Trip down memory lane: The last time I was in Milan was on February 23^rd, 2020. There was a Hugo Boss show in the morning and Giorgio Armani had canceled his afternoon show due to Covid and then we basically all fled to the airport. I remember I paid more than Euro 600 for a simple Vueling ticket Milan-Paris. So nearly one year later, I am sitting in front of my computer in Berlin and Paris to follow the men’s shows as live streams. It’s easy, it’s safe, but let’s hope it ends soon. Fashion needs the circus back.

Ermenegildo Zegna

What makes this one of the most important men’s wear shows right now is the fact that Zegna is steeped in tailoring tradition, which is frankly speaking a thing of yesterday. Historical, habitual. But since Alessandro Sartori has taken over he is doing more than any other designer to reinvent the tradition by shaping clothes for new human experiences. He has been at the forefront of fusing sportswear and suits. For his new show, outdoor and indoor collided to balance the fine line between comfort and sharpness.

His new construction in suits where only the fabric and couture approach show made for a new code of deconstructed tailoring. Using cashmere jersey, all the better.

Sartori is naturally evolving the digital format. From last season’s runway show filmed as such, he lets his diverse cast of characters segue into different scenarios of real life like a dance scene breaking with the traditional format. His models walked through the new architectural Milan from Piazza Olivetti to the Zegna HQ on via Savona.

Sartori seemed to have the foresight for the working at home style. He has been introducing a belted tailored jacket for several seasons now, which never convinced us, but here it came as a natural expression of home office.

Prada

Let’s say it right away. The Prada men’s collection looked like a Raf Simons show. After women’s his impact is clear on Prada. Distorted graphic design prints, turtlenecks under polo necks, rolled up sleeves, the focus on the body without showing skin, models sporting his own, new hair do and giant tunic sweaters that Raf wears himself.

“I don’t like pinstripes at all,” admitted Miuccia Prada in the post show press conference, which has become the paradigm of how Zoom technology should be used. Bravo to Prada for that. Yet the first look was exactly that, a pinstriped single-breasted suit with rolled up sleeves.

There was a clever play with the spacing of the giant white buttons on coats and the Prada triangle looked cool on mittens, a beloved Simons totem. Rolling up sleeves and exposing long gloves has been in his design repertoire for decades now. Giant oversized bomber jackets in Prada nylon and Simons sherbet colors were stand out here. The lapel was shaven on coats creating a new look. It was clear that the duo had been working hard.

But while a Prada collection generally feels more natural, this was more conceptual. For Signora Prada to give the long leash is a surprise move and making for an interesting moment in her career while her son Lorenzo has radically changed the influential Prada advertising campaigns. She stressed in the press conference: “Everybody should follow themselves.” So Raf and Lorenzo are allowed to.

It’s fresh, it’s new and it’s the biggest deal in the digital sphere at the moment as the stream felt exciting and fresh, i.e. models dancing in separate rooms. Fashion needed this punch.

Tod’s

There are designers who have incredible style themselves and then make good men’s collections. Stefano Pilati being the Pontius of that group especially in his Yves Saint Laurent days but may we add Pier Paolo Piccioli or Walter Chiapponi.

Since he has taken over at Tod’s he has immediately left a mark with his 70’s movie star inspired silhouettes. Chiapponi wears eccentric, soulful clothes himself, a jacket with mega big lapel for example, and offers this in his Tod’s collections. When before Tod’s men’s was right and good, now it’s adding a fashion touch to the classics. This time Chiapponi went for a country gent with tactile or smooth fabrications in tweeds, cashmere or velvet. Hard to explain, it just looks good.