Three cities down, and one to go. But, before we head into the longest week of the fashion season in Paris, Milan Fashion Week brought a whirlwind of creative director debuts, A-list runway appearances, and viral fashion moments to the SS26 season. Alongside Demna’s big Gucci debut (which included a star-studded short film directed by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn), there was Louise Trotter’s first show at Bottega Veneta, and Simone Bellotti’s premiere at Jil Sander. Elsewhere, Sunnei sold off its creative directors during a live fashion auction, The Devil Wears Prada legends Miranda Priestly and Nigel sat front row at Dolce & Gabbana, and Fendi delivered a giant, pixelated fantasy-scape of a show, which would turn out to be Silvia Venturini Fendi’s last for the brand.

At other points on the MFW runway, MM6 Maison Margiela reinvented classic styles of suiting and trench coats for fashion’s next-gen, Blumarine revealed a dark and romantic collection inspired by Dracula, and the latest offering of bags at Fendi marked a brand new era of joy within luxury fashion. Scroll down below to catch up on all the best bits from the week.

FENDI

Silvia may be on her way out, but, luckily for us, the party isn’t over at Fendi. After last season’s Sean Paul-soundtracked 100th anniversary show which paid homage to the fashion house’s distinctive history with references from the 1920s to today, the Roman label is back for another celebration – this time, celebrating craftsmanship with an all-star show. Just walking into the showspace, guests were greeted with a psychedelic kaleidoscope of colour from industrial designer Marc Newson’s immersive, quilt-inspired set design. “I started to think about craft and the skills, the things which Fendi are famous for, the savoir-faire that they’re known for,” said Newson, explaining that he decided to scale-up a quilt to giant proportions, transforming the blankets’ square boxes into a pixelated, walkable landscape.

On the runway, designer and outgoing artistic director Silvia Venturini Fendi leaned into the fantasy,​ penning a love letter to the softness and romance within fashion via colourful, energetic looks that reflected on Fendi’s 100-year-old archive. “The starting point was the print of the flowers, but the idea also of colours – more than colours I would say shades because to me shades are more important than anything else,” the designer explained. “I wanted this collection to be gentle, kind, and soft.” 

Showing off the looks was an all-star cast of models and A-list icons. Dazed cover star Alex Consani was dressed in a brown fur coat cut into a floral pattern, layered over a sheer floral midi skirt, Paloma Elsesser modelled a sunshine yellow dress pulled tight to the skin with drawstrings at the chest and thighs, and Gabbriette walked in a floral two-piece lace skirt set. Closing the show, Anok Yai walked the runway in a coral organza dress described by Silvia herself as “an ode to lightness and to romance”.

Elsewhere, Fendi’s signature craftsmanship and artistry was celebrated with its brand-new selection of handbags – from colourful, woven weekender bags that mimicked the showspace’s tiled floorings to the little Collier bag, fit with a chunky, beaded necklace for straps and the Fendi Way bag, with an interior stuffed with aqua sequins as a hidden secret for its wearers’ eyes only. Who said that good craftsmanship can’t spark joy too? 

DOLCE & GABBANA 

Just in case you thought the fake Met Ball was the last of it, just minutes before Dolce & Gabbana’s SS26 runway show kicked off, Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci – dressed up as their Miranda Priestly and Nigel counterparts (of course) – entered the showspace, seemingly filming new scenes for The Devil Wears Prada 2. While the audience erupted in cheers – as well as whispers of Andy Sach’s iconic, “How do you spell Gabbana?” line. The duo was promptly seated in the front row, almost directly across the catwalk from IRL Miranda Priestly, Anna Wintour.

Soundtracked by Italian singer Patty Pravo, the collection showcased high-and-low takes on the Italian glamour that the label is known for – from pyjama sets covered in crystals and worn open over lace lingerie to Madonna-esque underbust corsets laid over white tank tops, boxy suit jackets paired with thigh-high stiletto boots, and long leopard print jackets worn with tiny cotton shorts. Looks were topped off with leather handbags, big sunglasses, and dainty gold jewellery, as if the models slipped their jackets and accessories over pyjama sets before leaving the house. “Opposites meet and intertwine: the feminine embraces the masculine, tailoring softens into casual ease, and heritage opens to the pulse of the present,” the fashion house wrote on Instagram. “The essence of Dolce and Gabbana lies in the merging of different worlds.” 

MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

MM6 gathered up the fashion crowd on the streets of Milan this season, painting a white runway on the pavement outside its newly renovated flagship store to present its SS26 offering. “On the street, anything can happen, and impromptu is the law,” MM6 wrote on Instagram after the show. Turns out, this season’s runway was devoted to subverting classic shapes, silhouettes, and pieces within fashion – echoing the label's minimalistic, deconstruct-to-reconstruct code. 

Models – whose eyes, as per usual MM6 shows, were shielded by thick, wrap-around sunglasses – walked down the runway in trenches, cardigans, and dresses shredded from the chest-up and hung from the shoulders with transparent mesh fabric. Beige blazers were paired with neon 80s-style bum-bags, strapped across the waist and slipped under trenches to resemble cumberbunds. Cut knee-length skirts revealed their inner linings and stiff, puff-shoulder black jackets, were zipped up to the chin like garment bags. Meanwhile, leather was a staple of the collection, topping off look after look in the form of cushiony, worn-out blazers and bombers. “Influenced by archetypal clothing from diverse contexts, washed leather re-emerges soft and supple in an unexpected range of textures,” MM6 explained, emphasising this season’s twist on fashion staples as we know them.

SUNNEI 

“Sell-out” is a term thrown around a lot within fashion, sizing up brands that give away their creativity for sales or views online. But this season, Italian label SUNNEI embraced the insult for its latest (and perhaps most outrageous) fashion spectacle to date. In case you’ve forgotten, over the years Sunnei’s creative directors Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina have gained a reputation for its over-the-top runway formats during MFW, from models emerging out of the audience during SS23 to the label handing out numbered paddles for its audience members to judge runway looks for SS24. For AW24, models traipsed around the showspace while their inner monologues were projected to guests – a fun, and tongue-in-cheek commentary on who gets a voice within the fashion industry – and last year, for SS25, Sunnei sent out a cast entirely made up of older models to celebrate its tenth anniversary as a brand.

Now for SS26 – which, shortly after the show, was announced as Rizzo and Messina’s final season at the label – Sunnei teamed up with Christie’s to stage a real-life auction with “fashion dollars” as a currency, handed out to each guest via instructional scratch-off cards. The items for sale? The Sunnei brand “essence” and the label’s creative directors themselves, selling for 112 million and 95 million fashion dollars, respectively. “Fashion is finance, creativity is for sale,” read the SS26 show notes, explaining that the show was aimed to disrupt this system. “Today’s industry is driven by hidden yet powerful dynamics.”

As the Christie’s auctioneer rattled through different guests' offers, models of all ages acted as theatrical phone operators – whispering into iPhones pressed up against their faces, signalling offers towards the podium, or pencilling calculations into leather-bound notebooks. And, as for the clothes (which were mostly visible from the waist-up in the models’ seating): the creative directors’ last season saw Sunnei’s signature eccentric style and colours slightly pared-back for the auction, with acid green polos unbuttoned and layered under dark green leather blazers, white gowns draped over its model’s shoulders, and sheer striped mesh collared shirts in bright blue and paired with light-wash jeans. As for the accessories, looks came topped with an assortment of thick cat-eye glasses, crystal earrings and metal bolo ties.

BLUMARINE

While creative director debuts took over Milan Fashion Week this season, Blumarine’s David Koma was gearing up for his sophomore show at the label. Last season, the whole fashion crowd gathered around to watch Koma’s debut at the Gen Z-beloved Italian label. In the end, the collection revealed a darker, edgier side to the house’s signature Y2K designs, which more often than not have included items like backless butterfly tops, ultra-low rise jeans, and slinky Barbie pink dresses – described by former creative director Nicolas Bragnino as “dirty” and “bitchy”. 

This time around, Koma solidified the brand’s new direction. Imagining a new version of Dracula where the vampire prepares for his daughter’s wedding in Italy, this season’s collection – titled Goth Romance – saw a cast of models walk the runway in an offering of romantic, witchy looks that called on last season’s bohemian, 70s-inspired interpretation of the brand. On the runway, Blumarine’s signature butterfly motif was traded out for a silver dragonfly metal top that was chained across model Colin Jones’s chest, tiny moth-like embroidery swarmed across sheer, floor length dresses and spider pendants were clipped on the end of strappy black heels. Meanwhile, mini-dresses were swapped for sweeping, lace-covered gowns with matching capes; ruffled, torn-up suiting was slung low across the waist and layered-up with handfuls of cross necklaces; and mesh tops were tied-up and ruffled from models’ necks. Perhaps Gen Z’s next uniform will look a little less Paris Hilton and a little more Stevie Nicks? We’re here for it.