Fendi leads Milanese trends with feminine silhouettes for men

Milan Fashion Week’s previews for next winter and fall continued for day two on Saturday, with guests taking advantage of the pandemic norm of social distancing from previous narrow elbow-to-elbow seating . The schedule was lightened after the start of the ramp-up of the omicron variant in Italy last month, but the fact that the live broadcasts took place was a sign of optimism after the digital-only Milan Fashion Week, in January 2021.

Eager fans again lined the sidewalks outside the shows, hoping to catch a glimpse of Italian rapper Mahmoud at Fendi, or Machine Gun Kelly and his fiancée Megan Fox at Dolce&Gabbana.

As a general rule, menswear collections on the runways in Milan this season have so far been conservative on the color palette, leaving the risk-taking to the silhouette.

The Fendis collection for upcoming fall and winter has been steeped in disciplined tailoring and fashion house elegance with some welcome eccentricities to lighten things up. They included a leather aviator cap with the flair of a Moroccan fez.

The muted color palette of grey, black and ivory with pops of red seemed to suggest the collection was business as usual, but then Silvia Venturini Fendi threw in some surprising silhouettes, starting with a men’s Bermuda shorts with the stitching and flow of a skirt, worn with sheer knee-highs and pointed two-tone Buckle Mary Janes. She then offered dress pants with wide legs that only showed at the back to be petticoated. They were paired with jackets or knitwear that had a feminine V peek-a-boo across the chest.

Leaning on femininity, voluminous trapezoidal outerwear with loose sleeves and slit crescendo with pretty layered cape coats in black and white or ivory checks.

A model wears a creation for the Fendi Fall Winter 22/23 collection, in Milan. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

The accessories have never been exaggerated, even tripled: Bob, shoulder bag and travel bag aligned in perfect geometry. Fendi isn’t the first to string pearls on men, their dickie collars anchored. The fashion house also continued the trend of small bags forgetting the wallet and finding a pocket for your phone – which men wore on chains.

While womenswear at Fendi was taken over by British designer Kim Jones, who launched a buzz collaboration with Versace, the menswear collection still bears the signature of Silvia Venturini Fendi, representing the third Fendi generation.

Machine Gun Kelly made the headlines of Dolce & Gabbana, making at least three wardrobe changes during the show and handing her jacket over to Fox in the front row before performing at the end of the show. The rapper is known for his flamboyant outfits and has no doubt found plenty to shop on the runway.

Dolce&Gabbana down jackets and matching pants give the Michelin man a slim look, in candy pink or scribbled with the graffiti print of the seasons. The warmth was so guaranteed that at least one model wore only branded briefs. As a cold-weather alternative, there were abominable snowman-worthy eco-furs with matching boots and earmuffs.

The season’s jackets have exaggerated shoulders, paired with leggings and worn with peaked goggles and molded trainers. A silver sequined costume was worthy of the stage, with skimpy eyeglass frames perched on the nose in a way more reminiscent of sci-fi lasers than reading glasses. A bold graffiti-adorned streetwear ensemble was complemented by a large blue knit cap that gave a Marge Simpson vibe.

If the flash is part of the Dolce&Gabbana repertoire as much as its tailoring, what was more unexpected were the men’s skirts. A tweed midi belted with a gold chain was worn with a ripped DG t-shirt and leather collar. A black kilt had a sweater scrawled with DG graffiti. A shimmery pink-to-gold mini dress or long tunic, depending on your turn, was paired with matching leggings.

Nothing about this season’s skirt silhouette on the Milan menswear catwalk comes as a surprise to the designers of London-based label JordanLuca, which made its Milan debut.

I think the menswear spectrum is so wide now, said Jordan Brown, who started the brand with Luca Marchetto four years ago. We are so post, post, post, what is menswear and womenswear.

Tailored kilts, some with tulle inserts, are a mainstay of the season at JordanLuca.

The thing with the kilt is that it is 4 or 5 meters (yards) of fabric. It’s really technical, it’s a technical garment. Why wouldn’t a man wear it? Folding, pleating, sewing. It’s pretty hard to do, Brown said backstage.

The brand’s long, exciting silhouette was accentuated with long, wing-like hems on tailored pants. The looks had a rock-n-roll vibe, fusing punk, glam and grunge-inspired elements. They included trousers deliberately ripped above the knee and fastened with a rhinestone brooch or soft mohair sweaters accented with a trailing spiky strand draped around the neck.

The collection showed a strong desire to be in the world, free from pandemic restrictions.

The more we go back to physical shows, the more we feel we’re going back to our physicality, our kind of human spirit, that kind of gut instinct, Brown said.

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