Headed into the Fall/Winter 2026 runway season, the uncertainty around the biannual Milan Men’s Fashion Week was palpable, due in large part to a thinning schedule, a result of the increasing number of Italian fashion houses that have abandoned the traditional schedules in favor of the co-ed presentations in February.
Now, as the sartorial cognoscenti depart the Milanese festivities for the imminent shows in Paris, one has to wonder: what was everyone so worried about?
A fascinating combination of intriguing storylines and larger-than-life runways shows made this season one to remember: Ralph Lauren returned to the fold after a two-decade sabbatical, while Prada challenged its cult of dedicated consumers with new, complex and slightly grungy design language; there was a healthy blend of surprises alongside the stalwarts like Giorgio Armani, Zegna and Paul Smith; and, necessary to any solid fashion week, there was an abundance of celebrities and models to show it all off.
We were present for all of it. For those who missed the January action, we’ve whittled down the standout moments from Milan Men’s Fashion Week that you simply need to know.
Brunello Cucinelli Commits to Luxury
If Brunello Cucinelli, the undisputed king of menswear for an elite consortium of men that even most billionaires find aspirational, has taught us anything through decades of decadent collections, it’s that his namesake brand doesn’t primarily sell clothing. No, Brunello Cucinelli sells a lifestyle: a dogmatic worldview of Milanese-inspired living, rooted in near-unimaginable quality and craftsmanship and modeled in the image of ultimate luxury.
For his FW26 collection, this maxim is on full display. Nominally inspired by the great outdoors (a startling assertion, given the amount of tuxedo styles in the capsule), the collection, entitled “Ars Imitatur Naturam” (“Art Imitates Nature”), offered a wardrobe complete with traditional Cucinelli-isms and pragmatic utility alike. Soft-shouldered half-blazers and buttoned-up knitwear that have come to define the brand’s aesthetic remained in abundance, but now they’re iconoclastically paired with relaxed utility-pocket trousers and refined suede luggage reminiscent of something an eccentric explorer might own.
Zegna Redefines Craftsmanship
It can be hard to draw an aesthetic through line in a creative ecosystem as sparse as this year’s Milan shows, but, of the few clear trends that popped up, the prevailing visual sentiment was overwhelmingly concentrated in contrast. This was especially apparent at Zegna, which returned to Milan after a historic Dubai presentation last season.
Under the thoughtful leadership of creative director Alessandro Sartori and the watchful eyes of Edoardo and Angelo Zegna, newly appointed co-CEOs and fourth-generation members of the Zegna family themselves, the latest collection was an exercise in juxtaposition, not only to the contemporary, uniformist designs that Zegna has become synonymous with in recent years, but of modernity in general. Leaning heavily into generous, ’70s-inspired tailoring (the boxy tri-button jackets are some of the standout pieces across the entire week) and a deluge of luxurious fabrics, “A Family Closet” was a masterclass in using texture — marled mohair accessories, soft leather, felted lining on rustic tweed — to its fullest effect.
Ralph Lauren Makes a Triumphant Return
If there is one takeaway from what was perhaps the most highly anticipated runway show of Milan Men’s Fashion Week, it is this: never, ever bet against Ralph Lauren. Presenting for the first time in two decades, Mr. Lauren’s eponymous brand’s FW26 collections picked up right where they left off, with a whopping 70-odd looks, each uniquely and resplendently prep-coded in all the ways that Polo Ralph Lauren and Ralph Lauren Purple Label can be, offered up to an adoring and ravenous menswear public. (This included celebrity ambassadors like Colman Domingo and Henry Golding.)
Both ambitious and familiar, the collection wore its influences — westernwear, Old Hollywood, true Americana — on its sleeve in a way that only Ralph can, weaving together a distinctive blend of high-functioning prep, formalwear and Polo Sport-style outdoor garb under one bear banner and ultimately culminating in a collection with something for every type of RL fanatic. Closing the show with longtime Polo muse Tyson Beckford was the cherry on top.
Dsquared2 Hits the Slopes
Among the self-serious sartorialism of Milan Fashion Week, Dean and Dan Caten’s Dsquared2 is a routine standout, and a shining example of what a runway show can be: totally singular, daringly bold and, often times, unabashedly sexy.
Such was the case for the brand’s FW26 collection. Tapping into the zeitgeist around both chalet style and Heated Rivalry, the brand’s viral presentation included not only a train of models dressed in sexed-up, winter sport-inspired ravewear — a clear nod to the forthcoming Winter Olympics, which will also be held in Milan — but one Hudson Williams, who made his much-anticipated runway debut opening and closing the show. It was, in a word, chaotic, a sentiment mirrored in the fashion, which haphazardly combined a hybridized crop of oversized, collar-lined parkas and après-ski staples to serious effect. Long live horny fashion!
Dolce & Gabbana Embraces Manhood
What should a man — or, alternatively, backflipping pop sensation Benson Boone — wear? That was the central theme of “The Portrait of Man,” Dolce & Gabbana’s FW26 capsule. The resulting answer was less a clear style than a universal encapsulation of the brand’s core design codes: flashy, exaggerated suiting, eye-catching prints, plunging necklines and a wholehearted embrace of the male form.
Paul Smith Dives Into the Archives
It’s almost ironic that, of all the presentations shown at Milan Fashion Week, longtime British designer Paul Smith’s collection felt the most contemporary, especially considering that the capsule purportedly takes direct inspiration from the eponymous label’s half-century-old archive of modish apparel.
Reinterpreting classic styles through the fresh eyes of Sam Cotton, the newly appointed head of men’s design, the capsule offers trending styles like Henleys, Shetland knits and bag charms as readily as it does more traditionally conceived Paul Smith styles.
Prada Embraces Tension
It’s rare for a fashion show to be universally well recieved. It’s rarer still for the predominant sartorial narrative of that show to be “uncomfortable.” And yet, there seems to be a consensus that the machinations of Prada’s FW26 collection were as challenging as they were masterfully executed.
While the buy-in demanded from virtually every look from the Miuccia Prada-Raf Simons partnership was extreme — there was an emphasis on disproportionate shapes, a fact especially prevalent in the rail-thin sport coats and grossly exaggerated, double-layered shirt cuffs, and much of the collection was intentionally patinated and, in some cases, even stained with mold — the show asked the all the right questions. Like, “What if I Frankensteined a high-chroma rain slicker, trench coat and bucket hat together?”
Giorgio Armani Charges Forward
Giorgio Armani’s path forward has been understandably uncertain since the passing of its founder in September — the brand has yet to appoint a creative director to fulfill the momentous task of replacing the legendary Italian designer. And yet, if the latest runway show is any indication, the empire that Mr. Armani built seems to be as strong as ever.
Spearheaded by longtime collaborator Leo Dell’Orco, the FW26 collection embraces all the classic tropes of Armani’s legacy that have made the brand a bastion of Italian menswear for decades: the elegant, slouched tailoring that put Armani on the map in the ‘80s, along with peacockish hats, louche silk shirting, structured outwear and a whole lot of grey.
Canali Remixes the Classics
Canali’s choice of setting for its recent presentation — within a sprawling, curtained hall in central Milan and set-dressed as an elegant members-only club, complete with tastefully appointed furniture and roving models in the brand’s signature “Made in Italy” designs — and its newest collection, titled “Sartorial Cocktail,” slot neatly into the brand’s well-established world of sophistication and polish.
But while the brand’s signature hallmarks, including louche tailoring, luxe cashmere knits and refined outerwear in buttery leather and draped wool, were all accounted for, Canali’s FW26 collection felt markedly more approachable than previous collections, with a clear bent towards contemporary staples remade through the lens of the Italian label and rendered in a familiar palette of navy, slate, camel and ivory. This is no coincidence as the brand looks to expand its lifestyle presence, but it does bode well for exacting tailoring paired with voluminous shearling.
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