Gucci AW19 menswear. Courtesy @gucci.
As Pitti Uomo dies down in Florence, the fashion crowd migrates over to Milan for Fashion Week. While the menswear week has a reputation for being dominated by heritage house legacies, the calendar is looking particularly robust this year thanks to new additions from London such as A-COLD-WALL*, and a crop of young designers being profiled by the Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. Here, are the shows we’ll be looking out for:
British transplants
While the much-hyped London streetwear label A-COLD-WALL* had an installation at 180 Strand during London Fashion Week Men’s, they are moving their runway show to Milan this season. Founder Samuel Ross told Drapers that the move to Italy was strategic as he hopes to incorporate more tailoring into his collections as he enters his late‘20s. As part of an anti-Brexit move, Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen will also be taking her menswear collection to the Milan Fashion Week.
2010s brands
Titans of tailoring may dominate Italy’s menswear, but there are also younger international labels founded in the 2010s that are carving out their place in the week. Chinese designer, Miao Ran blurs the lines of womens and menswear tailoring with his Miaoran line (founded in 2015), while Numero 00 (founded in 2012) provides an Italian streetwear perspective.
Gucci Menswear
Under the direction of Alessandro Michele, Gucci has become famous for its co-ed spectacles that have taken over venues such as Rome’s Capitoline Museum and Paris’ Le Palace theatre, but this season Gucci will be breaking from tradition with a separate menswear show. And if the past is an indicator of the future, it will be even bigger.