And this FW also gone, only a handful of days have passed since Milan Men’s Fashion 2020, the Milan men’s fashion week that from 10th to 14th January has filled my days of fashion shows and events in which the next collections were presented.
And yes, I love it. Also because this time the protagonists are them, men. And it’s always a nice sight. 😉
As always, I have the pleasure of showing these days with my personal point of view. It must be said that – fortunately – everything is less frenetic comparing to the upcoming one next February.
DAY 1 – 10th January
On the evening of Friday night, the first appointment was with the Dsquared2 after show. The highly anticipated Fashion Show inaugurated the new Milan Fashion Week by celebrating the brand’s 25th Anniversary. My family of Rollover Milano took care of us making everyone dance!
Gladly spending a few words about the show, I would say that “DENIM” is the keyword. It’s all extremely youthful and wearable, with some creative license, like the double jeans to be worn undone (but if I like that, please better don’t ask…). Super long and narrow, they combine with the lumberjack shirt, the cable sweater and the padded vest. Latex trousers with mohair knitwear (love this instead) and short duffel coats, biker pants with shearling cardigans, in a continuous game of contrasts between softness and seduction. To open the catwalk, a video wanted to remember the most important moments of these two and a half decades, to close it a more intimate clip on the two Canadian twins and the Sister Sledge live show with their hit ‘We are family’.
DAY 2 – 11th January
The main theme of this Marcelo Burton runway is genius in madness, characterized by a street and relaxed wardrobe that ranges from military inspiration, to soft tailoring, to the typical ponchos of Argentina. The inspiration for the patterns in the collection are psychedelic motifs (look the floor!!!).
The brand logo – inspired by the symbolism of Patagonia and renewed in design by Mirko Borsche – was repeated endlessly in an original deformed houndstooth that we find on wool jackets, as a print on reflective garments, or even on pieces in collaboration with Swarovski – like the hoodie entirely embroidered with crystals that as soon as I saw my thought was “I want it now!!“.
All the seasonal glasses, made in collaboration with Retrosuperfuture, had important frames with rectangular elongated shapes and are also available in the new Klein blue color, chosen as the institutional color of the brand. Blue that was even in the sole of chunky sneakers and in many details of the collection, such as the new labels for denim garments.
What if fashion shows of the future would be with no more seats available to understand runways?
Marni orchestrated an AMAZING show in his entrance through several light tunnels, through which there was a space where the models are all ready and semi-hidden by darkness, which slowly lighted up to give life to a performance. Choreographer Michele Rizzo placed them in the center of a rectangle around which the public is arranged according to a democratic order of arrival. And it made them move with slow syncopation first, almost at a walking pace then, in a crescendo of emotions, which would have been perfect if it had lasted a few minutes less. The clothes are decomposed, recomposed, superimposed. The prints are intense, as is the spirit of the brand, the volumes oscillate between oversize and fitted. But the performance was so engaging that people enjoyed it as a whole, for once without going into too much detail.
In the same location there was the afterparty. The “Balla Denso Intenso” at the Spazio Ventura in Lambrate, always under the artistic direction of the designers Charles Jeffrey and Francesco Risso, was in the classic spirit of the London east end combined with Italian creativity. What to say? THE BEST party of this FW for sure, not only for music and situation, but precisely for the cool vibes that were inside. Still remembering them 🙂
DAY 3 – 12th January
In the morning my first appointment was with Numero00. The concept expressed by the brand is to tell the news once again, interpreting it and giving it a voice both stylistically and conceptually.
The designer Valerio Farina reaffirmed his social commitment, which ultimate goal is the awakening of consciences through some messages that the designer himself hides in the garments of the FW 20/21 collection. Not surprisingly, one of the models who walked the catwalk had a koala-shaped backpack, just to sensitize “us audiences” to what was happening in Australia in those same days.
Messages were not the only hidden elements of the collection, I saw many accessories – such as pockets and sliders with double bottoms – that materialize and physically develop the basic claim that precisely says “everyone has something to hide“.
Meanwhile during the enthralling frenzy of the Milan Fashion Week shows, I had even the pleasure of enjoying a beautiful mix of sounds, images and hypnotic effects at the Parajumpers event.
The location was invaded by the music of the electronic band Bowland that already from X-Factor the trip-hop band had stood out with their electronic and at the same time ethereal sounds. The underlying motif of the installation is the creative analysis of what are the pillars of Parajumpers aesthetics: art, technology and humanity.
Instead, do you wanna know the Sunnei keywords for this collection?
Free will. No limit. No contamination. Only a sophisticated normcore.
photo: Alessandro Lucioni
For the autumn winter 20/21 collection, the first super test co-ed for Sunnei, a series of relaxed, modern looks are inspired, inspired by creative freedom at 360 degrees. Stripes and total look of color-block are the protagonists. To complete the look, new models of footwear, leather bags but also PVC, and colorful but sophisticated pearl jewelries. Excellent test also for the art of knitwear, which blends the male and female universe. In perfect complementarity. Even the afterparty wasn’t bad at all!
DAY 4 – 13th January
On Monday 13th my last appointment took place for the event organized by the founder of Fashion East Lulu Kennedy and Natasha Booth: “Fashion East presents Liam Hodges and Lucien Clarke supported by CNMI and Slam Jam – Artifact“ at Spazio Maiocchi. An early evening affair with drinks and music provided by the techno sounds of DJ Hasani, was a collaboration not to miss for sure. Undoubtedly, Fashion East and Slam Jam have a history of hosting the best parties. 🙂
Bold, colourful and with a contemporary twist, the designer’s creations continued to represent London’s creative status. Combining the two designers’ forces, an exciting synthesis was easy to see and basically that is what makes this collaboration an interesting one. The essence of street style, the Italian sophistication of Milan and British coolness created the perfect mix for the ultimate fashion week party.
Let’s recap a bit of everything.
We have seen bulky and important, enveloping, exaggerated coats. And open jeans, worn one on top of the other, very tight. Details borrowed from the world of sport transferred to more classic garments. An autumn-winter 2020-2021 of exaggerated proportions is shaping up. However, the first 2020 Fashion Week also marks a radical change of pace in the world of men’s fashion: (finally) wearable garments and openness to recycling, with the aim of achieving ever more ethical and environmentally friendly fashion!