MILAN MENSWEAR FASHION WEEK SS 2024:
PRADA, EMPORIO ARMANI,
DOLCE & GABBANA, GUCCI, VALENTINO and MSGM

by Cecile Paul · Published June 27, 2023 · Updated January 24, 2024

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It’s Blooming Spring in Milan! With New Season Sexy Shorts, Debonair Double Denim and Heavenly Blossoms. Oh, and Jumpsuits to put a Fresh Spring in your Step.

Luxe pyjama-style tailoring. At Emporio Armani
Image Credit Milan Fashion Week and Vogue

THE TRENDS

Milan Menswear Fashion Week delivered the goods – and more, with the full bevy of stalwarts out there in full force doing what they do best. A ‘new’ masculinity has emerged – a confident, fluid, sexy set of menswear offerings that don’t shy away from delving into the realms of what’s considered traditional womenswear: we saw flimsy lace co-ords at Dolce & Gabbana, flowers – embellished, embroidered, knitted, printed and 3-D at Prada, Dolce & Gabbana, Emporio Armani and Valentino, cute shorts (or skirts/skorts) in the place of traditional trousers in many collections, hourglass silhouettes at Prada and jumpsuits at Armani. Other trends included a throwback to seventies double denim, neutral colour palettes and transparency in surface fabrics and knits – which worked a treat at Emporio Armani and Dolce & Gabbana. Another cute trend we spotted was the tucking of jackets into shorts and trousers (for which a slim waistline is definitely a must!). Lastly, a trend that’s been lingering since the pandemic is luxe pyjama-style tailoring – those super elegant silk and satin drawstring trousers are simply divine!

We invite you to join us on a little fashion adventure and marvel in these brand-new offerings from the stables of the Italian legends.

PRADA

So – Miuccia Prada and co-creative director Raf Simons rocked us to our core from the outset: no sooner have we clocked the transparent walls of slime cascading from the liquid walls for Prada’s SS 2024 Menswear collection than “I Want To Fuck You Like An Animal” with all its (porno)graphic lyrics came our way over the speakers. All the while models in shoulder-padded, wide-shouldered jackets, schoolboy shorts, simplistic patent leather plimsolls – pink, pistachio, russet and black – and cute carry-alls navigated their way around the runway, dodging walls and piles of Alien-esque gunk and slime.

The tailoring was Prada-impeccable and the silhouettes had a decidedly cinched-in-the-waist 1940s feel about them; at the same time ensembles were so perfectly balanced in shape and feel, so comfy and relaxed-looking that one could easily imagine yourself moving, dancing and jumping in these. (In fact, when the first Hawaiian floral shirt with fringing appeared, it made the point that these are also pretty perfect for holidaying!)

Faux fur gilets covered in tiny pockets, slacks with heavy pleats around the waistline, the finest of knits and pastel coats rubbed shoulders with multi-pocketed shirts complete with 3-D flowers, exaggerated cuffs and denim jackets tucked into the waists of trousers … pure, covetable perfection! This is a Spring collection that oozes sensuality – from the hourglass silhouettes to the shades – pistachio, lavender, beige, grey, black, red, purple and emerald in all their complementary splendour – to the exquisite tactile embellishments.

Watch Prada’s show here:

https://milanofashionweek.cameramoda.it/it/brand/11746

Exaggerated cuffs and nipped waistline. At Prada

Jacket tucked in! At Prada

3-D flowers. At Prada

Safari-style pockets. At Prada

A shirt that birthed into a coat. At Prada

The new style jacket. At Prada

It’s blooming Spring! At Prada

GUCCI

The house of Gucci made good use of the opportunity at SS 2024 in Milan to pay homage to previous and glorious decades of the brand – and in particular to celebrate its famous ‘Horsebit’ signature loafer with its metal bridle that Aldo Gucci first introduced in 1953 – this year 70 years old! All this while waiting for their newly appointed creative director Sabato De Sarno to join the group in September. This collection gives us a trip down memory lane of the house’s ‘classic men’s wardrobe’ through the decades, tipping its hat to classic tailoring as well as sportswear. We saw impeccably tailored woollen suits complete with Tom Ford-esqe aviators, 1970s bootcut trousers, ‘disco-ball’ suits, ‘leather ‘boxing’ shorts, logo-ed double denim and slim-cut three-piece suits like the one in pillar box red (afterthought … wonder why they haven’t added a red Horsebit patent leather loafer to this ensemble?)

Aviators and a plaid wool suit. At Gucci

Leather boxing shorts. At Gucci

Sportwear with the Gucci touch. At Gucci

Logo-ed double denim. At Gucci

Disco-ball suit! At Gucci

Red on red on red. At Gucci

VALENTINO

Creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli said of this collection that’s all about masculine identity and how it’s depicted in fashion, “The signifiers of power and success have so far defined the idea of masculinity, but I believe that true power and strength are about the freedom to show your own fragility and sensitivity.” In parallel with what we’ve seen from a number of other brands’ offerings in Milan this season, the concept of masculinity has been carefully reformulated and has evolved in umpteen ‘softer’ and more gentle renditions. We saw, for example, shorts and skirts instead of traditional men’s trousers, we saw (as at Prada, Gucci, Emporio Armani and a few others) the use of floral design, fragile and transparent fabrics and shades like shocking pink, turquoise and cobalt blue. As ever, the tailoring is impeccable, the colour blocking (maroon and turquoise, salmon and russet, for example) inspired and there are delicious double denim and airy jumpsuits of note, to boot!

A long-stemmed russet rose embellishment. At Valentino

Double denim. At Valentino

Salmon and russet work well together. At Valentino

A pencil skirt does the job. At Valentino

Oversized blooms. At Valentino

Embroidered flowers on this cobalt coat. At Valentino

What inspired shades! At Valentino

Hot pink gets hotter. At Valentino

A virginal white jumpsuit. At Valentino

EMPORIO ARMANI

This collection oozes Oriental sensuality – liquid silk and satin shirts, slinky drop-shouldered cowl neck blouses, fragile transparent knits with embroidered emblems, floaty silk drawstring trousers, sheer strappy jackets and softest butter-coloured leather jackets. This is an uber-elegant collection, and one with Armani’s beloved signature touches evident in every detail. It’s also a very sexy offering – the collection notes make reference to ‘liquid lines that barely touch the muscles’. There are many ensembles that verge between sports and loungewear, all wonderfully luxurious and elegant, yet relaxed and comfortable. The shades are equally well-behaved and wonderfully restrained: black mushroom, camel, grey and white – that’s it. And it’s absolutely magical in its pure simplicity and extraordinary luxe.

Watch Emporio Armani’s show here:

https://milanofashionweek.cameramoda.it/it/brand/11767

Liquid luxe. At Emporio Armani

Flower inserts. At Emporio Armani

Elegant camel and black. At Emporio Armani

A transparent knit with flower overlays. At Emporio Armani

Luxe pyjama-style trousers. At Emporio Armani

Butter-soft nappa leather. At Emporio Armani

An elegant jumpsuit in mushroom. At Emporio Armani

Strappy and transparent! At Emporio Armani

Perforated luxe. At Emporio Armani

A tasselled necklace makes a statement. At Emporio Armani

DOLCE & GABBANA

Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s tribute to honour the key elements of the brand, those silhouettes – in both men’s and womenswear – that we’ve come to know and love since the 1980s: the transparency, the wraparound scarf-tops, the Chantilly lace, the rosaries … In keeping with the trends of the season, we saw shorts, 3-D flower embellishments, pyjama-style tailoring and the use of a deliberately narrow palette of neutrals – black, camel, sand and white. Dolce & Gabbana are known for their ultra-sexy shapes and fabrics, but this season just felt like there was an extra element of sensuality – a case in point are the extraordinary exquisite lace co-ords in the collection, in particular the champagne-coloured ensemble with its scalloped-edged lace shorts and luxuriously long sleeves. Divine perfection?

Watch Dolce & Gabbana’s show here:

https://milanofashionweek.cameramoda.it/it/brand/11764

Sheer luxe and transparency, embellished with 3-D flowers. At Dolce & Gabbana

The ultimate lace co-ord in champagne. At Dolce & Gabbana

It’s blooming marvellous! At Dolce & Gabbana

A transparent wrap top coiling around the body. At Dolce & Gabbana

Shorts and a boxy jacket. At Dolce & Gabbana

Cargo pants in silk. At Dolce & Gabbana

Close-cut pants. At Dolce & Gabbana

A white lace wrap. At Dolce & Gabbana

Parachute silk in white. At Dolce & Gabbana

A dotty top with super long sleeves. At Dolce & Gabbana

An elegant cape. At Dolce & Gabbana

More flowers! At Dolce & Gabbana

Beige and white work well together. At Dolce & Gabbana

MSGM

Creative director Massimo Giorgetti went on a trip to Africa (Tanzania) and this SS 2024 collection called ‘Sogno Off Road’ is a celebration of all things inspired by the African continent – from the West-African tie-dye motifs to the digital prints of overland 4X4s and nights around the campfire. The African sun and landscape are mirrored in the ochre, orange, rust, sand and green shades of the collection, the Atlantic Ocean in the blues used. Even the double denim ensembles are faded and yellow-imbued, like a distant landscape. Cargo shorts with large pockets, khaki slacks, T-shirts with naïve prints an coats in camouflage fabric continue the theme. Giorgetti’s collection most certainly makes one yearn for, in his own words, the “dawn of a new day’!

Watch the MSGM show here:

https://milanofashionweek.cameramoda.it/it/brand/11763