A MILAN FILLED WITH DEBUTS

Demna’s mastery, squared. His debut at Gucci delivered a powerful jolt to Milan Fashion Week. As a key step in his relaunch strategy, and in a season where attention is spread thin, Gucci unveiled a full campaign last Monday, ahead of the week’s shows.

The Georgian designer is well known for turning the ordinary into the iconic, and for his irreverent approach to luxury. He chose to begin with an unexpected sequence: a lookbook titled La Famiglia and a short film, The Tiger, directed by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn. Instead of a runway show, Gucci introduced itself through a story, where fictional characters embodied the many facets of the house.

The film, starring Demi Moore as an eccentric matriarch alongside Elliot Page, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Alex Consani, served as the collection’s narrative. The pieces reflected Demna’s signature codes, but also a distinctly Gucci perspective. Burgundy silk dresses, faux furs cinched with gold chains, Gucci belts, Horsebit jeans, and disco-inflected sequin gowns became the protagonists of a dark comedy about power.

In parallel, the lookbook photographed by Catherine Opie arranged Gucci’s archive into 37 archetypes: La Principessa, L’Incazzata, L’Influencer, among others. An album of personas that reinstates the theatrical quality so central to Gucci’s history. The new Gucci emerges as an exploration of identity, an opening chapter with infinite possible directions.

The official runway debut is expected in February/March 2026.

Simone Bellotti’s first show for Jil Sander was symbolic, even emotional for those loyal to the brand: it opened with Guinevere Van Seenus, a 1990s muse of Jil Sander and ultimate example of the house’s founding aesthetic. Wearing a fitted navy sweater and a white pencil skirt, the first look placed us firmly at Jil Sander’s origins, but with a more sportive energy. Bellotti did engage nostalgia, yes, but through it he built a wholly personal language grounded in tactile, human design.

The collection played with unexpected cuts and intelligent textures: layered silks like sheets, floral plastic dresses over slips, compressed coats sculpting the torso, and a constant futuristic undertone. Between textile discipline and a sharper sensuality, skirts with hip slits, dresses with revealing cutouts, emerged a reflection on the body and intimacy.

The runway debut also marked the culmination of a path foreshadowed in July with Wanderlust, a musical and visual project filmed in Hamburg. There, Bellotti presented an EP by Bochum Welt, alongside a video exploring tension between order and chaos, rigor and freedom, concepts that mirror the brand’s DNA near its city of origin. With Wanderlust, the designer made clear that his vision for Jil Sander will be a cultural mosaic, interwoven with the emotions of music and imagery.

Chromatic highlights were clear and precise: Klein blue contrasted with reds, neon blush, and transparencies challenging minimal functionality. As the house itself clarified earlier this year: “Jil Sander is not a minimalist brand. It is a brand with substance.”

More than a simple relay after the Meier era, Bellotti pointed towards a Jil Sander where control gives way to experimentation and personal play. Minimalist? Yes, but more accurately: intentional.

Louise Trotter’s debut at Bottega Veneta arrived under immense anticipation. After steady momentum in recent years, Bottega Veneta had become a safe haven for lovers of fashion, design, and craftsmanship. Now, with Trotter, it welcomed its first female creative director in nearly sixty years of history. The British designer chose to reinforce the house’s most recognizable essence: the Intrecciato.

The house’s iconic leather technique celebrates its 50th anniversary, and in this collection it became the undisputed star. From a cape woven by hand over 4,000 hours to a look honoring Lauren Hutton in American Gigolo, with her classic trench and an evolution of the 1981 Lauren clutch, the collection unfolded as a contemporary retelling of Bottega Veneta’s heritage.

The show revealed a thoroughly tactile and visual universe: recycled fiberglass coats glowing from within, butterfly-pattern skirts in constant motion, parachute silk dresses floating lightly on the body. In Bottega Veneta, craftsmanship intertwined with material experimentation, balancing the house’s refined rigor with a playful exuberance. Colors shifted from a black-and-white opening, through moss greens and lilac accents, to a dazzling orange that seems set to define the season.

Trotter did not erase the immediate legacy of Matthieu Blazy, but she recast it under her own identity: sober tailoring, broad shoulders, generous proportions, and a renewed perspective on womenswear. Accessories like the relaunch of the Lauren bag, a transformed Cabat, or moulded clogs confirmed her vision of a directional, trend-defining look for spring. In her own words: “Bottega Veneta is really a workshop.” And this workshop became her laboratory of research, innovation, and tradition.

Five years into their collaboration, Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons have consolidated a shared voice now fully apparent. Their spring/summer 2026 collection marked an essentialist return to their dual vocation. Boilersuits reminiscent of Miuccia’s early 1980s shows, silk suspender skirts, cargo shirts, pieces stripped down to function, with little ornamentation. Miuccia continues her fascination with today’s media landscape, offering a critical distillation in response to the saturation of imagery and discourse engulfing fashion.

The show oscillated between two worlds. Like a line between two oceans, never fully merging: signs of traditional femininity breaking through the gaps of militarized silhouettes. Uniforms in navy, green, and gray were paired with leather gloves and strict cuts. On the other side, debutante gowns with scattered sequins, wrinkled hems, and improvised layers fought for attention. A dialogue between severity and excess, mirroring the contemporary condition: “Yes, we know what is happening.”

For Miuccia Prada, fashion is not escapist but an obligatory reflection of the present. A fluorescent orange mirrored floor heightened contrasts, silencing or amplifying colors across the runway. Accessories too wavered in duality: elongated-handle bauletto bags, cylindrical micro clutches, kitten heels beside flat sandals and silk sneakers. Everything unfolded like a laboratory of experimentation.

In a landscape dominated by digital homogeneity, as reflected in their most recent summer collection, Prada remains the flagship of difference. Its consistency lies not in repeating formulas, but in questioning them. Each season brings an evolving point of view. Within this experimentation, Miuccia and Raf build a wardrobe: eclectic, diverse, and reflective.