into your annual camping trip, then our Milan Fashion Week autumn/winter 2024 menswear highlights is what you need. 

Keep reading to discover the Milan fashion week autumn/winter 2024 menswear highlights

Gucci

The menswear iteration of Gucci Ancora was no less sultry, sensual and seductive than the last women’s show. Creative director Sabato de Sarno knows where the pleasure points of his customers lie and proceeds to press them ceaselessly until a state of utter ecstasy ensues. But innuendos aside, it would be appropriate to begin dissecting the collection from the accessories. The choker-clasped scarves cheekily slithering around the models’ necks and short gloves evoke Alan Cummings in Cabaret (for those of us of the old-school queer inclination). Then there was an abundance of coats – floor length, just the way we like it – echoing the Autumn 2023 collection, straitjackets and patent leather puffers with voluminous lapels, all in now de Sarno’s signature jewel-toned-meets-acidic palette. It seems the new Gucci man is a gentleman who’s unashamed of his glamour, femininity or desires. Brava. 

Dolce & Gabbana

Formalwear in the eyes of Dolce & Gabbana is decadent, erotic and dark, perfectly tying into the ubiquity of the new homme-fatale trope (think Sam Reid in Interview with the Vampire or Jaggers in BBC One’s Great Expectations). We start with tailoring that seamlessly blends Victorian and Edwardian stylistic influences – silk shirts, cravats and turtlenecks uniting the different fashion epochs explored in the collection. And no, despite heavy historical influences, the range still feels modern, as attested by the denim looks (our favourite is the bishop-sleeved silk turtleneck styled with blue jeans and equestrian boots) which introduce a layer of elegant formality (perhaps even drama, if you will) atop a rather casual backbone. These looks feel restrained yet indulgent – not something one could normally expect from Dolce & Gabbana but fascinating.

Fendi

For its autumn/winter 2024 menswear collection, Fendi is venturing outside, drawing inspiration from the unexplored terrain. One couldn’t help but notice certain anglicisms in the artistic director of accessories and menswear Silvia Venturini Fendi’s design language. Hunting jackets mingled with military-green mackintoshes and kilts (but longer and sans the pleats). It felt as if the Fendi boys were all sent on a field trip to conquer the highlands. The leather goods also receive an aesthetic update in the best tradition of the Foggy Albion. The novel Siesta bag boasts a flattened design that resembles a cushion, featuring striped quilting or luxurious shearling. Meanwhile, the Melon hobo and backpack styles embrace a folding modularity, adorned with chrome FF2 hardware. As for smaller everyday bags, two-toned and textured leather wash bags add a touch of irreverence. And let us not forget the Peekaboo ISeeU Soft, with its smooth, cushioned form, and the Baguette Soft Trunk with its bevelled lines.

Prada

Prada is another maison that beseeched Mother Nature to grant it inspiration. Rather than specifically referencing outerwear archetypes, creative director Raf Simons explores “a deep and essential human need to connect with the world around us,” as the show notes state. In the best Simons tradition, the Prada runway this season was specked with retina-busting smidges of colour: knit magenta trousers, scarlet cardigans and canary yellow turtlenecks could read as a reference to the neon lights that symbolise the traces of human civilisation in nature. Woolen peacoats and trenches, together with baggy suits were a nice grounding factor that prevented the aesthetics from flying off into a kitschy realm. Although denim wasn’t the focus of the collection, it was pleasant to see it interpreted as a pants-shirt-and-tie trio.