30/09/2026

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Bringing feminine edge to luxury clothes

o Prada’s skirts take centre stage at Milan Fashion Week P RADA kicked off Milan Fashion Week recently by returning to the fashion mainstay of skirts, bringing a decidedly feminine edge to the luxury brand’s favourite garment. Grey and pleated or green and straight, with floral patterns on minis peeking out from under leather coats or worn simply paired with a bra: Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons reconstructed the skirt for the Spring-Summer 2027 runway show. Sensual, modern and at times ironic, skirts encrusted with flowers clinked as the models sashayed down the runway, nearly all of them in high heels, as Naomi Watts, Michelle Williams and Uma Thurman looked on from the front row. The show capped a busy week for the Milan brand, which inaugurated its new flagship store within the opulent 19th-century Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, where the brand was born in 1913. The brand has spread over eight floors, expanding beyond its boutiques, patisserie and contemporary art space to add a new underground gallery, a museum and vast private salons. The hope is to pamper its wealthiest clients when they shop in Milan – and provide a luxurious space to host events – all while strengthening the brand’s image. Even as the luxury sector is finding its footing after a rough patch due to macroeconomic tensions and the prolonged slowdown in the Chinese market, Prada posted in July better than-expected results for the first half of 2026, despite shrinking margins linked to the integration of Versace. Recently, Versace’s former artistic director turned brand ambassador

A model walks the runway during the Fendi collection show. – PICS FROM AFP Fendi glitz up runway in Italian glittery disco bling at fashion capital

A model walks the runway during the Prada collection show as part of women’s Spring/Summer 2027 Milan’s fashion week.

FENDI’S Maria Grazia Chiuri unveiled a wardrobe of sensual, sheer, 1970s-influenced looks recently at Milan Fashion Week, inspired by legendary performer Raffaella Carra. In her second Milan collection for the Rome-based brand, Chiuri alternated between nightclub and boudoir, with mostly black, sheer and airy dresses, plunging V necklines and backless cuts – along with fringes and feather boas for good measure. Models strutted in front of mirrors inspired by the 1974 Italian TV variety show known by scores of Italians in which Carra famously danced to Prisencolinensinainciusol , an iconic hit sung in English sounding gibberish by pop star Adriano Celentano. Carra, a singer, dancer, actress and television presenter known to generations of Italians for her blond hairdo, energetic dance moves and often exposed midriff, died in 2021. “Raffaella had a strong awareness of her body and a great sense of fashion, which had a big influence on us,” Chiuri said on Instagram of the collection. The day after Prada’s all-skirt collection and Diesel’s night-out silhouettes, the men at Fendi brought back tunics worn over jeans, while the women revived their sequined caps and furs, symbols of the LVMH-owned brand. Dozens of anti-fur protesters demonstrated outside Fendi’s show, where in the front row sat celebrities such as Monica Bellucci and Bang Chan, a member of the South Korean group Stray Kids. Recently, Sardinian designer Antonio Marras used an urban park for his runway, presenting military jackets and wide grey suits embroidered with flowers, nostalgic silk or tulle dresses and deconstructed parkas. The mixed Spring/Summer 2027 collection evokes “the day after the night, when you’re still wearing your party clothes and have sea salt on

Donatella Versace announced she would launch a new beauty and fashion venture with the Los Angeles-based ready-to-wear platform Revolve. Elsewhere in Milan earlier in the week, fashionistas awaited the debut show at Moschino by the duo of Frenchman Loris Messina and Italian Simone Rizzo, who won critical acclaim with their urban brand Sunnei. At Gucci, the provocateur Demna was due to present his second collection, while Fendi’s Maria Grazia Chiuri was also present for the second time. “2026 started with a fairly tough January. But fortunately we held up in the second quarter,” Italian fashion chamber head Carlo Capasa said earlier this month, calling it a “miracle” that the sector continued to stay afloat amid myriad challenges. The chamber expects the sector’s revenue to be down 1.6% for the year, with cosmetics on the rise and apparel picking up but footwear still struggling.

One hope is a change of faces, with “many houses having changed designers, which inevitably sparks interest in the fashion world,” LVMH Italy president Toni Belloni told AFP. New boutiques Steps from Prada’s new flagship, Vogue magazine was staging a show celebrating “Italian craftsmanship and creativity in the age of technology,” featuring La Scala’s star dancer Roberto Bolle and American model Alex Consani, among other celebrities. On the nearby Via Montenapoleone, Dior had also opened its new multi-storey boutique, complete with a restaurant headed by Michelin-starred chef Enrico Bartolini. Milan is of great importance to Dior’s parent company LVMH. The world’s number one luxury group has already unveiled in recent months new stores for its Louis Vuitton, Tiffany & Co and Bulgari brands. The group has also invested in its cashmere specialist Loro Piana, inaugurating recently a new factory in Ghemme at the foot of the Alps, in Piedmont, where nearly 200 employees produce sweaters and other knitwear. Frederic Arnault, the chief executive of Loro Piana and son of LVMH boss Bernard Arnault, said at the inauguration the new factory was part of the vertical integration of the company’s knitwear production. On the Milan runways, alongside staples such as Giorgio Armani and Roberto Cavalli, Portuguese brands Marques’Almeida and Miguel Vieira staged their first shows, as did Ecuadorian designer Neithan Ruiz. There was also be a farewell: Glenn Martens presented his final collection at Diesel, a brand he successfully moved upmarket over the past five years. Marten’s successor has not yet been named but the Belgian designer will remain within the Diesel group at Maison Martin Margiela.

your skin,” the designer explained in a statement. Marras’s models of all ages walked down a basketball court covered in rugs opposite his Milan workshop, before dancing around a wedding table. At Jil Sander, Simone Bellotti – now in his second year as creative director – continued to explore the house’s core codes: Understated and functional. Jackets were strict, grey, fitted with broad shoulders, yet long and comfortable. Beyond the deluge of grey, the palette was pastel, with beiges, yellows and blues. “The uniform becomes vulnerable. Vulnerability, in turn, becomes the uniform,” the brand said on Instagram. – AFP Chiuri greets the audience at the end of the Fendi collection show.

Skirts are all the rage at Prada’s fashion show. – PICS FROM AFP