Ahead of Milan Fashion Week Men’s, Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana (CNMI) president Carlo Capasa asked the fashion community to “bring the energy” this season, despite the challenges of the luxury slowdown. Brands delivered: Jordanluca staged a surprise fashion show wedding; Prada threw out the rule book; Dunhill threw an opulent, star-studded soirée; and maximalist trends from mega-bags to fur emerged as key for the season.
Here are the key takeaways from Milan Fashion Week Men’s Autumn/Winter 2025.
The ‘mega-independents’ presented a new mood
As Vogue Runway’s Luke Leitch puts it, there was a willingness to “both appreciate and undermine convention” in Milan this season, as designers explored less conventional styles and injected a sense of freedom into their collections.
We sort of knew what to expect from the Prada set from the branded piece of scaffolding enclosed in the invite, but entering the Fondazione Prada for the Men’s AW25 show, guests were greeted by a mind-boggling three-storey scaffolding structure. A complex empty shell, which designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons filled with a rugged, eclectic collection this season, featuring slouchy denim, fur-collared coats, fur pelt vests, patchworked distressed-leather suiting, scuffed-toe cowboy boots and plenty of plaid. Following on from their questioning of the algorithm last season, the designers continued to rebel against the homogenisation of culture. “It’s creativity without overthinking,” Mrs Prada said post-show. “We were interested in the idea of instinct, in the notion of protecting and valuing our human instinct, and liberating creativity.”
Dolce & Gabbana also presented a diverse, full wardrobe this season, to take their customer from day to night. The show was entitled ‘Paparazzi’, and models were snapped by photographers as they emerged onto the runway. In contrast to their usual focus on tailoring, the first portion of the show presented a casual mood, with laid-back denim, fur jackets and duffle bags, before the eveningwear finale, featuring heavy-duty diamond brooches, three-piece satin suits and cummerbunds.
“A lot of brands are thinking, ‘Let’s give the consumer what they desire from what we do’ — the proper suiting, the proper outerwear, the proper knitwear,” says journalist and designer Edward Buchanan. “We are in a very difficult time. Consumers are not shopping. So I think if you have a brand and you have the possibility to hit all those areas, it makes sense.”