The summer of fashion has officially begun as Fashion Weeks gear up in Milan for another season of mastery and craft. This year, shows run from June 20 to June 24, highlighting over 20 houses and designers. Many notable houses such as Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, and Armani will be debuting their Men’s Spring collections. Along with collections from renowned Italian houses, this year, Florence welcomes various international talents.
This season, designers are celebrating love, identity, and the tender rituals of life that ground us together. From dreams and journeys to intimacy and heritage, this season’s collections are nothing short of a spectacle. Garments transform from simple sheets of fabric to unfold stories and memories that last a lifetime.
Prada SS26 – Milan Fashion Week
Prada is shaking things up this year as CEO Gianfranco D’Attis will be leaving the brand on June 30th. Of course, for many, this marks the end of an era for the brand and the beginning of something new. The house also recently acquired Versace for $1.2 billion after Donatella Versace also stepped down. All these changes surely mean Prada will be recalibrating its brand to stay ahead of the rapidly changing landscape.
Coincidentally, this year’s Men’s Spring 2026 collection is titled “A Tone of Change.” Possibly suggesting that we will definitely see more changes from the brand in the upcoming seasons. The show took place in the cozy Deposito of Fondazione Prada. The scene is a blank and unadorned space of concrete floors, exposed beams, encompassed by a calm and still atmosphere. Its austere minimalism creates a space of opportunity and ingenuity where conceptual storytelling through art takes place.
This year, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons put on a show of “sensorial lightness,” as they prioritize feeling and freedom over form and rigidity. To play on the themes of light and dark, David Tobin’s score, “Light Fission,” haunts the scene as the designs float through the complex. Every note resonates rhythmically as each pulse throughout the empty space, filling it with emotion.
“A Tone of Change”
This year, the dynamic duo of Prada worked to redefine masculinity and dismantle traditional dress codes. A disruptive pairing of white poplin cropped shirts against high-cut shorts made us question men’s fashion. Track suits layered beneath trench coats and blazers sauntered down the runway. Suits tailored to perfection, mixed with others, that experimented with traditional lines and silhouettes. Layered pieces brought out the range of textiles, bringing a new name to each piece.
The runway blossoms as leather jackets, knit sweaters with edgy rivets, and glossy patent jackets take over. To accessorize, bright woven raffia hats, shaped like inverted flower pots, add a whimsical, yet light and childlike form. Simple sunglasses hang from the nose as utilitarian bags reinforce the rugged details of the raffia hats.
Dolce & Gabbana SS 2026 – Milan Fashion Week
One phrase to describe Dolce & Gabbana’s Spring 26 Menswear collection: Luxe loungewear. This season, the fashion house brings a whole new idea of relaxation to Milan Fashion Week. The collection, titled “Pyjama Boys,” takes easy-to-wear fashion and adds a touch of glamour as a sultry and submissive ode to comfort and sensuality.
Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabanna have reimagined menswear, pushing the boundaries by seamlessly melding comfort and style with Italian flair. The runway becomes a blank slate consisting of only light and space. A canvas that soon becomes painted as designs dance across it.
Milanese lights highlight each design as they saunter down the runway, capturing every slight movement. Soft silks and satins contrast with sharp and defined details, creating a harmonizing juxtaposition. Models move down the runway in layered shirts, tailored shorts, and regal robes, revealing the dialogue between leisure and luxury.
“Pyjama Boys”
A key silhouette came from the relaxed cotton jacquard and satin blend pajama sets. While sticking to the same motif consistently, the real contrast comes from the range of patterns. Vertical stripes and whimsical polka dots to fun leopard print parade down the runway, balancing nostalgia and provocation. Sihlouettes consisting of wide-leg trousers and kimono-sleeved jackets resonate the lived elegance of the collection. Soon enough, soft tailoring blends in the melody as boxer shorts peek from low-sling waistlines and deconstructed blazers challenge conventional ideas behind tailoring.
Casual evening looks shimmer as hand-applied crystal embroidery and floral beading glimmer atop flowing silk and cotton. Dazzling the collection came cameo brooches resting delicately on the fabric. Stunning rosary necklaces and vintage sunglasses hang from the nose and neck, adding a touch of sophistication. Oversized Sicily totes, Vittoria bags, and matching clutches softly echo the garments themselves, completing the look with a sense of languid opulence.
Leaning more into the understated luxury theme, the color palette paints the runway in cream, beige, light blue, olive, and espresso brown, punctuated by blush pink and sky blue. Pulling together the looks of leisure are terry-cloth slippers, fur-free slides, and minimalistic sneakers for that chic, yet comfortable style.
Emporio Armani 2026 Spring/Summer – Milan Fashion Week
This season’s show, while it was still buzzing with the usual Armani flair, is missing the man behind the magic as Giorgio Armani was absent due to health problems. While he may not have been there, the show still went on with a bang. Emporio Armani’s Spring 2026 Men’s collection, titled “Origins,” was nothing less than a spectacle to honor a story of wanderers.
The show opened with a desert-inspired EA7 performance, dazzling the crowd as technical fabrics and dystopic silhouettes emerged. An eerie soundtrack of howling wind played, filling the atmosphere. Soon enough, figures began emerging, traveling across the stage, encompassing the desert survival aesthetics. Sleek bodysuits, technical separates, and harness-strapped vests in sun-bleached greys and burnt yellow
The collection serves as a reminder of the Armani traveler as it is delicately composed of soulful elegance. With every second, the audience is reminded of the capacity of fashion and its ability to trace each step and emotion of a journey. It was a spiritual homecoming, where past and future were stitched into soft folds and whispered palettes.
“Origins”
The show, held in the Teatro Armani, mixed together the house’s DNA with modern concepts, reimagining styles for the modern wanderer. Delicate silhouettes covered in fluid tailoring with soft lapels reimagine the impeccable skills of the house. Draped scarves lose around the neck as intricate trouser lines with widened panels breeze through the journey. Tunic-style tops, caftans, and cape-back shirts move synonymously with every step, moving in motion, one with the model.
A sense of intimacy emerges as pajama silks and jersey knits intertwine into jackets and relaxed suits, resting against bare skin. Canvas duffels, woven satchels, and vintage suitcase-inspired clutches allow the Armani traveler to take the world with them. Atop their head sit wide-brimmed straw hats and lightweight turbans acting as visual anchors to the journey they embark on. Functionality is key during long journeys, and Giorgio Armani knows how to mend comfort and style. The Armani traveler stays moving in intricate woven slippers, ankle wrap sandals, and desert-hued loafers, keeping the journey alive.
Issey Miyake – Homme Plisse
While not as known as Fashion Week, Pitti Uomo is a grounding foundation of men’s fashion. The event was first introduced in 1972 by Giovanni Battista Giorgini, when he hosted the first “High Italian Fashion Show.” Pitti Uomo has since been a spotlight for Italian craftsmanship and is now the cultural barometer that brings together heritage and avant-garde excellence. Now, it is the prelude to Milan Men’s Fashion Week, anticipating the reveal of the season ahead.
This year, Pitti Uomo named Homme Plisse Issey Miyake as the guest of honor as a tribute to the brand’s global impact and its legacy of creative innovation. In doing so, it recognizes the brand’s blend of elegance, innovation, functionality, and artistic flair to redefine menswear.
Issey Miyake has marked the fashion industry as the renowned designer who explored the relationship between the body, movement, and fabric. Miyake’s designs and legacy are shaped by his philosophy, called “A Piece of Cloth.” This philosophy became the concept that transcended boundaries between the East and West. Highlighting the relationship between the body and the fabric that covers it.
On June 18th, Homme Plisse Issey Miyake presented its Spring 2026 collection at the Villa Medicea della Petraia in Florence. The collection itself draws inspiration from the natural landscapes that shape Italy. For the Issey Miyake team, the Earth around them paints their designs, as it dances upon the fabric, bringing out its beauty in a new form.
The scene is set as the villa’s garden unfolds geometric patterns, citrus groves, and a bronze statue of Venus by Giambologna. To the north, a romantic 19th-century park stretches across several hectares. The Issey Miyake team mends nature throughout the show, just as the Issey Miyake technique weaves clothing with the natural world.
“Amid Impasto of Horizons”
The runway show serves as a prelude to the exhibition “Amid Impasto of Horizons,” a sensory and tactile journey that reveals the hidden genesis behind each pleat, every quiet conception of a silhouette, and the very soul of the fabric. The designs mend the savoir-faire and joie de vivre that define the fluid sophistication of Issey Miyake.
A simple two-button jacket is transformed as simple pleats subtly define a new style of tailoring. An Issey Miyake suit features a collarless jacket and a long double-breasted jacket, with pleats lying throughout, signifying personal growth and transformation with each fold. Just as a simple paper transforms through origami, Issey Miyake transforms a simple piece of fabric, mending it to the body.
Functionality becomes a reality as paint brushes, paint, and art supplies sit delicately in pockets, demonstrating the practicality of the designs. The fabric, delicate linen, flows freely throughout the garden as subtle sheen linen adds a refreshing touch. The Issey Miyake team brings to life the concept of wearing a garment bag as hangers delicately lay upon garment bag silhouettes.
Moreover, the color palette draws inspiration from the natural Italian landscape and architecture that defines Pitti Uomo and Milan Fashion Week. Pastels of mint, peach pink, and buttery yellow mix into sunburnt brown, olive green, and mauve, reminiscent of the change of seasons. Dusky orange, sorbet shades, and sunset-drenched gradients and accents of apricot, periwinkle, and zucchini green contrast, painting the Italian landscapes. Up close, a detailed pattern reminiscent of paintbrush strokes lay on the fabric, representing the build of paint on brushes, resulting in an awe-inspiring melody of colors.
While Milan Men’s Fashion Week has come to an end, Paris holds a whole new world to discover, starting today! Soon enough, elegant mastery will take over as womenswear and haute couture defy our expectations later this season!
