Milan Fashion Week's best looks, from Giorgio Armani to Prada

Milan Fashion Week is usually a glamorous event showcasing the best of Italian fashion and fabulous street style. This season, it's taking place with a digital-only format, similar to the London shows that came to a close on Tuesday 23rd February.

From what we have seen so far, the Italian fashion houses are in high spirits with many of the city's biggest names, from Giorgio Armani and Prada, to Dolce and Gabbana and Fendi showing their latest upbeat collections.

Here are the highlights from the Milan autumn/winter 2021 collections so far...

Valentino

Economist George Taylor's hemline index suggests that when economies are good, hemlines rise. If that’s anything to go by, then we’re looking at a prosperous future. Pierpaolo Piccioli of Valentino may not be an economics whizz, but he is a man that knows what his customers want. Cue the arrival of the sophisticated mini — from laser-cut sweater dresses, peekaboo skirts layered under sequined blazers, peacoats and lightweight capes to gothic style Wednesday Addams frocks.

Dolce & Gabbana

Dolce & Gabbana remixed their classic bodices - worn by the likes of Cindy Crawford and Naomi Campbell in the '90s - for the TikTok era, splattered with Jackson Pollock paint and logoes galore. Other key looks included vintrantly printed co-ords, lacquered lace bralettes and disco trousers.

Philosophy di Lorenzo Serafini

Pinned to Lorenzo Serafini’s mood board for his autumn collection are two girls in cricket gear, boys in military-style marching band uniforms, and a model posing as Princess Anne - an editorial dedicated to the Princess Royal in The Face magazine from 1997. For an Italian designer, Serafini is deeply invested in the British Royal family's style, naming one of his square bags with fluo torchon laces after Princess Anne. He even used symbolic coats of arms to nod to Britain’s monarchy.

The separates in the collection feel like a posh boarding school uniform: V-neck sweaters with the PLS initials, multi-printed pleated skirts, knotted head scarves and oversized blazers layered atop of rah-rah skirts.

Salvatore Ferragamo

Last season Paul Andrew, creative director of Salvatore Ferragamo, had The Birds, Marnie, and Vertigo at the top of his watch list. This season he’s swapped genres, from thrillers to ‘90s sci-fi classics: Gattaca, Until The End Of The World, and The Matrix. The collection featured boxy tailoring flooded with neon colours. The British-born footwear specialist toyed with new styles: space-biker boots, scuba sock sneakers and rubberised clogs.

Giorgio Armani

The future is luxuriously utilitarian according to Giorgio Armani’s autumn/winter collection: maxi skirts and harem pants with slouchy blazers and flat shoes. The sagacious designer knows that many people won’t switch off from their current state of elasticated waistbands and cosy fabrics as soon as the whistle is blown indicating freedom. Armani is a realist; his idea of the new 'Roaring ‘20s' involves a more understated glamour.

Tod's

Walter Chiapponi of Tod’s is a concise designer — one that doesn’t waste fabrics or use filler looks to oomph up his collections. In his autumn/winter collection, he has taken a liking to the leather duvet, transforming the normal into something peculiarly stylish: cropped jackets, shift dresses and figure-hugging coats. Tulle dresses and pussybow blouses are new elements to Chiapponi’s design vocabulary for Tod’s, incorporating these pieces with ease and sensibility into the collection.

Etro

Like many designers Veronica Etro has relaxed her approach to design in lockdown and it has worked in her favour. Her classic boho dresses have been styled with an array of colourful knits, printed wide-leg trousers and flat knee-high boots.

Emporio Armani

Giorgio Armani is looking to the ‘80s this season, for good reason - his Emporio Armani line was was founded in this decade, and celebrates its 40th anniversary this year. The vibrancy of the era has been refined with slender suits and velvet patchwork dresses, plus a few pops of fuchsia in separates and androgynous eveningwear.

Loro Piana

“Our products and collections are designed to last; we imagine that our design is timeless," Fabio d'Angelantonio, CEO of Loro Piana told The Telegraph of his new collection. Timelessness, and quality, are the focuses here. "For many brands the new collection’s only mission is to outdate the previous one from the taste and imagination of consumers. We have never had this obsessive rhythm. We aim to create beauty that lasts, when the new collection comes out, it does so with a vocation for continuity.”

Luxury and comfort, still rule - next season the label's world-famous cashmere comes in splashes of bubblegum pink, mustard yellow and emerald green.

Moschino

Over at Jeremy Scott’s Moschino, it’s a woman’s world. The designer travelled back in time to 1939 to revisit George Cukor’s The Women with a star-studded cast: Maye Musk, Dita Von Teese, Shalom Harlow, Amber Valletta and Miranda Kerr. Fixated on Old Hollywood, Scott presented impeccably proportioned suit-skirts that cinched in at the waist and shoulder-robing coats were amped up with cow prints. The evening wear section paid tribute to fashion’s masters: Thierry Mugler’s derrière cutout from 1995 and Yves Saint Laurent’s bouffant-shaped opera coats.

Prada

In a panel discussion after the Prada show, Miuccia Prada revealed that she has used lockdown to read literature and watch movies, as well as working on one, The United States Vs. Billie Holiday. In the third collaboration between Mrs. Prada and Raf Simons, the duo revisited classic Prada-isms: geometric prints, sequins and button-down coats.

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas built the spaces which the models walked through, from empty marble rooms to ones lined in faux-fur, coordinating with the fuzzy coats clutched at the chest.

Max Mara

Knotted head scarves, quilted gilets and jackets, checked skirts... if you hadn't already guessed, Ian Griffiths at Max Mara was inspired by The Queen for his autumn/winter collection. Griffiths decided to draw on Her Majesty’s humble off-duty style, often seen when she’s at Balmoral, Windsor or Sandringham. If in the last year you’ve relocated to the countryside or taken up an avid interest in nature, you will be pleased to know that your walking boots aren’t going out of style just yet.

Brunello Cucinelli

Speaking from Solomeo, the Umbrian village where the Brunello Cucinelli label is headquartered, the philosophical designer spoke of healing our surroundings and quoted the greats: Xenophon, Thomas Moore, Rousseau, Plato and Aristotle. His overarching message was for young people (including his own daughters, who work with him); “And especially you young people, you should definitely replace the word fear with the word hope, because a life without hope is not really worth being lived.” It's hard not to feel hopeful when luxurious cashmere is being talked about.

Cucinelli stayed true to his signature neutral palette, toying with pale earthy colours, including different tones of grey, from silver and charcoal to glaucous blue and silky cream. Key pieces included double-faced cashmere maxi coats, intricately crocheted cardigans, jumpers, beanies and even jeans.

Fendi

Kim Jones' debut ready-to-wear collection spoke as much to Fendi's faithful 50-something clients as the Gen Z young things who have fallen for its logo pieces in recent years. Many looks evoked Elvira Hancock (played by Michelle Pfeiffer) from Scarface, while the sleek shades of beige alluded to the costumes in Basic Instinct.

Alberta Ferretti

It’s back to work and reality for Italian fashion designer Alberta Ferretti, presenting an audience-free collection on a foggy catwalk, hinting to early morning commutes in the winter season.

“During lockdown I embraced dressing in a relaxed manner. However, I must admit, I would ponder over which wool and knitwear pieces I could match with a classic tailored coat even if only for a stroll with my dog,” Ferretti told The Telegraph. Ferretti subtly incorporated a few tropes of lockdown into the show — ruffled collars peeking out from under cashmere sweaters, oversized pieces of wool turned into cape coats and there was the comforting warmth of shearling and suede.

“Our wardrobes are an extension of who we are, so it is important not to neglect the way we present ourselves,” she said.

Ferretti’s eveningwear came just in time for awards season: a gilded dress covered in studs and sequins, a strapless black mermaid number and a delicate jellyfish dress that moved in slow-motion down the catwalk. “I have missed attending events and special occasions. More than ever before the feeling of donning a gown makes it that much more special today. Pre-COVID, we took a lot for granted so the opportunity to dress up is something to celebrate. My hope is to see my clients strutting in their platform boots and hugging the bags from the show sooner than you think,” she said.

Missoni

Angela Missoni's autumn/winter collection makes the case for combining the casual and the glamorous, whether that's pairing trainers with a shimmering net dress or sport shorts and a cardigan with knee-high boots. These were luxe knits that will work for lockdown and well as the 'Roaring '20s' which are predicted to be on the horizon.

For more news, analysis and advice from The Telegraph’s fashion desk, click here to sign up to get our weekly newsletter, straight to your inbox every Friday. Follow our Instagram @Telegraphfashion