Why so serious? Fashion is finally having fun again
Fashion has become a high-stakes industry. A single wrong decision or a collection that isn’t well-received can now result in the loss of millions in a market that has been consolidating and expanding globally since the early 2000s. The stakes are particularly high at Milan Fashion Week, which ends today, as fashion professionals from around the world gather to watch a series of newly appointed creative directors present their visions for some of the city’s most important houses, including Gucci, Jil Sander and Bottega Veneta. In a poignant show yesterday evening, the industry also bid farewell to Giorgio Armani – one of the few figures who provided consistency in the ever-changing luxury landscape. The discourse about his succession reached a new crescendo. Some of the questions being asked along the front rows of the city’s runways were: “Will Gucci file an initial public offering?” and “Will LVMH’s Bernard Arnault finally succeed in acquiring the business?”
As for the designers making their big debuts? While they are aware of the responsibility that comes with the positions they accepted, they also acknowledge that succumbing to the pressure or playing it safe – like many of their predecessors – no longer works. So instead, they searched for optimism and fun in a world of tension and divisions – perhaps the most radical thing that a creative can do at this time. Demna, the mononymic artistic director of Gucci, debuted a film dubbed La Famiglia, poking fun at the different character archetypes of a bourgeois Italian family. On the runway, he refreshingly moved away from streetwear and doubled down on glamour and dressing for the occasion with tailoring, cocktail dresses and a 1960s-inspired bright-red coat.
Simone Bellotti, who has decamped from Bally to Jil Sander, also delighted editors and buyers alike with stark minimalist silhouettes (an homage to the house’s founder) but also with mood-boosting pops of colour, unusual cuts and glossy loafers that will no doubt be a hit when they arrive in shops in spring 2026.
Colour, humour and ease were recurring themes on the runways of Silvia Fendi and Miuccia Prada – two of Milan fashion’s remaining doyennes. Fendi, who recently inaugurated a larger-than-life flagship on Via Montenapoleone, put a smile on attendees’ faces with surprising colour combinations and charming daisy prints. Prada added satin gloves in butter yellow and playful collar embellishments to a line-up of crisp cotton overalls and A-line skirts – her version of a uniform. Backstage, she spoke about the freedom that comes with clothes that can adapt to life’s unpredictable circumstances.
Time will tell whether the week’s designs will have a meaningful effect on the way that we dress – but this revival of glamour was a great way to kick-start fashion week. The most important message that this new crop of creative directors has delivered so far isn’t about a hem length or silhouette but a state of mind: fashion needs to take itself a little less seriously and start having fun again.
Natalie Theodosi is Monocle’s fashion director. If you’re in town for fashion week – or just looking for inspiration – consult our Milan City Guide. For more from the Lombard capital, check out our interview with Tod’s Diego Della Valle or read this story about location scouting. For more opinion, analysis and insight, subscribe to Monocle today.
Images: Getty Images
