BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Milano Moda Uomo

Milano Moda Uomo wrapped today with some digital presentations but nothing in person, the same day that Paris Fashion Week started...that gives busy fashion journalists a minute to get from Italy to France! Anyhow, here are just a few details that caught my eye from Milan for Spring-Summer '25...

Fendi showed shirts whose plackets twisted off from the center, buttoning or snapping down the side. Some of them ended up as a shoulder-baring moment, like Jennifer Beals in "Flashdance" from back in the day (if you don't get that reference, Google it). I like that.

And Alessandro Sartori at Zegna included mature models in his show, which prompted Vogue fashion journalist Tiziana Cardini to refer to them as "handsomely grown-up." Delightful description, thank you Tiziana! And kudos to Sartori for showing that men in their 50s and 60s (and even 70s) are still viable. The show closed with actor Mads Mikkelsen who is the face of this SS '25 Zegna campaign.

https://www.fendi.com/
https://www.zegna.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Milano Moda Uomo

Milano Moda Uomo closed yesterday, and there were some pleasant Fall-Winter '24-'25 collections. Here are a few little details from collections I did not write about but I just couldn't let pass by...

Fendi did not have a theme and Silvia Venturini Fendi proclaimed no need for one--"A collection is a collection, period," she said emphatically--but one can see a certain English rural landscape dressing emerge. Among the protective outerwear were some great skirts.

Over at the Fondazione Prada, it was the set that caught my attention. The collection for FW '24-'25 from Mrs. Prada and Raf Simons apparently was a comment about how the business world creates an atmosphere that is prison-like and keeps people away from the natural world (well...yeah). Models first walked through a maze of spartan cubicles to emerge into the runway area which was created to float three feet over an actual meandering stream and grasses, on glass plates. Audience members watched from uncomfortable office chairs while mist hung in the air. What a feat of engineering to create a complete interior meadow encased in glass.

And finally, Dhruv Kapoor created a pretty cool chunky, lug soled shoe that was both a lace-up and a belted buckle!

https://www.fendi.com/
https://www.prada.com/
https://dhruvkapoor.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Fendi

Fendi was one of two guest designers at this year's Pitti Imagine Uomo in Florence, Italy and creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi took the opportunity to show off a new, €50 million state-of-the-art Fendi leather goods factory located about a half hour outside of Florence. This impressive facility is designed with advanced energy efficiency and minimal landscape impact in mind. The main part of the building has a green roof full of flowers and herbs and beautifully disappears into the Tuscan terrain.

The show was actually set inside the factory floor and attendees were allowed access beforehand to wander around, observe how Fendi leather goods are made, and even interact with and ask questions of the artisans at work. Once it was time for the show, it was easy to see how the artisans themselves and their tools and workwear inspired this Spring Summer '24 collection. The aprons and smocks worn by these craftspeople translated into some interesting garments. Aprons and tool belts became skirts and halter tops, some long and flowing. Smocks became long shirts. While many designers have been working with the apron and workwear idea for many, many seasons now (Thom Browne, Junya Watanabe), this iteration feels slim, natural, and sophisticated. Some outerwear pieces were printed with patterns for Fendi products while a few pieces toward the end of the show were illustrated with actual tools of the trade and floral designs from the rooftop garden! In an eco vein, many garments were dyed from botanical pigments, while other pieces featured a softened F-logo jacquard in indigo and undyed denim. And shoes were shiny rubber clogs. For her bow, SIlvia Venturini Fendi came out with a gaggle of artisans from the factory floor. Do take a look at the fascinating video...the first three quarters are shots of the facility and guests arriving but if you want to scrub through to the show, it starts at 52:25.

https://www.fendi.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Fendi

I love that we are at a point in fashion where people no longer have to say incredulously "a skirt for men" or "a blouse for men." It is just a skirt or a top. And for this Fall-Winter '23-'24 collection at Milano Moda Uomo, Silvia Fendi took another step in this evolution. Evoking her disco days at Studio 54 and her love of the period, she showed a collection of one-shoulder wraps, tops, and coats reminiscent of the kind of lycra bodysuits worn by dancers of the era. Her execution of this inspiration is so deft that we forget the original was worn exclusively by women. But here we are with men sporting a wonderful array of off-the-shoulder insouciance in cashmere, some studded with paillettes. While the color palette was mostly neutral with a bit of natural brown saddle leather thrown in, an unexpected lyrical lavender showed up in leather trousers and a jacket. The entire collection has the feel of casual richness, much like the days of disco. Models walked the runway while enormous glittering disco balls rolled down a sloped track much like pinballs, another pastime of the era. And of course a cover of Donna Summer's classic "I Feel Love" played while the cast came out for their final turn...

https://www.fendi.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Milano Moda Uomo SS '23

Milano Moda Uomo has wrapped up and the attention now turns to Paris. But before that, there were a few miscellaneous details at Milano Moda Uomo that caught my eye...

...I adore double wrap belts. I had one in the disco 70s, and I just bought one recently out of nostalgia so I am delighted to see them pop up at both Dolce and Gabbana...

...and Emporio Armani:

On to shoes.

JordanLuca showed some amazing and audacious thigh-high leather boots!

And a rubber-molded puffy sandal moment happened at Fendi...

...at Federico Cina...

...and at Dhruv Kapoor.

And speaking of Dhruv Kapoor (who started his own label in 2013 after working at Etro), he showed a collection that was skewed toward a certain bland 90s streetwear sense, but the addition of a scribbled floral pleasantly manifested in sequin appliqués on oversized suiting. The unexpected result is quite lyrical.

https://www.dolcegabbana.com
https://www.armani.com
https://www.jordanluca.com
https://www.fendi.com/
https://federicocina.com/
https://dhruvkapoor.com/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Fendi

For her FW '21-'22 collection during Milano Moda Uomo, Silvia Fendi showed a collection that referenced day pajamas... something I think we are going to be seeing from nearly every designer in the upcoming weeks of shows. Quilted puffer pieces, shearling fleece, soft camel hair coats, and comforting cotton rib-knits lend an at-home sense. Of the collection, Fendi said these are "Clothes that make you feel good. Because I do think that fashion can have a therapeutic aspect." Other fun details: collars that turn into extra sleeves which hang down to the waist (and which, presumably, can be wrapped around one's neck to create an integrated scarf), quilted slipper spats on shoes (!), and some more structured pieces with venting slashes. And I love Fendi's presentation of formalwear edged with the exact kind of piping one would find on a set of pajamas!

But the most interesting aspect of this collection was Fendi's collaboration with television presenter, comedian/actor, artist, and musician Noel Fielding. He is known here in the States as the most recent co-host of "The Great British Baking Show" (or "The Great British Bake-Off" as it is known in the UK). He designed sets of brightly colored squiggles, and a few free-form, cheery Fendi logos, all of which adorn sweaters, coats, and jackets! Fendi said, "I like him as a man, and he is a multifaceted talent: writing, comedy, music, art. This is something we all have to do today, I think, to change our own skins. And speaking of therapy, in his graphics you can read what you want to see, like colored yarns that have been thrown on the floor to make a pattern."

https://www.fendi.com/
http://noelfielding.co.uk/

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Milano Moda Uomo

Before we move on to Paris and our final leg of Fashion Month, let's look at some superb shoes from Milano Moda Uomo. It's sandal season!

Silvia Venturini Fendi worked with film director Luca Guadagnino on a Fendi SS '20 collection based on gardening and beekeeping. Pieces were luxe versions of tan and olive workwear but the shoes were wonderful. Sandals with chunky straps in snakeskin were only upstaged by some great croc loafers and Mary Janes.

And Rocco Iannone at Pal Zileri showed a sweet open-toed sandal version of a deck shoe/driving moc in fun colors!

https://www.fendi.com
https://www.palzileri.com

BEAUTY: Clothing--Misc. Milano Moda Uomo Fall-Winter '17-'18

Now that it's run and done, Milano Moda Uomo was fairly subtantial this year with a nice mix of really interesting collections, and several with some special details. Here are a few:

The power of positive words--to save us from the global spread of righteous darkness and the New Dark Ages--was on display at Fendi. For this Fall-Winter '17-'18 collection at Milano Moda Uomo, Silvia Venturini Fendi posted onto her mood board some inspirational lines from Ernest Hemingway about the positive strategies to try before letting the negative take hold. She said: "I want to be optimistic, need to be. These were simple words, universal words like love, listen, try. I was reading this and thinking it is so easy if you follow these universal rules." So we have in a clear, bold font the words LOVE, YES, THINK, TRY, BLISS, HOPE on head bands and calmly spelled out on jackets as a gentle but firm reminder to stay human in these trying times.

Salvatore Ferragamo, a company founded by a cobbler in 1923, always has a lovely array of shoes to show in their collections, as one would expect. And for this FW outing, the house showed a shoe with a lug sole that splayed out, ending up looking like the wearer has webbed feet. I kinda like it...

And Prada had some truly funky shoes to go with a fun, funky, 1970s-by-way-of-the-Pacific-Northwest theme. Fur covered sneakers, loafers, and chukka boots are eclectic...

...and she had jewelry to match. Shells and feathers hung from chains while trimmed, bark-covered tree branches looked like pieces of coral dangling around the necks of models. And to complete the West Coast-New-Age-hippie vibe, large chunks of amethyst crystal, citrine, and quartz crystal were thrown in to gild the lily.

While we're on accessories, I think Giorgio Armani invented a new one. I know, right? How could anyone invent a new piece of clothing. But who knew: a sleeve-scarf? Here it is. A piece of knitwear with sleeves at either end, but with plenty of material in between to drape up an arm, a shoulder, wrap around a neck or cross a chest, and travel down the other side to become a sleeve once again. By description alone, it sounds ridiculous (and it is NOT a shrug!) but look...look! It is fairly fabulous and makes me wonder how I have stayed warm without one!

And while we're on scarves, we move from the sublime to the humorous with MSGM's take on the silk head scarf Queen Elizabeth II wears when not at Buckingham Palace. Whether driving a royal Range Rover on the grounds of Sandringham or attending The Royal Windsor Horse Show, the monarch often sports a scarf on her head along with quilted jackets or coats one would wear "in the country." MSGM hilariously sent models down the runway in such quilted and country outer wear...with a silk head scarf just like HRH. Proof that artistic inspiration really can come from anywhere.

Now, on to the Paris shows!

https://www.fendi.com
http://www.ferragamo.com
http://www.prada.com/
http://www.armani.com/
http://www.msgm.it/