When I boarded a plane last weekend to attend the spring/summer 2026 edition of Milan Fashion Week Men’s, which concluded yesterday, I knew that this would be a different kind of show season. First, there were notable absentees: many of the usual headliners, from Gucci and Fendi to JW Anderson, chose to sit out this year’s event as they attempted to rebrand and rethink their strategy under new executive teams.

Given the wave of hirings and firings that has been sweeping through luxury houses, it didn’t come as a surprise. But this was the first season in which the effect of the industry’s HR crisis was so visible. There was less excitement or novelty on the runways than in recent years and fewer international attendees too. The disruptive cycle doesn’t seem to have reached its end either: yesterday, Prada announced the departure of its CEO, Gianfranco D’Attis, just a few days after Francesco Risso stepped down from his position as creative director of Milanese label Marni and Ben Gorham left beauty label Byredo, which he founded in his native Stockholm in 2006. The biggest news, though, was François-Henri Pinault handing the reins of Kering, the luxury group founded by his father, to former Renault CEO Luca de Meo.

However, there are brands proving that they have lasting power, delivering artisanal quality and desirable collections season after season. At Brioni, Norbert Stumpfl has continued to refine his tailoring with feather-light fabrics; Canali has crafted leather outerwear inspired by vintage cars; meanwhile, Zegna’s Alessandro Sartori continues to raise the bar with new fabric innovations, from washed silks to hand-woven suede cardigans that take as long as a year to craft. In most cases, the winning businesses are still run by their founding families, with a clear vision about who they are and a strategy of pursuing slower growth.

Like other industries, fashion is also having to grapple with the current geopolitical situation. News of the US bombing of Iran broke hours before the Prada show in Milan, where models walked to an ominous soundtrack, though they were wearing optimistic primary colours. “What can we do but try to put a smile on people’s faces?” said Raf Simons, the brand’s co-creative director, while a pensive Miuccia Prada nodded in the background. “We have been trying to change the tone to something more gentle, looking to nature,” she said. “It’s the opposite of aggression, power and nastiness.” In such moments, big thinkers such as Prada are the ones who will hold on to their relevance. As Milan passes the baton to Paris Fashion Week Men’s, which starts today and runs until 29 June, all eyes are on the larger-scale luxury houses to see who will rise to today’s challenges.

Here, we round up the brands that stood out in Milan and approached a testing season with grace. 

The British delegation
With London Men’s Fashion Week cancelled, the UK’s leading menswear names are making a new home in Milan, where they can continue a dialogue between the worlds of British and Italian tailoring. Paul Smith, who is usually a regular in Paris, chose to invite the industry to his own Milanese showroom – a modernist space near Porta Romana – for his Milan Fashion Week debut. “[Owning property] is a big advantage, especially in this world that we live in,” said Smith backstage. His spring/summer collection, which featured sleek pinstripe suits and splashes of vibrant colour inspired by the bazaars of Cairo “and all the trinkets you discover in a street market,” offered a much-needed moment of lightness – as did Smith’s joyful skip down the showroom stairs before taking his final bow. 

A day later in a hidden Milanese garden, Simon Holloway, creative director of London-based label Dunhill, presented a more formal version of British tailoring, while still sprinkling the right touches of humour: bright stripes and straw hats for garden parties, with patterned ties and linen suits channeling Bryan Ferry. “I love that [Ferry] wears the most classic, English clothing but maintains a cool factor – it’s a studied kind of wardrobe,” said Holloway during a preview. His precision is a joy to observe: everything is considered, from the vintage watches and signet rings accessorising his looks to the impeccably groomed dogs walking down the runway alongside some of the models. It’s no wonder that he has reignited interest in Dunhill so quickly.

A welcome return 
Off the runway on the quiet Via Bigli, Turkish designer Umit Benan opened the doors to his first boutique – a space dressed in dark mahogany inspired by yacht interiors, filled with mid-century design pieces. His collection of relaxed tailoring, cotton basics and intricate tunics is on show alongside Jacques Marie Mage eyewear and jewellery. Head downstairs to place a bespoke order and keep an eye out for more retail projects from Benan. With a new investor on board, the designer is broadening his ambitions and plotting openings in more fashion capitals in the near future. 

Armani reigns supreme 
This season we lost a moment that never fails to bring a smile to even the most stone-faced of fashion editors: Giorgio Armani didn’t take his famous finalé bow, as he was recovering from a short bout of illness at home. But the two collections presented by his teams (for his eponymous label as well as for his Emporio Armani line) were still momentous. At Emporio Armani, the audience was brought to Central Asia by way of Africa. Armani revisited his love of travelling and discovering new cultures by adding patterned tunics, intricate bead embroidery and crocheted bags to his usual repertoire of silk sets, collarless shirting and loose tailoring. His consistent commitment to elegance, refinement and trend-free design is a breath of fresh air during a time when the fashion industry’s constant search for novelty is getting old. 

Natalie Theodosi is Monocle’s fashion director. Look out for reports and interviews from Paris this week on monocle.com and Monocle Radio. And subscribe to never miss a beat.