Milan Fashion Week: Designers Reimagine Femininity With Grit and Glamour
Prada’s Return to the Skirt
Prada kicked off the event with a collection dedicated exclusively to skirts. This garment has seen major fluctuations in popularity over recent years. The lengths presented varied, but most pieces stopped at knee level. This hemline fell out of favor between the early 2010s and early 2020s. During that period, consumers tended to choose floor-length dresses or very short skirts. To today’s observer, this length appears extremely feminine, even slightly matronly. However, that perception is precisely what makes it captivating in the current context. Regardless of trend fluctuations, Miuccia Prada never abandoned her precise uniform: a mid-length skirt paired with a simple sweater. By injecting this equation with unconventional coolness, she attracts twenty-year-olds just as much as women in their forties, sixties, or eighties. Younger clients might opt for bra-only tops, but any age is welcome in this aesthetic.
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Other Milan designers explored these feminine silhouettes, adjusting shapes and introducing new color nuances and prints. They then adapted styling to fit today’s pace. If Prada’s glamour defied age and era boundaries, Dolce & Gabbana’s charm presented a precise mix of historical references. As the celebrity-filled show began, Jennifer Lopez was visible in the front row wearing a velvet suit and a press hat. A voice over the speakers explained how this collection exalts the beauty of inherited wardrobes and their potential for today’s youth. The result combined tweed jackets with leopard-print skirts and logo T-shirts. Lace blouses with cutouts were contrasted with embroidered denim, all paired with the brand’s signature mountain of gold jewelry. It was a sharp interpretation of how young women dress today: wearing antique lace under a blazer or using grandmother’s lingerie as daywear, styled with ballet flats.
Ferragamo’s Minimalist Elegance
Maximilian Davis at Ferragamo, always a beacon of effortless elegance, chose a vintage-looking appearance. He rediscovered the 1940s skirt suit, the uniform women wore when entering the workforce en masse. He eliminated visual noise, excess, and shoulder pads. Instead, he let cut and construction create shape through arched cuffs and perfectly placed darts. In several outfits, he created fabric drapery that seemed to extend directly from the cuff, wrapping the wearer’s neck like a scarf. His version of glamour seems light as air. It is simple and accessible. Although one of Milan’s youngest designers, Davis can often be reserved. As the collection progressed, it was amusing to see him become bolder, experimenting with latex for the first time. This material can be suffocating, but there was something deeply exciting about how he used its transparency to evoke the ghost of a garment.
Marni’s Eccentric Vision
Merryl Rogge at Marni matched Davis’s eccentricity, adding her own layers of quirkiness and vivacity. Her second collection for the house continues to explore founder Consuelo Castiglioni’s vision. This resembles early Prada creations more than the frivolity explored by Francesco Risso during his 2016 to 2025 tenure. She adopted a modsilhouette, presenting mid-length shift dresses covered in sterile checks, worn leather, and sewn plastic discs. Some dresses were even belted at the bust. She skillfully mixed prints and materials, styling models with glasses and mid-height sandals in electric shades.
Gucci and Fendi’s Contrasting Approaches
Gucci, or rather Demna, loves the feminine archetype, especially the bourgeois version that formed the brand’s long-time client base. The subversive creative director touched on this idea, presenting the most detailed vision for the brand since taking the role last year. His rebellious aristocrat wears a uniform consisting of a bomber jacket with puff sleeves, a rugby shirt, a precisely pleated long tartan skirt, and a large leather belt featuring the triple-sized Gucci horse sign. Although these outfits were layered, the evening collection was exactly the opposite: elegant dresses, simple in feel, due to complex construction methods. Maria Grazia Chiuri is usually the queen of restraint, but she had slightly more fun at Fendi this season, especially after her rather austere debut for autumn 2026.