Dream Makers and Tender Memories at Milan Fashion Week

Glenn Martens opened up a portal this week. For four days leading up to his Fall 2024 show for Diesel on Wednesday, he and his team livestreamed their entire prep process, from castings to fittings to seatings to set design. Anyone could tune in to see how a fashion show comes together, culminating in the runway, which was also live-streamed. Inside the venue, those seated in the space could see the faces of the people watching on Zoom, amplified on giant screens. Many called it a radical democratization of fashion, but really, it’s just something natural for a brand like Diesel and a brain like Martens. Because this man has fans, kids who line up around blocks in Milan to get a glimpse of Diesel showgoers or who want to join in the fun themselves. Last season, he held a rave-meets-runway show outside that was open to the public; it was pouring and thousands of people still turned up.

Next season, there’s no doubt the Dieselheads will die for the frayed edge patchwork dresses and leopard jackets that look like someone held a lighter up to burn off bits of fabric. Martens does a great job balancing novelty with wearability. The outerwear was an excellent example of that approach: there were bombers and overcoats trimmed or covered all over in muppet fuzz that made the models look like they were shuffling down a snowy sidewalk somewhere alien and arctic.

If making the kids look devastatingly cool is Marten’s goal, then Kim Jones’s is to take the women’s ready-to-wear at Fendi beyond everyday, ladylike chic. This season, Jones focused on shape and structure with tailoring that nodded to some of the designer’s heroes like Yohji Yamamoto and Issey Miyake. The circular-cut front panel coat that opened the fall 2024 was gorgeous, as were the jackets with precise cinches at the waist. They moved easily on the body, and felt in line with much of what we’ve seen this season regarding unfussy, ladylike clothes.

Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons riffed on ideas of femininity and glamour through an intensely personal lens. Mrs. Prada said in her show notes, “This is a collection shaped by history. It’s not about nostalgia. It’s about understanding.” She continued, “Who we were, why we dressed like that. It’s about remembering our past, using this knowledge to move forward.” She and Simons explored girlhood in various forms and from various decades, whether through their loosely tied bow-embellished dresses or poodle skirts designed with four distinct pintucks at the waist. There were tight cardigans worn color-blocked against knit tops and prim overcoats decorated with colorful silk panels at the back. Playful isn’t a word often used to describe these cerebral designers, but this season there seemed to be a sweeter bent to their designs, evident in the on-the-nose baseball jackets or the fantastic feathered-covered riding hats.

There were girls, ladies, and women present on Prada’s fall runway, and in the end, it was a love letter to the shifting, evolving sartorial moments throughout our lives. The romance at Prada isn’t dead; it’s just in a constant state of reexamination.

Introspection, contemplation, and dreaming are some of the words many designers have used to describe either their design ethos or the designs themselves this season. One of them was Moschino’s new creative director Adrian Appiolaza, who took the role shortly after the tragic death of Davide Renne, who passed away just before beginning in his role. Appiolaza, who was formerly at Loewe, had only a month and a half to create his fall collection for the house, but he did it with such heart that the collection was a highlight of the week. As an emotional Appiolaza said backstage, “It was all built as a dream because this is a dream come true for me.”

Moschino is known for its brashness and theatricality. Appiolaza wanted to pay homage to that and the house’s founder Franco Moschino. He did so through recognizable house codes like printed silk, pop patterns, and exaggerated proportions. “The idea was to convey Franco’s universe and not think of it as a ready-to-wear collection but something that told a story with characters.” Each “character” was meant to represent a singular person obsessed with one or two pieces of clothing in their closet–one model wore ties wrapped around her wet hair like a towel and printed silk pants and a top to match. Another wore a skirt with ruffle tiers made from hanging bras. There were throw-on-and-go cozy knits and jackets and trenches made with that perfect oversized fit you can only get when you pick something up at a thrift store or inherit it from a parent or grandparent.

Appiolaza did great work here, and it will be exciting to see how he evolves his vision at Moschino, which seems to synergize the dramatic with the pragmatic and the dreamy with the day-to-day. That’s the compelling draw of many clothes coming down the runways right now: balance. It’s how fashion speaks to as many people as possible, whether they experience it from the front row, on a screen, in a store, or on the street.

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