Is Milan Fashion Week a reflection of the creative leadership crisis in fashion?

How much change is too much change? It is a question that hung over Milan Men’s Fashion Week. At the end of a mere three day calendar, with once milan-loyal heavy-weight brands missing, the cities offerings not only felt sparse but subdued.

Much of the turbulence is not Milan’s fault, per se. The past year has brought relentless transformation across the fashion industry, changes that have disproportionately affected some of the city’s usual headliners. Fendi, although reportedly in talks with New York-based designer Willy Chavarria, has yet to announce a new creative director and Gucci, while awaiting the arrival of Demna Gvasalia, has shifted to a co-ed show on the women’s calendar. JW Anderson on the other hand is on hold as Jonathan Anderson prepares to take his first bow at Dior. Meanwhile, Versace is undergoing changes following its acquisition by Prada – one of the few flagship brands still holding the line in Milan this season.

This is not to say none of the 15 physical shows, 41 presentations and 17 events were noteworthy. There were tentpole shows from Prada and Giorgio Armani and some newcomers – especially from across the pond – that have chosen to make the city their home for SS26.

Can new additions save Milan Fashion Week?

Perhaps the first show of the season is a sign of where Milan should be headed, positioning itself as an incubator for young talent much like the Paris and London previously have. The weekends activities commenced with a show by 2023 LVMH Prize Setchu. After appearing in January as the guest designer at the menswear trade fair Pitti Uomo, designer Satoshi Kuwata brought his vision – and with it, a breath of fresh air – to Milan.

On the runway, the brand seamlessly fused immaculate tailoring with Japanese functionality and origami-inspired folds. Kuwata’s time at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, where he participated in an initiative with LVMH Métiers d’Art, added further dimension to the collection. So did memories of fishing trips and a touch of Y2K nostalgia. The latter took form in low-slung jeans and cargo pants, while his travels in Zimbabwe led to collaborations with local artisans from the Batoka tribe, resulting in palm-woven skirts and hats.

Setchu was not the only former Pitti guest designer to remain loyal to Italy. Luca Magliano, a native of Bologna, also stayed close to home. However, this season, the designer chose to forgo a traditional runway presentation. Instead, he staged what he described as a “sabbatical show” in the form of a short film, screened at a local cinema.

The concept of the sabbatical not only informed the show’s format but also the collection itself. “The sabbatical needs to manifest in the design through elements of free camping: various technicalities contaminate the clothes, creating mutating silhouettes – tents for restless bodies,” the designer said in a press release.

That ethos came through clearly in the use of ropes and hooks in place of buttons, a coat crafted from mélange cotton voile that could easily be mistaken for classic grisaille, and a flag-dress rendered in flat trompe l’oeil surfaces. But the collection wasn’t solely rooted in campgrounds or retro-futurism. Some pieces—particularly those using loosely woven fabrics—offered a nod to the cinema setting and paid homage to 1950s noir. Classic three-button jackets, tuxedos, gilets and shirts completed the tribute.

While many brands have eschewed Milan this season it seems the italian city is current still in high demand with british brand. Paul Smith, another previous Pitti Guest Designer, skipped his usual spot on the Paris Fashion Week Calendar and came to Italy. It was Smiths first-ever show in Milan and travelling seemed to his mind, not just in terms of show location but also when it came to the collection.

The collection „charts a course through Paul’s own personal history of travel, with colours, prints and textures conjuring memories from his many voyages“, read the press release. One book in particular, one of Cairo street photography which was said to have caught the designers attention early on during the design phase, was heavily referenced in the collection, where, the predictably colourful patterns and prints met silhouettes that recalled tailoring of the 1950s, with cropped jackets, high-waisted trousers and plenty of shirts with their sleeves rolled up.

Accessories extended this narrative of travel and memory. Vintage-style hotel room key fobs, crafted from the same acetate used in the brand’s Italian-made eyewear, appeared alongside collectible metal charms – shells, coins and peace symbols – that adorned leather belts, jewelry, berets and even tailoring.

Smith wasn’t the only Brit to choose Milan as his creative home this season—Vivienne Westwood’s Andreas Kronthaler did as well, presenting the brand’s first standalone menswear collection since 2017. The label appears to be investing in lines beyond its main collection—having debuted its first bridal offering at Barcelona Bridal Week in May—though neither venture has garnered the attention one might expect.

Perhaps that’s because, rather than staging a grand return to the runway, Kronthaler chose a more intimate approach for Spring/Summer 2026. The show, titled Colazione con Andreas—literally “Breakfast with Andreas” – was held at Bar Rivoli, a traditional Milanese hotspot. The collection itself offered a dandyish flair with a subtle punk twist, subverting the archetype of the granny – or more specifically, the ‘sciura’: Milan’s dead-chic elderly woman from the city center.

The last one standing?

Despite the introduction of new names and a few fresh perspectives on the calendar, it would be remiss not to acknowledge the reality: Milan was carried by two heavyweights – and even then, it was the physical absence of one that generated the most headlines.

For the first time in his illustrious career, Giorgio Armani was not present at his own show. Instead, his longtime menswear lieutenant, Leo Dell’Orco, took the final bow at the Spring/Summer 2026 presentation of the house that bears Armani’s name. The 91-year-old designer, reportedly recovering from a hospital stay, was nonetheless felt, both literally and symbolically.

Not only did a rumor circulate that the show’s abrupt start – prompting editors and guests to sprint to their seats – was triggered by a phone call from Armani himself inquiring why proceedings had yet to begin, but more importantly, his presence was unmistakable in the collection.

The presentation was monumental, particularly in scale: more than 100 looks, many rendered in the house’s signature palette of greys, greiges, and beiges, punctuated with soft lilacs and creams. The collection leaned heavily on tailoring—the kind Armani is best known for: relaxed yet razor-sharp, meticulously constructed. Some ensembles echoed the wardrobe he once created for American Gigolo, others carried the breezy elegance of a Mediterranean holiday.

At Prada, both co-creative directors—Raf Simons and Miuccia Prada—were present for the Spring/Summer 2026 show. But only a few hours after the collection made its way down the runway, the Prada Group announced that its CEO, Gianfranco D’Attis, would be stepping down. According to a company statement, D’Attis will leave his position on June 30 due to “differences over the brand’s strategic direction.”

There was little sign of internal discord on the runway. Instead, the collection, titled A Change of Tone, made its intentions clear. It embraced a youthful spirit, most notably in ultra-short shorts that have already made waves across social media. And while the gangly, adolescent energy might have seemed more fitting for sister-brand Miu Miu, there was no mistaking the Prada signatures—only this time rendered in brighter hues and softer, more playful silhouettes rather than the brand’s typically severe, architectural lines.

“We wanted a change of tone,” Prada told a crowd of reporters after the show, according to Women’s Wear Daily. “The opposite of the aggression, power, and nastiness that runs the world now. So we try to make a little contribution with something genuine, nice.”

That gentler posture seemed pointed. News of a U.S. airstrike on Iran broke just hours before the show. Against a backdrop of global unrest, economic instability, and rising geopolitical anxiety, Prada’s latest offering did not retreat into naïveté. Instead, it offered a quiet resistance, an argument for gentleness in a time defined by force.

Still, no matter Prada’s offering – or that of any other brand – this season, if it’s remembered at all, will likely be remembered most for its absences.