Milan Fashion Week 2026: New Collections from Prada, Gucci, Jil Sander, and Diesel

Paul Verhoeven's dystopian film "RoboCop" is nearly forty years old. As far as we know, robot police officers don't exist yet, but robotic devices are becoming more common elsewhere. Last week, for instance, they appeared on the runway at Milan Fashion Week. However, their appearance there will likely go down in history as a "RoboFlop."

The creators of Vogue World, a financially successful fashion circus event for paying guests, clearly thought it was a good idea to send two dancing robots down the runway after top models like Gigi Hadid and celebrities like Jennifer Lopez. The internet erupted. After all, this celebration was officially meant to honor Italian craftsmanship. Who exactly had lost their mind here? The industry isn't exactly fond of AI and machines. After all, its survival narrative is that *real* luxury must be human- and handmade, not least to justify the insane prices of products with the romantic factor of the human touch.

Or was the "innovative" idea of dancing robots perhaps from the event's new sponsors, Meta and OpenAI? Miuccia Prada's stony expression in the front row has already become one of the most popular memes in the "WTF" category.

Just a few hours earlier, the designer and her co-creative director Raf Simons had opened Milan Fashion Week, setting the bar quite high again. For next summer, Prada showed not a single pair of trousers, not a single dress, but 63 variations of knee-length skirts. It's impossible to miss that Ms. Prada herself prefers skirts and considers them as essential and universal as a T-shirt, but she had never played with them so consistently. The models wore wrap skirts with Velcro closures, plasticized pleats, a kind of crystal macramé, layered skirts, and so on. They were combined in a decidedly eclectic way with sweaters, tops with floral patterns or wavy chest stripes, which could generously be called bandeau tops. The very midriff-baring "bra-to-skirt look" was later seen at Dolce & Gabbana and Fendi, and will clearly accompany us and our abdominal regions for a long time in the age of Ozempic.

Speaking of which: The weight-loss pill manufacturer Eli Lilly was also a co-sponsor of Vogue World, which, given the very slender models on the runways again, fit the picture a little too well and is still causing discussion.

Some of the Prada mini-tops also had small, detachable clip-on pouches, which – gravity being a factor – shouldn't hold anything too heavy like lipsticks or keys. The "Splitscreen" sunglasses with different designs on the left and right are also likely to be bestsellers. All in all, not a groundbreaking collection that will make the all-time Prada hit list's top ten, but a perfectly composed offering that should lead to continued very good sales for the company. As Prada put it: "We design clothes for a company that has to sell clothes. If I wanted to make something that doesn't sell, I should change my job." It sounds like common sense, but this mindset has only truly taken hold since the post-pandemic shopping euphoria began to wane. That's why backstage at Jil Sander, it's openly stated that the brand is back in the black under new designer Simone Bellotti. Next season, they'll likely be even blacker, as his third collection is even better across the board.

Casually cut suits, jackets, and coats cinched at the waist, trousers with multiple crease lines, shirts with extra-wide collars that tilt slightly forward at the neck, silk skirts revealing a subtle print beneath a crinkled appearance. Anyone who still blandly calls this "minimalism" clearly only has Dolce & Gabbana and Roberto Cavalli for comparison.

However, this spectrum is once again gaining importance. Cavalli, because Gen Z fearlessly digs out animal prints in vintage stores; D&G, because, facing overwhelming debt, they are returning to their core competency of the "endless Sicilian Summer." White summer dresses with lace, straw bags, lace, leopard print, mixed wildly and combined with many accessories.

The "tacky" flavor is definitely back because it's a lot more fun than strict good taste. That's why Dario Vitale's first and only collection for Versace is being lamented everywhere in Milan. How "hot" and simultaneously "cool" was that? The Italian debuted here a year ago, was unceremoniously dropped after Prada took over the brand, and will design for Emporio Armani next season. The thought of what this man could do with the techno eagle logo in the future already makes some fashion people moist-eyed.

The two best show sets of the season were provided – not surprisingly – by the mega-brand Gucci, and – surprisingly – by the denim brand Diesel. There, the Belgian Glenn Martens showed his final collection, as he will now concentrate on his job at Maison Margiela within the same group. For the finale, the 43-year-old once again proved that he belongs to the best of his generation.

Materials here literally "etch" into each other, creating a casual material mix with frayed edges. Unfortunately, most didn't get much more out of the collection because a couple in the audience suddenly started some intense "petting," as they used to call it in *Bravo* magazine. They caressed themselves, each other, cuddled, and kissed wildly, accompanied by Donna Summer's "Love to love you Baby" with extra loud moaning. When other couples and threesomes were discovered behind and next to them, it was clear that things were getting a little too hot to be unscripted. Later came the clarification: 200 performance artists from the Marseille-based collective LA(HORDE) had been hired to convey the special "Diesel energy" of intoxication and lust. The numbers are also good here, by the way; last year the brand reportedly achieved its best results in ten years.

At Gucci, the numbers (and sex) have recently been going in the other direction. That's why mastermind Demna was brought in, who, on paper, is now presenting his third show but, as he explained beforehand, his first "real" vision for the house. Of course, there was immediate criticism that someone apparently needs three attempts for a debut, and so on. The fact is that other designers at other houses get more time to adapt to a brand. However, the parent company Kering doesn't have that luxury, as nothing is really going well under its umbrella right now. Alexander McQueen is fading into irrelevance, Saint Laurent is facing a designer change, and Balenciaga evidently is too, once again. Gucci really needs to hit now, it really needs to be shopped now – and in case anyone has forgotten how to do that, the new store design was simply mounted in the exhibition hall as a show backdrop. Celebrities like Shawn Mendes, Bianca Jagger, and (former Gucci saleswoman) Georgina Rodríguez sat on beige sofas in front of marble veneer, while many models acted as if they were looking at the displays stocked with real products from the current collection during their walk. Magnificent as a show, of course. But will people finally buy Gucci again?

Demna's male fans probably will. The bourgeois-neglected types with elongated loafers, ankle-length jeans, and shirts or jackets with Gucci monogram lining are already practically walking out of the boutique door into real life. They wear the typical "Horsebit" on shirt collars or coat epaulets, in XXL version on belts and handbags. The eternal equestrian chic, the trench coats, and the Tom Ford evening dresses slit up to the diaphragm for women are, however, well-known. Little is truly new or compelling here, at most the giant-sized fake furs and bomber jackets with tartan skirts and a dozen chains. This "Gucci feeling," somewhere between hedonistic, boastful, and also a bit *tacky*, is definitely fun; but it probably won't trigger a shopping spree like the competition from Chanel.

For those who primarily want to know about fashion, *what to wear next*: There are fewer overarching trends, but a few, of course. For next summer, you can invest in perforated shoes (Tod's, Prada, Jil Sander), pastel colors, especially yellow with purple or pink (Bottega Veneta, Jil Sander), and start styling what the *New York Times* calls "Gen Z Chaos." Absolutely not monochrome, and definitely not combining only similar styles (Marni, Dolce & Gabbana).

Brands like Tod's, Fendi, or Ferragamo don't seem to care much about trends and hype anymore and are simply doing their own thing (and doing it well). The collection by Maximilian Davis for Ferragamo, with double belts that not only accentuate the silhouette but divide a suit into an extremely short jacket and a high-waisted skirt, was even one of his best to date. If one had the money, one would even take to the streets in these 1940s-inspired vinyl dresses.

In the film "RoboCop," cyborg cop Murphy still feels his humanity behind the circuit board, his old identity proving stronger than the technology trying to control him. Louise Trotter at Bottega Veneta provides the perfect parable for this at the end. Her collection is once again brimming with creative craftsmanship that no machine could replicate. This time, most silhouettes also appear lighter, less forced. She understands summer as an optimistic idea, says the Englishwoman, "wear less, feel more." In the audience sits Jacob Elordi, and his current girlfriend Kendall Jenner walks as the last model, whom he affectionately photographs with his digital camera. Finally, Amore! And not as a staged performance or performance art – and certainly not by robots. The most beautiful celebrity moment in Milan.