Now that the style set has packed up its things and headed to Paris to close out fashion month, let's sit down and discuss everything we just saw at Milan Fashion Week for the fall/winter 2024 season. Buckle up—the Italian houses gave us so much to talk about. This is a fashion week that's historically much more predictable than its counterparts in NYC and Paris, but with a new class of creative directors at the helms of many established houses and an influx of new labels on the scene, Milan is proving to have a strong It factor up its sleeve.
This season furthered the vision of the "new Gucci" under creative director Sabato De Sarno and brought with it a slew of sophisticated new handbags that we've already earmarked for potential "It" status. But it's not only Gucci marking a refreshing new chapter in Milanese fashion, it's also the rebrands that Maximilian Davis and Matthieu Blazy are bringing to Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta, respectively. The first looks at fall 2024 are already exciting us, and below, you'll find the eight most important trends to know about now.
Hunting Season
Things may be heating up in the red department, but the Milan shows just surprised us with a slew of hunter-green looks that have serious potential to become fall's big color trend. Deep olive tones popped up all over the map. At Bottega Veneta, marled wool outerwear was painted in the earthy color, and Ferragamo offered up sleek accessories, including its famed Hug bag, in a new taupe colorway. The rise of these grounding earth tones and the wearable, utilitarian looks they featured on are an indication that designers are returning to more realistic wardrobing this fall.
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Who needs a little black dress when this exists?
Practical and of-the-moment.
Time to upgrade your basics to this classic hue.
Swan Song
The spring collections ushered in the return of elegant 1950s and 1960s style, and now, Italian designers are crystallizing their vision of the modern-day swan in their fall collections, notably via Prada's fur stoles and Gucci's swingy A-line coats. High-society ladies like C.Z. Guest and Lee Radziwill as they're featured in FX's Capote vs. the Swans are, no doubt, the blueprint for this era of retro glamour and opulence that we're stepping into.
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Eveningwear circa 1960.
An instant winter-outfit upgrade.
Pure luxury.
Taking Shape
Suiting is nothing new, but the looks this week marked a notable shift in the way we're all going to be wearing our blazers and trousers. Instead of boxy, oversize silhouettes, designers in Milan experimented with hourglass shapes that combined nipped-in waists with flared hips. Jil Sander's interpretations were especially exciting, where hourglass blazers and tunics were married to relaxed trousers for a cool dress-over-pants idea.
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Sharp.
This is about as timeless as it gets.
COS is making some of the best tailoring out there right now.
Knits Gone Rogue
Something very curious is happening with sweaters. All across the Italian runways were freaky knits thrown about in every which way. At Fendi, chunky knits were tossed only over the shoulders, and at Tod's, a simple cardigan got an upgrade with heavy layering. They eschew any notion of a traditional sweater because wearing one as it was intended is so… last season.
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Jacquemus has perfected the artful, offbeat styling.
It's just waiting for you to think outside the box with how you wear it.
Beautiful color.
Glamorous Gloves
Despite the thousands of miles that separate designers in New York from their peers in Milan, the two still managed to be in sync on a number of fall styling ideas. The importance of adding a pair of leather gloves to an outfit was one such moment of telepathy between the two cities, and we only expect it to keep snowballing when the shows move on to Paris.
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Bring the drama.
This cashew is so beautiful.
Everyone should own a pair of classic leather gloves.
Animal Instincts
Call it the Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy effect—the influence of the late style icon has hardly wavered in the decades since she graced New York with her minimalistic street style. Her loyalty to leopard print was especially memorable, and this season, designers paid homage via animal-print classics like peacoats and layering tops.
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Love the idea of wearing this over an all-black outfit.
Très chic.
Easy and cool.
Coming Undone
The overall mood this season is grown-up and mature, and one way that designers investigated the discerning woman's wardrobe was through the idea of the undone. They took elements that are usually hidden underneath a polished ensemble—be it a garter belt, the clasps of a bodysuit, or delicate underpinnings—and put them on display to elevate these mundane outfit details to new heights.
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This corset detailing is sublime.
Tory Burch aimed to glamorize the imperfect with these pumps that appear to be unraveling at the heel.
You see a plain bodysuit. We see an offbeat new styling trick.
Cape Town
Speaking of swan style, the shows in Milan resurfaced another piece in a distinguished wardrobe: the cape gown. Models walked with trails of fabric floating behind them and beautiful draping at the shoulders that created an ultra-sophisticated effect.
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Now, all you need is a gala invite.
I found the dress. All you have to do is RSVP.
Just wow.
