Milan Men’s Fashion Week: trends and news | British GQ

Monday 19 June

It’s all working at Fendi

With notable names not on the show schedule (Gucci) and others choosing presentations in lieu of a full-blown catwalk (Canali, Corneliani, Etro), this Milan Fashion Week could have felt a little flat. Thank goodness then that there are new pretenders to the throne of these big brands to bring the excitement. After the buzz around Philipp Plein and Versace on Saturday and Plein Sport and Prada on Sunday, Fendi became the big talking point of the final day.

Having grown in strength for the past few seasons thanks to cool, curveball themes and superb styling, the historic Italian label is currently having a renaissance – and moving far beyond simply being known as Italy’s most famous furier. This season, menswear creative director Silvia Venturini Fendi continued the Eighties thread that was so critically successful in her Autumn/Winter 2017 collection, but took it to the office. The showspace has the feel of a cold, clinical skyscraper lobby with models hitting the marble, paved catwalk through constantly opening lift doors and exiting through steel turnstiles. Even the invitation to the event was on an ID-style lanyard.

As Sister Sledge’s “Lost in Music” blasted, we were presented with a collection that mixed relaxed suits in light grays and beiges (complete with higher, appropriate waists and Wall Street braces) with pastel-pink infused sportswear, open-necked striped shirts, leather baseball caps and loosened, graphic silk ties kept in place with low-riding tie chips. The whole selection has the feel of 5pm on a summertime Friday in the city – upbeat, relaxed and looking forward to a couple of days off after a week of being buttoned-up. And as the temperature soars not just here in Milan but also back home in the UK, bringing that feeling of shrugging off your responsibilities to spend some time having fun felt perfectly timed.

Pink is still trending hardOver the past year, the rise of “Millennial Pink” – that particular shade of warm, pastel-y rose you see being worn by younger guys right now – has been well documented. However, judging by the shows we’ve seen so far, this trend shows no signs of stopping any season soon. After a strong showing in London at Oliver Spencer, the color has been seen filtering through the collections here in Milan too. Aside from the contrast sleeve members-only jackets at the mentioned Fendi show, the biggest proponent of this season in the Italian fashion capital was Tom Ford, who showed head-to-toe looks in various shades of the color – our particular favorite item being the blush pink jeans that will be hitting his stores early next year, although the shawl-collar tux jacket in the same color comes a very close second.