Top Shows of Milan Fashion Week

My favorite fashion week of all international weeks are by far Milan. Not only is Italy very dear to me, but is also the motherland of some of my all-time favorite brands. Sorry, not brands. Brand. Prada.

I will not even try to not play favorites here bc these brands are not my children and I have never said I won’t be partial.

So, let’s start with one of the reasons I love fashion.

Prada

I literary screamed when I saw this outfit with the puffy blazer and the heavy boots. SCREAMED. And just to top it of one of my best friends sent me a message right after the show saying

“if you were and outfit you’d be this one”

and I got all worm and fuzzy inside. That would be me if I was and outfit.

This collection felt like all the best of Prada in one collection. Okay I might miss Miuccia’s amazing flower prints and feathers which I know she loves.

The level of this collection is also why I am a little afraid of what’s about the come with Raf Simons. Not that I don’t like Raf but I love Miuccia.

Moving on to the next big Italian

Bottega Veneta

One did not hate this collection either. Heavy coats, fringes, big boots (the greatest rubber boot since Céline with the é) and lot of glitz and glam.

Daniel Lee of Bottega Veneta can’t seem to do anything wrong right now. Where he points the fashion crowd walks.

It may seem crazy but looking at the way Daniel mixes effortlessness and cool but still manage to keep it easy and wearable, it’s not.

FENDI

Away goes the logo mania (well, the biggest mania at least)! It was only a matter of time and that time seems to be now. See you again in 15 years. Or you know what, since the fashion world is spinning as fast as it does, I give it 10 years.

I am a big Fendi fan too and although Karl Lagerfeld did an amazing job for 53 (!!!!!) years I love the work Silvia Fendi do. And even if the love story between Karl and Fendi did flame for over 50 year, who better to take on Fendi than an actual Fendi?

Silvia Venturini Fendi is btw the daughter of Anna Fendi, one of the five original (and quite famous no?) Fendi sisters: Paola, Anna, Franca, Carla and Alda.

Also, I will take any of the puffy shoulder pieces from this collection. So strong.

Marni

Not not a Marni fan. Ok I think we are starting to see a pattern here. I don’t hate Italian fashion.

But I don’t think it’s a coincidence I love the Italian fashion this much. Looking at the designers I’ve considered my favorite designers since I started get interested in fashion I see how they all have one thing in common: they design for the women. Not women in the way the French design for women; being these nonchalant, cool and a little unattainable creatures, but as women who live, work and don’t feel like taking those 20 min extra to get to work because of a super slim pencil skirt or worse, 12mm stilettos.

With that said, I appreciate French fashion too and there are so many exceptions to this of course, but the Italian fashion scene with Prada and Marni at the fore speaks to me in another way.

Jil Sander

The true underdog without being an underdog, Jil Sander. Don’t hate me, all Jil Sander fans.

It’s not a secret that Instagram has changed the way we look at fashion and what is considered good fashion. The louder the better has been a good recipe for efficiency and to break trough what the tech:ies call the noise.

That has put brands like Jil Sander who has a rich history of minimalism in a difficult position. A simple knit turtleneck tank has had a hard time competing with neon sequins and fluffy feather shoes in terms of likes on the gram.

But times are changing. Jil Sander has always been great, but let’s make good fashion great again, right?

Gucci

Kind of ironic to have these two after one another? Gucci is the essence of above instagram fashion. Not shaming that though. It is a cultural phenomenon of its time.

It’s always fun to see how Alessandro Michele (CD at Gucci) will do to beat himself every season. No mini dragons in sight this season, but he did manage to make the fashion crowd drop their jaws by bringing backstage front stage.

And the looks? Very Gucci.