Milan menswear seeks reassurance in nostalgia and artisanal craft, from Fendi to Dolce&Gabbana

MILAN — Amid ongoing wars, hardening political divides and accelerating climate change, Milan designers made a play for escapism on the second day Saturday of Milan Fashion Week, mostly menswear previews for Spring-Summer 2025. Fendi waxes nostalgic Models strolled through a path created by six spinning mirrored pillars offering a kaleidoscopic view of a Fendi’s menswear collection that waxed nostalgic with mixed plaids, stripes and geometric prints. “This collection takes the Emporio Armani man out of his usual metropolitan habitat,” the show notes said, “leading him on horseback across sunny rises, expanses of lavender and wheat fields stretching into the distance, pervaded by a sense of overwhelming independence.” Shades of sage, wheat, mustard and ochre fade into the landscape. As his brand celebrates 15 years, Giorgetti said the new collection — Spring-Summer 2025 for men, Resort 2025 for women —aims “to ask everyone to reflect on now and look to a new horizon, hoping that it will be better than today.” The collection projects optimism with bold stripes, big collars, daisy prints, intarsia knitwear and playful illustrations by British artist Luke Edward Hall.