It’s the sign of a vibrant and playful fashion environment that these days the men’s shows inspire almost as much eager excitement than women’s ready-to-wear.
Such is the case at this season’s just wrapped up Men’s Fashion Week shows in Milan and Paris.
Amidst a European heatwave, an inspirational kaleidoscope of colour and fresh, inventive looks captured our attention from the world’s biggest fashion houses. Tying traditional men’s tailoring elements with gelato brights and sporty twists seem to be recurring themes for the looks, set to land for northern hemisphere’s summer in 2027.
Even the storied heritage of houses such as Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani were ripe for a refresh, the new ideas welcomed by an eager fashion press contingent.
Prada, Ralph Lauren, Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani and more showed their collections, while the likes of Gucci, Fendi and Emporio Armani have shifted to holding co-ed fashion shows and New York-listed Zegna staged its latest show in Los Angeles earlier this month.
Newcomers this season included the first menswear show from London-based Irish designer Simone Rocha, tying her girlish femininity into a boyish men’s offering of broderie anglaise boxers and voluminous tailoring.
The collections signpost the style way for those of us Down Under in the months ahead, as well as where men’s fashion is headed in general.
Prada
The return of skinny jeans was the defining look of Prada’s menswear moment. The house declared designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons were driven by ‘clarity,’ a ‘distillation’ that draws out the ‘fundamental, intentional and meaningful’ in men’s fashion. That translated into slim-line silhouettes and matching leather fits. That tightly tailored rocker-boy aesthetic has always been cool, if limiting in who feels good wearing it, but we loved the fresh colour injection, in apple green, pink, teal and butter yellow.
Ralph Lauren
Relaxed fits with heritage elements drawn from European style were the looks that made us sit up and take notice at Ralph Lauren. The house’s design team has discovered a book that documented a group of stylish Italian business magnates who would race their wooden speedboats on Lake Como in the ’20s, and drew elements from it for the expansive collection. Oxford stripe cravat anyone?
Simone Rocha
The opposite of Prada’s skinny pants were Simone Rocha’s voluminous ones, an exaggerated version of pleat-front trousers that are also doing the rounds in menswear. It was fun to see how Rocha’s frothy femininity translated to a men’s collection and we loved the broderie details and boa scarves that reaffirm men’s accessories are also becoming more varied and widely embraced across evening and daywear.
Dolce & Gabbana
Dolce & Gabbana took us to Sicily for its collection inspired by the 1950s and 1960s, taking inspiration from the Mediterranean island’s sea and stone, light and shadow. Relaxed openwork knits and fresh colour were our highlights but we can appreciate the move into embroidery and embellishment for a gent looking to dress up and add excitement to a going-out ensemble.
Giorgio Armani
Looking chic in the summer heat is Armani’s signature and the tone-on-tone linen in sandy stone hues were perfection in this regard. We loved the soft, unstructured tailoring, and the colours chosen by Leo Dell’Orco, men’s creative director at Giorgio Armani, for their sun-bleached feel.
