Milan Fashion Week SS26: A Lighter State of Mind
This season in Milan, menswear embraced gentler silhouettes and a quiet sense of effortless. Across runways and presentations, ‘lightness’ emerged, not only in fabric, but in feeling. Designers moved away from rigidity and overstatement, favoring relaxed tailoring, breathable textures, and muted palettes. Think dusty pastels, sun-soaked neutrals, and washed-out primaries. Tailoring remained at the core, but reimagined with modern sensibilities and brighter hues that injected playfulness to the runway.
Brunello Cucinelli
Titled The Shape of Light, Brunello Cucinelli’s SS26 collection offered a softer take on luxury, channeling the effortless elegance of ‘90s wardrobes through looser silhouettes, bolder colours, and a newfound sense of nonchalance. Double-pleated trousers sat lower on the waist; jackets were lengthened. Sun-washed tones like apricot, royal blue, and dusty rose in wool, silk and linen breathed life into the house’s typically neutral base. Even washed denim made a rare appearance, hinting at a quiet evolution within the brand’s famously formal DNA.
Ralph Lauren Purple Label
Ralph Lauren leaned into his own mythology with a wardrobe that transit across coastlines and continents. The first chapter embraced breezy naval prep— double-breasted blazers, pleated linen shorts, crest-adorned knits, and a standout white terry boating jacket with navy piping. The second half swerved into safari-inspired wear, think basketweave polos and utility jackets layered over sand-hued shirts. Accessories like tobacco-toned bags, fisherman sandals, and pilot watches added worldly practicality.
PDF brought raw energy to Milan with Free-dom, a show began in metaphorical imprisonment and exploded into creative liberation. Models in striped prison uniforms broke free from a fenced cage, setting the tone for a lineup of vinyl sets, oversized tanks, sagging trousers, and chunky sneakers—rooted in subcultural chaos. Details like a wrestling belt and tilted baseball caps reinforced the narrative of struggle and hard-won freedom. In a season of soft restraint, PDF’s defiant, visceral presentation was a welcoming rupture.
Pronounce
This season, Chinese designer duo Yushan Li and Jun Zhou looked to the skies—specifically the elegance and geometry of traditional Chinese kites. Their vision took shape in flowy silhouettes and fabrics that seemed to hover mid-air. Tailoring danced between structure and airiness: viscose polos with tie collars, parachute-like outerwear, and sheer layered suits. A standout palette of lime, tan, stormy grey, and dusty pink evoked the a summer sky in transition. The biggest reveal, however, was their in-house footwear debut, featuring a soft-square leather lace-up and wide buckle style in painterly shades like deep cyan and purple. This collection felt like a turning point for Pronounce, balancing strong conceptual with wearability.
Dolce & Gabbana
Cheekily titled Pyjama Boys, Dolce & Gabbana’s SS26 collection reimagined loungewear as the new language of masculine confidence. Models walked down Viale Piave in striped robes, crinkled cotton sets, and pastel-hued tailoring that whispered ease while looking impossibly polished. Stripes dominated— wide, narrow and in gelato shades— lending a graphic rhythm to a lazy, sun-drenched summer. Plush slippers replaced hard-soled shoes, while brooches and crystal embroidery twinkled beneath open collars. In the finale, models flooded Viale Piave in a moment that merged high fashion with irreverence. This was Italian glamour—undone but never careless.
Brioni
Inside the opulent Palazzo Stampa Soncino, Brioni reminded us what real tailoring looks like. Master artisans stitched buttonholes by hand, built collars on-site, and showcased superfine four-ply wools, solaro silks, and enzyme-treated tuxedos. Creative director Norbert Stumpfl reimagined the traditional suit with drawstring trousers, monochrome ensembles and unlined suede jackets, bridging heritage with modern sensibilities. Closing the presentation was a jacket hand-beaded in 24k gold, depicting an aerial map of Brioni’s Penne atelier— a tribute to the house’s sartorial roots.
Tod’s
Set between a pool and a tennis court, Tod’s SS26 Gommino Club celebrated its iconic brand symbol: the Gommino driving shoes. Inspired by the spirit of villeggiatura (an intrinsic Italian concept of a prolonged stay in a single place the likes of seaside resort or country villa), the collection featured relaxed blazers, unstructured trousers and laid-back silhouettes crafted in pashmy, linen, suede and canvas. A Josef Albers-inspired palette and striped shirts echoed the calm of Italian resort life. The Gommino loafer was updated as sneakers, lending a hint of sportiness. Paired with the Di Bag Folio tote and a trekking-style backpack, the collection strikes a balance between Italian sophistication with vacation-ready ease.
Prada
Prada’s SS26 menswear show felt like a reset, with an intentional move towards simplicity and clarity. Held in the usual, but stripped-down Fondazione Prada space with only birdsong and shaggy floral rugs, the atmosphere reflected what Miuccia Prada called “a change in spirit,” rejecting “useless complicated ideas.” The collection echoed that sentiment: long coats, fitted tracksuits, and boat-neck knits in signature Prada colorways. The standout piece was the bloomer-style short, elasticated and pocketed, ready to transit from beach to city. Rattan straw hats with centrifuge fringe added a surreal flair. It was Prada at its best: intelligent, edited and subversively serene.
Dunhill
Dunhill’s SS26 show opened with a silver Weimaraner and two borzois leading the way— flawlessly groomed, like their human counterparts. The collection that followed riffed on the British duality: aristocratic polish meets rock ‘n’ roll cool. Classic suits and madras blazers mingled with floral waistcoats and tonal Japanese denim. Accessories like gloves, tinted glasses and baseball caps added a rebellious twist. As creative director Simon Holloway puts it, “Britain’s the only place where royalty and rebels wear the same suit.”
Giorgio Armani
Though Mr. Armani was absent this season, his presence was unmistakable in every detail of the SS26 show. As the house approached its 50th anniversary, his vision remains intact. The show opened with a mirrored couple in slouched, sea-washed grey suits—channeling the cinematic cool that cemented Armani as a household name. Across a whopping 116 looks, silhouettes drifted between structure and fluidity, punctuated by rich textures like garden-bright violets inspired by Pantelleria, Armani’s long-time island retreat. Steadfast in its aesthetic, the collection was a quiet reminder that his suits still speak with timeless confidence.
