MILAN’S BEST MENS SHOWS

BY: Andy Shoulders

The men’s Fall/Winter 2021 collections at Milan Fashion Week showed a diverse array of complex design, many of which focused on evoking a feeling rather than a narrative, and after months of locked-down leisure fashion, that’s exactly what most of us needed.  Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

PRADA

This collection started with a single foundation garment:  a knit patterned long john.  In Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’ first co-creatively produced menswear show for Prada, the long john was used as, yes, a nod to the quarantined sartorial choice of many over the past year, but it was also meant as something more.  The two designers wanted it to represent something very close to the body – almost a representation of the body itself.  From this base (of which no two long johns were the same), architectural ensembles were built, whether it be with oversized parkas, boucle topcoats, or pinstripe suiting.  It’s this feeling of revealing the architecture of the body, while at the same time completely insulating it, that gave Prada’s latest men’s collection a sort of “fierce comfort” that truly stood out from the rest.

Prada, Mens Milan Fall/Winter 2021

ETRO

Invoking another familiar quarantine pastime – cleaning out one’s closet and reexamining – Etro Creative Director Kean Etro built his Mens Fall/Winter 2021 collection around the notion of rediscovering hidden treasures and mixing things up.  The show ranged from densely-layered ensembles (for example: an upcycled shirt under a knit cummerbund under a paisley suit…under a robed cashmere coat) to borderline clashing looks (think leopard-print pants paired with a paisley shirt/sweater set).  There were punches of vibrant color throughout that provided the trademark Etro accents, from “lime” to “blueberry,” that sort of acted as tasteful additives to an already-healthy smoothie.  The show ended with all of the models emerging into the sunshine on Via Tortona, and they seemed to resemble a group of friends who were happy to finally be able to put on every single nice thing they could.  After the year we’ve all had, who can blame them?

Etro Fall/Winter 2021, Milan Fashion Week Mens

FENDI

Fendi’s Fall/Winter 2021 menswear show stayed decidedly within the quarantine lockdown trenches, albeit with the uber-lux Fendi touch, of course.  This collection seemed tailor-made for the man who still can’t be bothered to venture too far beyond his front door, but wants to look fabulous when he does.  There was a heavy emphasis on “bed-to-bodega” attire, from silk jacquard dressing gowns to hooded shearlings.  Tactile fashion was basically the name of the game for this collection, with clothes that looked so comfortable you could sleep in them.  Moreover, many of the looks were reversible, allowing this season’s Fendi man to get twice the pleasure out of his newfound fashion therapy.  Even the accessories pointed towards this lifestyle – slipper-spats provided the perfect indoor/outdoor functionality for a quick walk to the mailbox.  Even if this notion of high-fashion leisurewear may be on its last legs, Fendi’s latest collection gives options to any man at whatever stage of reemergence he finds himself in.

Fendi, Mens Milan Fall/Winter 2021

HERMÉS

As we get more comfortable traversing further and further away from home, we get hit with a sense of movement that feels at once all too familiar and at the same time entirely foreign.  This is precisely what Hermès Creative Director Véronique Nichanian set out to capture with her Mens Fall/Winter 2021 collection, which was made with the intention of committing to reconnect with the movement of the world.  Her use of lines and colors (not to mention the architectural backdrop of the show itself, held at the Mobilier National) served to embody a source of energy, with twist pockets on parkas & jackets whose contrasting contours were traced with a technique usually only reserved for the house’s handbags.  Vibrantly-colored sneakers complimented the bright accents found throughout the collection and further closed the gap between private and professional.  The show itself was shot digitally (a second-season reunion with director Cyril Teste) using a seven-section split-screen format that allowed the viewer to choose which angle to bring to the forefront.  This was a show that truly captured the concept of movement, and we’re excited to see where it goes.

Hermes, Milan Mens Fall/Winter 2021

LOUIS VUITTON

Creative Director Virgil Abloh’s sixth show for Louis Vuitton, titled Ebonics, was perhaps his best and most autobiographical yet.  Through all the crises humanity endured last year, Abloh addressed designers’ continuing problems throughout – making shows and designing clothes in the face of the Black Lives Matter movement.  The show came with a film directed by Josh Johnson that was centered on spoken word and performance – a sort of call to radical thinking through the lens of menswear.  African draped wraps, floor-length coats, kilts, slim tailoring…this show had all the ingredients to make it arguably his best collection since his 2018 debut with the brand.  What’s more poignant, though, is the message he managed to deliver through the beautiful fashion.  Of course this show will only increase his fandom, but we all keep talking about how we want more diversity and inclusivity, right?  Well Abloh has put his money where his own mouth is, and truly delivered a vehicle for change through his latest Louis Vuitton collection.

 

LOUIS VUITTON, Milan Mens Fall/Winter 2021

K-WAY

Making its debut appearance at Milan Fashion Week, French brand K-Way (who recently did a knockout collaboration with Fendi) took its famously-colored outerwear to the runway and built a show based around movement and climactic adaptation.  The label’s trademark orange/yellow/blue tape took center stage throughout the show, popping up on heavy coats (of course) and even appearing on bags and sweaters.  Even though much of the collection is based on bright, fun functionality (reversibility and water repellency were two key themes), luxury-obsessed fashionistas need not worry.  K-Way’s Fall/Winter 2021 show saw unconventional material pairings throughout, such as velvet and leather.  Unconventional fabric pairing for a typical luxury brand? No.  Unconventional for an active, outdoor luxury brand?  Yes.