Milan Day Six: Old Guard, New Guard

MILAN — Italy is a place where generational turnover, in every field, is extremely slow. Fashion is no exception, but things are moving gradually and alongside the established names, this edition of Milan Fashion Week offered glimpses of new auteurs-in-the-making.

Among the old guard, no one is bigger than Giorgio Armani. The power of Italy’s billionaire fashion king, still piloting Armani Group at the age of 90, is rooted in endurance and consistency. One does not attend his shows to witness the shock of the new, but to enjoy seemingly infinite variations on a timeless style punctuated with hints of exoticism.

Mr Armani’s latest outing was exactly that: fluid pantsuits, weightless coats, kimono and caftan shapes, and liquid trousers, plus a flood of shimmering tunics for after dark. “For me, each collection stems from the desire to explore new perspectives and offer fresh interpretations of a style which has a clear, well-defined outline,” the designer said. “This season, I focused on the idea of the roots, envisioning pieces that take on the colours of the earth, of minerals and sun-scorched landscapes. I aim for a new harmony because I believe this is what we all need.”

Harmonious it was, with daywear particularly appealing in an earthy palette of rusty coppers and burnt browns. Armani’s blazers and coats are masterpieces of gentle engineering. But the show was too long. Tighter editing would have maximised the lyrical power of his soft tailoring.

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Among Milan’s new guard, Galib Gassanoff, formerly one half of Act N.1, is perhaps the most intriguing for his technical prowess and the way he harnesses his unique cultural matrix: the designer is Georgian of Azerbaijani descent raised in the outskirts of Tbilisi.

Gassanov’s new endeavor, Institution, is run out of a tiny apartment cum atelier where he cuts patterns and weaves shoelaces into poetic, sculptural pieces that pay homage to Azerbaijani weaving. “The name itself reflects the project’s larger scope beyond fashion,” he said. “An institution is a humanly devised structure of rules and norms that shapes and constrains individual behaviour. All definitions of institutions entail a level of persistence and continuity.”

The project, which was conceived in 2024, had its first catwalk show this season, inside Museo Bagatti Valsecchi. The opulent yet moody splendour of the rooms made a perfect backdrop for the raw and solemn beauty of silhouettes that were spare and clean, with dramatic volumes and enticing dramatic poses. The show was intentionally slow and perhaps too solemn, but Gassanoff’s minimal but complex soul shone through.

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Giuseppe Buccinnà, another rising talent worth mentioning, presented a focused collection in one of the Fondazione Sozzani’s two Milan spaces. (Sara Sozzani Maino’s tireless dedication to new talent is admirable, as is her mother Carla’s generosity in offering them a space to show.) Buccinnà‘s background is in civil engineering, but he embraced fashion to follow a lifelong passion. It shows: in his work, control gives way to abandon as his interest in architectural construction co-mingles with a love of unabashed sexiness. The collection Buccinnà presented yesterday was small — being independent comes with quite a few constraints nowadays — but the flared silhouettes and windswept shape captured his style credo.

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Draping is what Francesco Murano excels at, and it comes as no surprise that before branching out on his own, he worked for Alberta Ferretti, queen of flou. This season, Murano produced a concise fashion show — his first — at another of the Fondazione Sozzani spaces. The outing balanced slim and sharp tailoring with liquid draping, coming across as assured and technically skilled, if at times a tad dry. That was not the main issue, however. The fact is, the influence of Madame Grès, a must for anyone working with these shapes, was too evident. It will be interesting to see Murano develop a more personal language. He clearly has the ability.

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As for Giuseppe Di Morabito, another catwalk debutante, a mix of strength and delicacy, expressed in a merging of sparkle, fluidity and armour (proper metal breastplates) did not fully coalesce. The storytelling was too attached to a highly personal tale of post-traumatic stress, the clothes a tad tacky. But Di Morabito, being young, has time to hone his work.