Zegna

Bales of raw linen lined Piazza San Fedele in the centre of Milan for the Zegna show. The flax, grown at the company’s nature reserve, will be used to make the Oasi Lino (their special linen) that pledges to certify as 100% traceable by 2024 – 70% of this collection is made using it. Artistic director Alessandro Sartori is a master of the modular wardrobe. ‘We keep rethinking what an efficient wardrobe should be like today. The suit and matching jacket and trousers no longer applies,’ he said. The runway collection was seamlessly interchangeable, with endless summer dressing solutions

Prada

Expect the unexpected at Prada. For SS24, the audience was taken by surprise as green slime oozed from the ceiling, forming curtains that pooled on the runway. The Alien reference was accompanied by a graphic from HR Giger’s design for the Ridley Scott movie that appeared on shirts mixed with orchids and fringing. The show notes described a freedom of the body – tailored jackets were made in cotton poplin and tucked into shorts. The simple white shirt was the starting point for co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons. Suits with nipped waists were worn with nothing underneath

Magliano

Joint winner of the Karl Lagerfeld award at this year’s LVMH prize, Luca Magliano’s star is slowly rising. He shared the win with Julie Pelipas’s Bettter. Inspired by his Bologna roots, where the label is based, and Italian subcultures, his SS24 collection exhibited a louche effortlessness. Bomber jackets, vintage-look knitwear, slouchy trousers and denim were worn by a diverse cast of models making the ageless appeal clear. A masterclass in layering and subtle styling details – rolled sleeves, knotted belts and scarves

Valentino

Pierpaolo Piccioli is clearly one of the legions of A Little Life fans. Not only did he send out a special edition of the book as the show invitation, but quotes from Hanya Yanagihara’s novel were used on jeans, blazers and bags. Other show references included an appreciation for classic menswear codes and a desire to reinterpret them. The collection was paired back but with touches of romanticism in flower motifs and the colour palette. The show was staged in the courtyard at La Statale University where Valentino will sponsor student scholarships as part of its giving back programme

MSGM

Creative director Massimo Giorgetti’s recent trip to Tanzania inspired his SS24 collection. His memory-heavy iPhone full of photographs of sunsets appeared on bowling shirts and tank tops and informed his sand and lilac colour palette. Safari elements that fuelled his inspiration (torchlights, sturdy Jeeps and other safari essentials) adorned colourful jersey pieces. Boxy, wide-leg fluid suits brought a more grown-up element, but the mood at MSGM is always young at heart

JW Anderson

Home is where the heart is, and also Jonathan Anderson’s inspiration for SS24. Backstage, the designer said he imagined a child being camouflaged by the interiors of their home. Traditional upholstery fabrics were developed to make a sweater inspired by a Hicks sofa or a mop. Shoes riffed on Georgian chair legs. Pieces of ceramic Cornishware with its recognisable blue-and-white-stripe design were sent to guests as invitations and the set mimicked the familiar bold stripe

Dolce & Gabbana

Following last season’s return to form, Dolce & Gabbana stuck with the winning formula of tailoring with a modern twist. T-shirts came with draperies that resembled the structure of statues. Sculpted flowers on shirting softened the look (climbing florals are a key summer trend for 2024). Pieces from the archives bear bore the label of the year they were first presented. Meanwhile, a monochrome polka dot provided the only print and camel was the only break from black, white and grey.

Etro

A visit to an old bookstore in Marco De Vincenzo’s hometown of Messina and a chance discovery of a copy of Cesare Ripa’s Iconology – a 17th-century tome filled with allegorical images depicting vices and virtues - gave him the jumping-off point for his SS24 collection. Prints depicting allegory images of tenacity and eternity appeared on boxy football-style tops. As always with Etro, the sumptuous fabrics and prints were a visual feast. Shout out to vests making a catwalk comeback, seen here in intricate crochet and glittery lurex knits

Neil Barrett

SS24 saw Neil Barrett return both to the runway and his 90s minimalist roots. Uniform references cropped up a lot during this Milan fashion week, here they were manifested in a blazer or bomber/shorts/boots combo that gave a nod to military style. Nut brown and grey replaced black as the core minimal colour, zingy lemon and lime provided the accent colour

Giorgio Armani

Continuing Milan’s stealth-wealth, quiet-luxury trend, Giorgio Armani invited guests to his residence on via Borgonuovo in central Milan rather than the sprawling HQ situated across town for the unveiling of his mainline SS24 show. The giant pencil at the end of the all-white runway symbolised the blank page starting point of the collection. Classic styles are often revisited but they were revised with each new iteration. Updates for next summer included a raffia print and tailoring worn with nothing underneath – a prevalent trend on the runway in the Italian capital this week