Milan Fashion Week Highlights: Sensible dresscodes presented with circus-level theatrics

Oscillating between flashy and understated, escapist and down to earth, Milan Fashion Week’s Fall-Winter 2023 collections conjured glamor in very different ways, with several brands putting on theatrical displays that provided ample entertainment.

Over 50 shows were held in Italy’s fashion capital during the event that concluded on Monday though there were a few notable absentees — namely, Marni and Versace (the house will instead show in Los Angeles March 10).

Diesel’s set design featured a mountain of condom boxes. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

A mountain of condoms at the Diesel show kicked off proceedings. The backdrop for creative director Glenn Martens’ Fall-Winter 2023 collection, predictably, turned out to be one of the week’s most Instagrammed and talked about sets. True to the label’s provocative ethos, the Belgian designer put on a sexy, tongue-in-cheek runway of low-low rise jeans and skin-revealing clothes that confirmed his mastery of denim. Many of the sheer lacy effects obtained through devoré, a technique that uses a paste to burn through cellulose fibers, leaving woven fabric behind in a pattern.

More skin was flaunted at Roberto Cavalli and Dolce & Gabbana. The former channeled hedonism and excess, with patchwork leather trimmed in crystals, animal motifs, lots of faux-fur and black lace reinvented in countless different ways from corsets to figure-hugging dresses. Dolce & Gabbana meanwhile reached for a glamazon aesthetic through lingerie dressing — bras with metal cups, lacy teddies, embroidered slips — paired with feathered parkas, white tuxedos and hourglass shaped double-wool coats — no doubt a nod to the brand’s ongoing collaboration with Kim Kardashian, who was seated front row.

Gray coats were abundant this season,like this double-breasted number at Max Mara. Credit: Max Mara

And again gray coasts appeared at Giorgio Armani, who was one of the designers adopting a more a wearable approach to Fall-Winter 2023. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

Elsewhere, other big-name brands like Fendi, Prada, Max Mara and Giorgio Armani adopted an altogether more conservative approach to fashion, with clothes that were sensible and seemingly designed for everyday life. The slew of tailored gray coats seen almost everywhere on the runway were a case in point — as was the footwear, which spanned loafers, work boots and black patent shoes.

Just as in previous seasons, Hollywood royalty and influencers were back in full swing, drawing huge crowds outside the shows and proving Milan still holds plenty of A-list appeal.

Dakota Johnson was seen at Gucci. Credit: Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images

Julia Fox and actor Haley Lu Richardson of “White Lotus” fame were spotted at Diesel, while Sienna Miller, Dua Lipa and Emma Roberts were just some of the notable names attending the Prada show. Gucci had A$AP Rocky, Maneskin, Dakota Johnson and Chinese actor and singer Xiao Zhan among its guests; and Moschino welcomed Saudi model and influencer Hala Abdallah and Palestinian social media star Julia Hussein, who showed up in matching outfits. At Bottega Veneta, the arrival of BTS band member RM inside the venue almost caused a stampede by excited fellow attendees, prompting security to intervene.

Haley Lu Richardson was spotted front row at the Diesel show. Credit: Swan Gallet/WWD/Getty Images

Julia Fox was another A-lister in attendance at the Diesel show. Credit: Swan Gallet/WWD/Getty Images

The overall spectacle wasn’t enough to distract from the fact that, like London and New York before it, little effort was made to cast diverse bodies on the runway. With only a few notable exceptions, like Ashley Graham walking the Dolce & Gabbana show, ultra skinny models outweighed all other body shapes, underscoring a new worrying trend.

Lack of size diversity wasn’t the only issue on the table. Ahead of the week, designer Stella Jean — the only Black member of the National Chamber of Italian Fashion and one of the very few Black designers in the country — took the stage during a chamber’s press conference to announce that she would not be taking part in the event, and would go on a hunger strike to protest the industry’s lack of diversity and inclusion. Jean, who co-founded We Are Made in Italy (WAMI), a collective that supports Italian designers of color, accused the chamber of having “abandoned” the initiative. According to a spokesperson for Stella Jean, the designer and president of the chamber, Carlo Capasa, have since been in touch to agree that Capasa will meet with designers of color from WAMI to hear their personal stories. The National Chamber of Italian Fashion did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.

Real-world dressing

Understated was the word of the week in Milan. In what was perhaps a reflection of the current economic times, several brands presented collections that pushed forward a quiet, almost modest approach to high fashion, with clothes that felt wearable and sensible, while still being aspirational.

Max Mara captured the sentiment perfectly with its collection, fittingly named “The Camelocracy.” Inspired by Émilie du Châtelet, the 18th century French natural philosopher and mathematician whose work was key to spreading the ideas of the European Enlightenment, designer Ian Griffiths presented a modernized version of 18th century womenswear that was both sharp and discreetly elegant, with plush fabrics like cashmere and brocades rendered through bustiers, floor-swishing teddy coats and ankle length skirts.

At Fendi, artistic director Kim Jones drew from the work closet of jewelery designer Delfina Delettrez Fendi — a fourth-generation Fendi heiress and the daughter of co-artistic director Silvia Venturini Fendi — to offer up a sophisticated, prim wardrobe of draped dresses, ribbed knits and pleated skirts with plenty of utilitarian elements in between, from boiler suits to uniform-like separates.

Uniforms were also the house code at Prada, where Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada co-designed a collection of so-called new “quotidian” clothes spanning wedding dresses repurposed as daywear, shirts with practical front pockets and high-fitting tapered trousers. “Garments are representations of the beauty of care, of love, of reality,” read the notes for the show. “Through a redress of purpose, a significance is afforded to clothing that expresses these fundamental values.”

Muted tones and an emphasis on new “quotidian” clothes were on the menu at Prada. Credit: Prada

The uniform took center stage at Prada. Credit: Prada

Tod’s, Armani and Jil Sanders embraced the practical, too — albeit elevated through fabrics, details and thought-out constructions — as did Ferragamo with a strong second collection from creative director Maximilian Davis that featured sharp tailoring and house-specific red notes hidden within most garments.

Even Moschino, a brand known for its outlandish designs, toned it down slightly, showcasing skirt suits and knit dresses rather than subversive looks like last season’s pool floaties — though the slow tempo synth-pop soundtrack and the models’ mohawk hairpieces still had Jeremy’s Scott’s stamp all over them.

Conservative skirt suits and knit dresses were contrasted against sky-high mohawks at Moschino. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

Matthieu Blazy does it again

For the third time in a row since taking over from Daniel Lee as creative director of Bottega Veneta, Matthieu Blazy stole the show. Taking inspiration by a parade, or Italian carnevale, “where there is absolutely no hierarchy” as he said backstage, the designer sent out 81 looks that were quickly hailed as some of the week’s best, confirming him as one of the most compelling names in fashion today.

Spanning soft dressing gowns and slipper socks (with the wool upper made of knitted leather), oversized masculine suits and intricately woven dresses and skirts, the presentation featured an “odyssey of characters” aimed at representing different personas, times and places. “The idea was that of becoming whoever one wants to be through clothing,” Blazy said. “I was after a balance between costume and fashion.”

At Bottega Veneta, Matthieu Blazy loaned Roman bronze statues dating back 1 BC for his set. Credit: Bottega Veneta

It was another triumph for Blazy, whose latest Bottega Veneta collection showcased a meticulous level of detail. Credit: Filippo Fior

The clothes — all eminently relatable, such as this pyjama set — would suit a number of individual tastes, yet still felt cohesive. Credit: Filippo Fior

The clothes — all eminently relatable, keeping with the overall theme of the week — would suit a number of individual tastes, yet still felt cohesive. They also showed a meticulous level of craftsmanship — Blazy’s signature — from a fringed coat that wasn’t embroidered but woven in one piece to feather-fronted corsets and a tunic-and-skirt combo made with hundreds of small leather petals.

Blazy said the collection would bring to a close his “Italia” trilogy of shows (the two naked Roman runners in bronze, circa 1 BC, and Umberto Boccioni’s 1913 statue “Unique Forms of Continuity in Space,” which were loaned from museums for the runway, were a clear nod to the history of the country), opening up the next chapter for the brand. It was apt, then, that the leather tank top and leather jeans from Blazy’s debut show closed the show.

From big-draw sets to participative fashion

Diesel’s condom mountain aside, most household names kept to rather standard runway formats this season, with a few notable exceptions.

At the Deposito of the Fondazione Prada, a moving ceiling transformed the space by altering its dimensions, creating a sense of expansion and contraction and revealing stunning floral decorations previously concealed. The set was once again conceived by Rotterdam-based architecture firm OMA, which counts Rem Koolhaas — a long-term Prada collaborator — among its partners.

Gucci’s venue resembled a convention hall, with matching upholstered chairs and carpeting and a sunken seating area at the center of the room where a bevy of influencers congregated, surrounded by rows of elevator doors from which models entered and exited from.

At Sunnei, models finished their walk by diving into the crowd. Credit: Sunnei

Sunnei’s crowd-surfing show was one to remember. Credit: Sunnei

But it was younger brands that offered the most interesting formats and set design.

Emerging label Cormio held its show at a soccer field in the outskirts of Milan, where teams of young female players who had just finished a game watched the models make their way onto the pitch. Up-and-comer Marco Rambaldi, one of the few designers to strive for inclusivity in his shows, reproduced an iconic 1980s Italian night club called Cocoricò in an old TV studio, then cast friends of varying height, size and background as models.

A children’s football match overlapped the Cormio fashion show. Credit: Alessandro Levati/Getty Images

The accessories at Cormio tied into the location choice. Credit: Estrop/Getty Images

Cormio’s show took place in the outskirts of Milan. Credit: Estrop/Getty Images

A stroke of genius, though, came from Sunnei on Friday. The Milan-based brand (which is no stranger to memorable runway concepts) squeezed guests into a narrow room to stand around a tall catwalk, from which the house’s team of designers, assistants, web managers and accountants launched themselves into the audience, crowd-surfing while wearing looks from the Fall-Winter 2023 collection.

Scroll down for more eye-catching moments from the shows.

Giorgio Armani staged his show at the small theatre Via Borgonuovo 21. Credit: Stefano Guindani

Emma Roberts and Maya Hawke sat front row at Prada’s catwalk. Credit: Jacopo M. Raule/Getty Images

Dua Lipa was also spotted at Prada’s Fall-Winter runway. Credit: Jacopo M. Raule/Getty Images

Bright colors and extreme volume were front and center at Tomo Koizumi’s show, supported by Dolce & Gabbana. Credit: Estrop/Getty Images

Tod’s latest collection was created by Walter Chiapponi. Credit: Estrop/Getty Images

Tod’s embraced the practical. Credit: Estrop/Getty Images

Clean silhouettes and though-out constructions elevated Tod’s everyday offering into something elegant and understated. Credit: Estrop/Getty Images

Gucci’s Fall-Winter 2023 collection was created collectively by the brand’s design team. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Pleated skirts with a utilitarian flair were on show at Fendi. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

Kim Jones was inspired by the work closet of Delfina Delettrez. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

Lingerie was everywhere at Dolce & Gabanna’s Milan runway. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Mesh, lace, and corsets were pillars of Dolce & Gabanna’s new collection. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Mohawks were in at Moschino. Credit: Swan Gallet/WWD/Getty Images

And at Bottega Veneta, the label’s signature leather-weaving motif was pushed to new heights. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

The unassuming, trompe l’oeil leather looks were back at Bottega. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Roberto Cavalli channeled hedonism and excess. Credit: Isidore Montag/Gorunway

Lace was reinvented in numerous ways at Cavalli. Credit: Isidore Montag/Gorunway

At Ferragamo, house-specific red notes were hidden within most garments. Credit: Jacopo Raule/Getty Images

Creative director Maximillian Davis infused the entire collection with Ferragamo’s trademark shade of red. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

Tailoring with a twist was also on show at Ferragamo. Credit: Victor Virgile/Gamma-Rapho/Getty Images

British Vogue editor-in-chief Edward Enninful and Salma Hayek at Bottega Veneta. Credit: Stephane Feugere

Jil Sander shone a light on wearable, everyday pieces. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

Distorted prints of cherries, bananas and boiled sweets were motifs in Jil Sander’s latest collection. Credit: Giovanni Giannoni/WWD/Getty Images

Top image: Jil Sander’s Fall-Winter runway show at Milan Fashion Week, February 2023.