Milan Fashion Week: Dolce & Gabbana goes all black; Demna presents 1st Gucci show; Armani gets ‘sparkling’ touch; Prada pairs winter jackets, light dresses
MILAN — Italian luxury label Dolce & Gabbana unveiled an almost entirely black collection at Milan Fashion Week on Saturday, drawing on elements that define the house’s roots and identity.
(Watch the show here: https://tinyurl.com/5ebb2v78 )
Pop superstar Madonna, who recently fronted the brand’s advertising campaign for two new fragrances, watched the show from the front row.
The fashion house has made substantial investments in its beauty division, which it brought in‑house three years ago, even as demand for high‑end goods has softened.
The show, titled “Identity,” opened with a series of coats and jackets featuring backs that replicated their buttoned fronts.
Italian designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana dressed models in tailored suits and see‑through black lace dresses, often worn with shawls and mid‑calf socks, paired with low lace‑up shoes or stiletto heels.
“Identity is the ultimate luxury — a language built on roots that are still alive: Sicily as emotion, black as strength, lace as intimacy, tailoring as authority,” they wrote in the press notes.
GUCCI
Gucci’s new creative director Demna presented a collection of legging-pants, seamless mini dresses, and shimmering gowns in his first fashion show for the Italian label, as French owner Kering bets on a creative reset to revive its flagship brand.
(Watch the show here: https://tinyurl.com/mm2n8dmv )
Demna’s range of different looks and stylistic propositions sought to appeal to a wide variety of people, he said in the press notes.
The Georgian designer, who spent a decade at Kering’s Balenciaga brand, took over as Gucci’s creative director in July last year, after a two-year tenure by Sabato De Sarno.
“In general I intend for Gucci to become lighter, softer, more refined, more elaborate, more emotional, even senseless sometimes. I don’t want it to be intellectual,” Demna, 44, wrote in a letter published in some newspapers on Friday and released on Instagram on Thursday.
At the September Milan Fashion Week, Demna unveiled his first collection for the brand in a lookbook on Instagram and screened a short film in which actors wore the outfits.
The new collection is called “Gucci Primavera.”
“My vision of Gucci is about the coexistence of heritage and fashion. Here they are not opposites, they are lovers,” Demna said in the letter. “This first Gucci show introduces a universe of people, archetypes, consumers and dress codes that will shape my design language moving forward,” he added.
A selection of items from the new collection would be available for sale on Friday in some shops and online, ahead of the official launch in July.
“It was important to give a sign of speed and dynamism,” new Kering Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Luca de Meo told journalists on the sidelines of the show. Mr. De Meo was appointed last September to lead a turnaround at the group and particularly at its flagship label Gucci, whose sales fell 22% in 2025. He said he believed the brand was moving “in the right direction.”
ARMANI
The heirs of Giorgio Armani — his partner Leo Dell’Orco and his niece Silvana Armani — said they “had fun” working together on the Emporio Armani collection, which stays true to the late designer’s style while introducing some new touches.
(Watch the show here: https://tinyurl.com/2n3hmfyb )
“We managed to give continuity to what Mr. Armani used to do, but with the addition of something he would not have included himself,” said Silvana Armani, head of womenswear.
The collection was “a bit younger, a bit more dynamic and sparkling,” added Mr. Dell’Orco, head of menswear.
Emporio Armani’s autumn/winter collection — the first jointly developed by the two — was titled “Maestro,” in homage to the brand’s founder, who died last September.
In his will, Mr. Armani instructed heirs to gradually sell the fashion house he created 50 years ago or consider a market listing.
Models — women in double‑breasted jackets and men in flat caps — walked in a trademark Armani color palette ranging from beige‑grey to brown, with touches of blue and violet.
PRADA
Prada’s autumn/winter show in Milan on Thursday included embroidered satin dresses, sheer skirts and wool sweaters, while the front row presence of Mark Zuckerberg fueled speculation about a potential smart glasses partnership.
(See the show here: https://tinyurl.com/bdnzm6t3)
Designers Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons chose to have only 15 models walk the runway, each wearing multiple looks to focus on layering clothes to best effect, including short jackets over lightweight tunics.
“As a woman, your life is layered — each day demands not only a shifting of clothes, but a richness of identities within yourself,” said Miuccia Prada in the press notes.
Brightly colored handbags and quirky kitten heel shoes were also on display.
Mr. Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook owner Meta Platforms, and his wife Priscilla Chan sat alongside Prada’s CEO Andrea Guerra and Prada’s family heir Lorenzo Bertelli.
In November, Mr. Bertelli, who is Prada’s chief marketing officer, told Reuters that the group had had “exploratory talks” with EssilorLuxottica over the potential development of smart glasses under its brands, but no decision had been made.
Prada has a licensing agreement with the Franco-Italian eyewear maker, which has a partnership with Meta to develop artificial intelligence-powered glasses. — Reuters
