3 major takeaways from an extravagant, maximalist Milan Fashion Week

0:00Hello and welcome back to the Glossy Podcast. I'm your host, Senior Fashion Reporter Danny Perisi and we have a full house today. I'm here with both our international reporters of Fia's Viglinska and our editor-in-chief Jill Manoff. Hello guys. I'm happy to be here. Thank you both for being here. This is a fun one. We've been covering fashion month. We did New York Fashion Week discussion with me at Jill. We did London Fashion Week discussion with me at Zafia and now all three of us are here to discuss Milan Fashion Week, which wrapped up on Monday. And then next week we will finish it off with a Paris Fashion Week discussion. Milan Fashion Week had a lot to unpack. So we decided to split it up a little bit and we each came to this recording with one big theme that we saw in Milan that we want to talk about. We do not know what each other's themes are. So it will be a surprise to each of us. I figure we go through each one. Each reporter can say kind of what they saw and what they thought about it and we'll bounce off each other and go from there. But we worked out in order ahead of time.

1:04So there was no confusion. Jill, would you like to share your theme from Milan Fashion Week? The pressure of going first. It's kind of, I did this intentionally so that I was like, what if they took mine and I'd have nothing to say? I just be sitting here. But no. I didn't think about that. But I'm calling my theme the Matue, Matue, Matue, Delaysie Effect. And I will just say this has many components. But honestly, it's that kind of look that is piled on more as more you think of the tweed with the sweeping skirt. And there was a lot of that. And I think that the star of these shows in Milan were the stylists because the clothes were one thing. But there was a lot of talk about how they were paired and how they were put together. That was what was the interesting thing. A lot of words were like imperfect or rumpled or in place yet slightly askew. And in terms of the

2:10more is more effect like adult Jane Gabana, there was like one critic called it like a maximalist pile on. And there was a lot of that in terms of the styling. It's often with accessories. I think the season more so it was with the clothing. You saw it at Jill Sander, where a stylist who often works with W and some other publications. Another critic said, you know, the stylist has a gift for unexpected color pairings. It gave the collections minimalism a welcome jolt. So it was really about how it was pieced together. Somebody referenced the fact that you know more clothes on one body gives you the opportunity to show off more pieces at a time when that's so important. When you have maybe 60 looks and you want to show more than that. But also it was kind of an opportunity to I don't know spark joy show joy. It felt very joyful, but it was about the color pairings,

3:11the mixing of prints, kind of how things were pieced together. I'll start I'll stop there. And I have more to say, but yes, would you all agree? Well, I completely agree. And this is good because my theme, which I will get to later is similar, but it's not direct overlap. But I totally agree that there was definitely a lot of maximalism, a lot of like prints jumbled together in patterns and materials jumbled together. The prod a show in particular, I thought had a lot of that where it was like one dress, but like stratified where like the top part was one material. And then the second was like polka dot below that. And then the bottom was like something else entirely. Yeah, I'm wondering I'm thinking back on London and New York, though. And I don't recall seeing I feel like in New York, I saw more like monochrome like colorful, but like one color as opposed to like a bunch of crazy colors. Do you think it's just a Milan thing or did you see that at the other weeks? I think in general, it's kind of a rejection of like minimalism as we know it. Like maybe

4:11there were there were solid colors. Maybe they were. It was a single color as opposed to all of this like blocking and chaos. But I think that obviously brands need to be inspiring right now. You need to inspire that sale, whereas you know with quiet luxury, it's kind of if you know, you know and you know, you may know and you can't afford it then what and you're going to go to Uniclo where you can basically get the same the same look. And that doesn't do anything for the brands outside of the 1%. So I think like inspiring a purchase. That's what it was all about and getting the viewer excited. But I think we've seen it. We did see it in New York. To some extent, I think the styling was better done in Milan. What do you think? I will say that Tory Burch was definitely an example for me of like the the kind of maximumism and mixing of of prints. And I think it was very effective with her collection. Definitely one of the standouts for New York as well. I'm wondering if she's taking a

5:13few leaves out of the the minute and he's playbook for that. Yes. And and I said it wasn't always done with like accessories, which is more common. But then you look at like the Loro Piana collection. And it was all all the interest was added via hats. Which is interesting because it was otherwise it was pretty plain Jane. And you know, and you think about it, maybe they're leading into that. Maybe these they're making these hats. Like you think about their ball cap, which is succession. And maybe that was a hot seller and they're kind of trying to lean into that. But it did just seem like it was a random accessory to bring something new to the mix, which is funny. But at least it wasn't just the plain Jane. Yeah, it's funny though, because I feel like Loro Piana was the poster child for quiet luxury minimalism. So it's interesting. I also noticed that they had a lot of hats. A lot of interesting hats in general, which I I'm teasing it, but also kind of related to my my theme, which we'll get to. A lot of cool accessories. Did you feel like there was any one particular show

6:19that really nailed it for you or like was the best embodiment of that? I think, well, Dulles, Changabana was one. And there are a lot of references to like the oddball layering. I think that the new Marnie collection, which showed I think it was reference in GQ. And basically it was the pieces were not I guess that some of them were unique in themselves, but you saw like a utility vest paired with a sleeveless button down with a tie, which I don't know for men. And that was something that I maybe you maybe haven't seen before. I did put the Jill Sanders show in terms of the unexpected color pairings. But the kind of rumpled a skew imperfect those references. I saw it. I read it. It was pretty common across I don't know if I don't say most shows, but a common theme throughout.

7:20Yeah, for sure. I'm trying to think of other kind of larger implications of that style. I mean, I think it's a little bit harder to want to one replicate with like fast fashion, like you said. But also I want I feel like for New York, we talked a little bit about people mixing an old and new and like stuff from vintage paired with newer things. And I feel like that also lends itself well to kind of like layering and adding stuff on more as more pairing this new thing on top of like three older shirts that I already had and mixing them all in some fun, interesting way. Yeah. And I made a social video about it during New York. And it was this kind of I guess build on the concept of like a rejection of micro trends. But at the same time kind of facilitating them. Because it's like there's almost something for anyone, everyone, an opportunity to showcase your personal style in terms of the way that you style it. And it kind of feels like a playground. It's like anything goes. And you could piece together looks to get a specific look or you could

8:23just do your thing and that's okay too. It's just kind of like have fun. Mix match. Go wild. Get rumpled. Have a wrinkle dress. Okey-Dok. Yeah. Can I can I say my theme because I feel like it's we're going we're starting to inch into it. Very similar. But specifically I my theme is maximalist footwear. I feel like there was so many interesting shoes. And I feel like the last couple years maybe from like the quiet luxury era. There was a lot of like subdued footwear like more flats instead of heels and more like sleek sneakers instead of the big chunky ones. And I feel like this Milan fashion week had brought back all the like crazy footwear in a good way. There were some shoes or there were some shows that had more subdued ones like Prada had some kind of sleek but simple like black shoes. And most of the interest was in the cutouts like the way that they were kind of like shaped around the foot. But lots of crazy stuff like Dolce and Gabana had these huge

9:23like shoes encrusted with jewels or with flowers. Marjela and Javier Nis had this very cool collaboration that was did you see the six layer rainbow flip flop. I did. Yeah. And then they had another one that was like a flip flop. But the soul was like a foot in it. But it had a sixth toe. I don't know. There was just all sorts of interesting like experimental footwear. I don't know. Did you guys feel like you noticed that in some of the shows? Yeah. Definitely. Yeah. I the only one that I that really I noticed all of the ones you mentioned and one that also stuck out to me was the um uh botega. Is it the botega show with the uh kind of fish net flat it kind of was floppy and wrapped around. I think I can't do generally. And then like tied off at the ankle. I actually really liked that one. Yeah. I feel like I could see like the cool girls wearing that with their the row pieces. Like I just feel like um it was like I felt like it was a comfortable look but also kind of distinct without being logo in logo and all of that.

10:28Yeah. The fish net sandalat botega was one of my favorites. Also Fendi had a kind of mesh shoe where it had a flat sole. But then the top was just fully like transparent like netting kind of with the foot completely visible. Yeah. A lot of interesting experimental stuff. Marny and Diesel both had shoes with like huge chunky buckles I saw. Yeah. I have one more example but I'll pause there. So if you had did you notice anything about the footwear? Yeah. I mean I think that it's it's weird because obviously I've just kind of come back from a holiday in Cornwall and everyone's wearing like windsurfing shoes which are basically like rubber soles and then neoprene at the top. And it seems very very similar to what a lot of designers are putting out on the runway where you basically just got flat rubber soles shoes with some kind of a technical tie around the ankle and then either neoprene or mesh or something else. They look very comfortable. I'm definitely for it and to be honest I've been

11:29tracking some of those kind of styles myself for the last couple of seasons as well. So it's just good to know that I was on something. Yeah and it's it's cool to see them all in one week like this again I feel like I didn't notice it quite as much at London or New York but there was so much interesting footwear. One other example I want to mention is that Anitsuka Tiger had a show I think they are definitely they have like bold colors often but I do think they are part of that wave of like sleeker and more like kind of streamlined sneakers but they had a they showed off like kitten heels and stilettos that were like metallic material but with the Anitsuka like kind of pattern on the side all sorts of interesting stuff very much in line with that like sneakers or like snowfer or sneaker ballerina flat trend of like combining sneakers style with other shoe celowats and everything I don't I thought that one was very cool too. I think they've just opened a Milan store as well like just in time with the runway shows and might be one of the

12:34reasons why they're showing up there so I don't think they do a show usually with Milan Fashion Week. I don't think so yeah that was cool to see them there. What were you gonna say Joe? I was just going to say obviously that brand is known for their sneakers. Did you see sneakers elsewhere? Like what's the status check on on the state of sneakers? I can't think of any but I wasn't there in person I don't want to say they weren't there like that was just the one. Yeah I feel like a lot of the interesting footwear I saw were pumps and stilettos and sandals and other things and Anitsuka and even them the thing I thought it was interesting were their heels and stilettos so I didn't see as many sneakers. I don't want to definitively say there were less but I feel like I didn't notice them. I know I feel like it wasn't looking good for sneakers and then there's there are the brands like Gucci where it was just like glam to the max and it is stilettos with your fur with your kind of I think they've got the the snob a kind of persona like that kind of a girl so yeah that's interesting I mean return of heels I like that. Yeah one more thing the the

13:42seven or the six layer rainbow flip flop from Marjela that we were talking about is actually a runway exclusive and it's not going to be sold which and the one with the extra toe is being sold so they are still selling some of the weird stuff but I thought that was interesting because that they weren't selling that one because it's like we're getting the fun of like putting something really experimental on the runway but maybe not as confident that people will actually buy it I don't know like maybe it's still testing the waters of our people going to actually go for something really wacky on the foot I don't know about that concept like if you're gonna go at it like make 150 and sell them for a high price point it's a collector's item like just to not do it at all is so random yeah I agree and I think we'll see a lot of people just gluing like multiple pairs of havinas together just to kind of see what that looks like I hope no one trips because they did look very high yeah yeah I mean that's the other thing is like how practical are some of these shoes flip flops are already not like super stable so to have six of them stacked on top of each other um but yeah we you already

14:47mentioned this Joe but I was gonna add as an addendum that mostly I'm focused on footwear but hats and other accessories felt like there was a lot of fun and experimentation and I'm wondering what you guys think is that just like it's a little bit easier to do something more out there with an accessory because it's easier to like take off and have it not be the foot like you can wear a silly hat and then maybe take it off if you're feeling stupid and put it in your bag I don't know what why do you think there was more fun there to me it was just added interest in terms of like the more is more look on the on the runway and it reminded me this was not a hat but I was like in terms of the things that I was going to mention like at the bodega show where I was thinking like some of the striking looks like it wasn't because of a specific piece but it was because I wouldn't have thought to put it to wear that together like wear a big bag with a lot of fringe and then you're also wearing a big skirt a scarf wrapped around with also with fringe and it just made for movement in really like a fabulous striking look I don't know I I think it was yeah all about the

15:52styling I do wondered if those will be for sale but also an entry point potentially if it's a a ball cap to the to the brand I would think of it in the same vein as like socks Fuji socks like maybe you buy a ball cap that's a couple hundred dollars and that's not the same as buying into a handbag yeah I definitely think price is part of it for sure yeah and so do it obviously a lot of these looks are very striking once you add a hat and I think they've become a little bit more muted once you take it off so maybe it's also playing to more maximalist clients as well yeah okay cool let's hear our last theme from Sophia yeah so I mean my one's a little bit different because it's more about the presentation format I guess rather than the looks themselves but I think a big theme for Milan this season was that the customer kind of became part of the show and I think that there was multiple runaways from you know Gucci to machino and Prada that kind of

16:54did that and I think Gucci in particular was very explicit they had a whole kind of fake store set up as part of the kind of Milan fashion show runaway it even had like fake windows where you could see people walking past I thought there's a very interesting concept and obviously very interesting considering all of our past conversations around you know is luxury really sellable what are we thinking in terms of you know Gucci and its future under Luca Dimaio and all of those kind of little business tip that's that we've been talking about and I think he was trying to accommodate a lot of different recognizable Gucci customers in that brand so again customer becoming part of the show rather than maybe asking someone to adopt just like one single silhouette I think that plays quite well to your theme Jill like maximalism and different characters during a show almost allows you know different people to choose what they like from certain collections do you agree absolutely it's a good call I noticed the mosquito one and I'll let you talk about it but I

17:58thought it was so humorous that a lot of the commentators um said that the people in their common clothes were more inspiring than what was on the runaway themselves um but yeah yeah go ahead I'll I'll go into that for my little bit more just in case someone hasn't had a chance to watch the video but Nuskina's new designer Simone Rizzo and Laura Smith-Sina put their clothes among hundreds of extras walking in the opposite direction in ordinary clothes so you had the runway looks coming out from one side and people just kind of hurry and go along from the other and it provided this kind of immediate test of how the collection might look outside which I think is also really interesting because typically we only see it in this very like stylized environment and the designers themselves said they wanted the clothes to belong to real people so again wearability commerciality like all of those themes that we've already talked about in New York and London are still kind of very very present with Milan as well and I think finally the the last one and we've touched on it already is Prada they've kind of approached the customer

19:03through the product and I've been talking a lot about the kind of devotion to skirts by Michir she's done like wraps secured with crystal decorated velcro the season there was painted skirts there was like translucent skirts and so again giving the customer a really familiar starting point it's something the Prada is really well known for and then plenty of room for individual styling so exactly what you said Jill just kind of letting people choose what they want and again yeah commercial pills really easy to understand what did you like most about the Prada show Danny you know I feel like I was more interested in the clothing them itself you know I wasn't as aware of all the like formats but it is interesting hearing about it because I feel like in the New York episode Joe we talked a lot about immersion and like merciless and giving the attendees like just a little something extra and I feel like all three of our themes are kind of touching on that like more is more give them more options and more I don't know thanks to choose from yeah and if

20:10you see real people you can maybe see yourself in the look and understand where you might fit in I so agree the skirt the Prada skirt moment in Milan was so interesting with the exhibition and all of that um definitely a way to like I guess reiterate the brand story or like spotlight it in a big way and how many skirts were in the runway like 60 80 there is a lot it was a lot of skirts and it's actually funny because like a lot of brands would pay a lot to have such like an organic brand moment around that but I actually saw a lot of people either before or after the show like going back to their enclosures and pulling out their Prada skirts and wearing them almost as like a tribute like that typically as an activation would cost you know hundreds and hundreds of dollars that in itself I think was was very fun and kind of what makes Milan a little bit more unique like there's such a devotion to certain designers those pieces are so special I feel like they are a collector's item and like you said those pulling out their Prada skirt um you know

21:12it's not going to go out of style it will always be Prada and it's that pencil shape that's very classic and it's got the little bit of interest where maybe it's recognizably Prada or just otherwise special that's great and on that note like um we're speaking speaking to nostalgia I know that there was talk that maybe Prada Cavali went too far and didn't nostalgia it just read like a collection from the early 2000s um but that that's something else where you can just say you can wear this it'll probably be wearable for for decades to come now's the time so again speaking to consumers and their willingness to spend I think that's a great point I do think that like especially with Milan it does feel like there's these kind of rehashed codes or kind of brand identities that keep coming up like with with the new Gucci there was a lot of references to like Tom Ford Gucci and like that's obviously like such a big reference point both for designers but but also

22:14for for customers I'm wondering if it is a little bit too overdone now like how many times can you reference Tom Ford Gucci and you know Roberta Cavali from the early days before it does feel a little bit tired but yeah I do think Milan's still interesting and there's a lot of talk still around the quality that comes out of of the place as well so I think that still worth noting agree okay well I think we settled on some very good themes there was I think there was just the right amount of overlap where there's like comment threads but we all kind of touched on different things yeah this was a very fun Milan fashion week like you said Joe I feel like the styling really brought it together a lot of very memorable shows and collections and we have one more fashion week to cover next week we will be talking Paris fashion week but this has been fun I always like doing fashion months with you guys excited to talk about YSL next week oh my god it was so good but yes we'll leave it there and it's a long one I think Paris fashion week wraps up on October 6th I believe so when we we will be recording this our next episode right as it's ending great

23:21well thank you all for being here and thank you for listening and thank you for listening to the Glossy podcast don't forget to give us a rating and a review on Apple podcasts or Spotify wherever you're listening to this because that helps us out so much and don't forget to subscribe to the Glossy podcast to hear interviews with industry insiders and we can review segments where we break down the news the new upsets come out every Friday until the next time thanks for listening