Need to Know

Italy – Designers turned into directors shouting ‘lights, camera, action’ in Milan as looks made from shredded fabric, shiny embroidery, vinyl and silk came to cinematic life on the runway. Gucci’s coats covered in maxi-sequins and Ferragamo’s long fringe skirts seemed to dance around and take up space as models strutted down the runway.

Fur was everywhere in Milan, although brands such as Bottega Veneta and Diesel proudly stated they were using fake fur materials. At Marni and Missoni, giant fluffy coats that could probably produce several generations of Sesame Street characters outshined the rest of the collection.

Perhaps as an antidote to the ambient doom, several designers brought party vibes to their autumn/winter 2024–2025 collection, with glitter, sparkles, lurex, stones, sequins and cocktail dresses ready for the most glamorous New Year’s Eve soirée. Elisabetta Franchi re-invented a nostalgic American college jersey with glitter stripes, Gucci presented mini-dresses covered in gold sequins, while Tom Ford ended his show with a risqué sparkly naked bodysuit under a long vinyl coat that caught all the light.

Ferragamo’s varnished fish scale red dress deserves a special accolade as it took the internet quite a while to realise that the entire shiny Glamazon outfit was made from leather, scale by scale.

Italy – Camp was definitely the inspiration for various accessories at Milan Fashion Week. Fendi joined forces with Chupa Chups to create a limited-edition Fendi lollipop (vanilla and chocolate) hidden on the runway in small leather charms attached to the models’ handbags. On TikTok, the content around this unexpected collaboration has generated over a million views on Fendi’s own account. Needless to say, Gen Z are the direct target for those lollipop holders.

At Moschino, the model who opened the show carried a paper bag filled with two baguettes and a celery head. But these were just trompe l’oeil bags. As captured on video backstage, the baguette, which went viral in 2020, and the celery head are clutch bags that can contain everything from lip gloss to a flute. Bottega Veneta also presented an unconventional but no doubt soon-to-be-cult bag: a fish-shaped clutch made from its signature intrecciato woven red, orange and black leather strips.

Described by The New York Times as a ‘louche amalgamation of fur coats, leather and leopard prints that are being presented on [TikTok] as a kind of Mafiosa cosplay’, the viral mob wife aesthetic made it onto the catwalk in the form of a plethora of heavy gold accessories at a number of shows. Roberto Cavalli’s chunky gold chains and marble pendant, Etro’s triple necklace with a golden Ancient Greek theatre mask figurine and Gucci’s chokers with a studded motif all marked a complete twist from the so-called quiet luxury trend that turned mainstream in 2023. Similar ostentatious gold jewellery was evident at Fendi and Tom Ford.