Just a few days into the new year and autumn/winter ’20/’21 menswear is about to kick off. Starting with three days of shows in London, the fashion set will then make their way to Florence for Pitti Uomo, followed by Milan and Paris to complete the season before the month is out.

Men’s fashion weeks have undergone something of a shake-up in recent years. While smaller designers have increasingly chosen to show in Paris, the bigger houses have upped the ante across all four cities (courtesy of Virgil Abloh at Louis Vuitton and Kim Jones at Dior), ensuring that the menswear shows are now a can’t-miss event. This season should offer clues as to where menswear is heading next. Here’s Vogue’s edit of what to look out for.

London

While London will be mourning the loss of one of the week’s most consistent highlights in the form of Craig Green, who is moving to show on the Paris schedule this season, there are plenty of newcomers (and returning faces) to fill the gap. Labels like Charles Jeffrey Loverboy and A-Cold-Wall* will be on hand to provide the theatricality for which London is renowned, while Stefan Cooke’s second stand-alone show since graduating from the Fashion East scheme will serve as another showcase for the designer’s impressive technical wizardry.

One of London menswear’s biggest stars, Grace Wales Bonner, will also be returning, staging her first traditional runway show in two years with a collection titled Lovers Rock. And despite Martine Rose being unafraid to skip the odd fashion week, this season she’s very much present: expect her Sunday night show to see out the week in style in the typically unexpected surroundings of a North London school.

Pitti Uomo

Over the past few years, the biannual Pitti Uomo trade show has gone from strength to strength, thanks in no small part to its intelligently curated line-up of guest designers. All eyes this season will be on Telfar Clemens, who is bringing his brand of offbeat Americana to the heart of Florence. Quite what the renegade designer has prepared is anyone’s guess, but a tongue-in-cheek nod to his host city could well be on the cards.

Another highlight will come courtesy of Yves Saint Laurent alumnus Stefano Pilati, who will be showcasing his label Random Identities, established in Berlin in 2017. Like Telfar, we can expect a show that will capture the spirit of Pilati’s home city: in this case the utilitarian, genderless style codes of the German capital’s electric nightlife scene.

Finally, Jil Sander joint creative directors Luke and Lucie Meier will be a third special guest – a sort of trip down memory lane for the husband and wife duo, who first met while studying at Florence’s Polimoda fashion school 15 years ago. Attendees can look forward to another season of the pair’s poetic take on the brand’s classic, minimalist staples.

Milan

After more than two years of presenting co-ed collections during the ready-to-wear fashion weeks in February and September, Alessandro Michele is bringing his unbridled creativity to Milan Fashion Week Men’s as Gucci makes a return this season. Prada is also having a homecoming of sorts, after showing away from home turf for the first time in Shanghai in June. Meanwhile, for your fix of classic Italian suiting, the week is bookended by menswear giants Ermenegildo Zegna and Giorgio Armani with some eye-popping glitz courtesy of Versace in-between. Another highlight is likely to be Fendi, whose menswear has become essential viewing under the watchful eye of Silvia Venturini Fendi – for unabashed luxury, there’s no comparison. The week’s wild card? Francesco Risso at Marni, whose topsy-turvy take on classic tailoring has marked him out as one of Milan’s most playful – and most radical – menswear talents.

Paris

What will a Vetements without Demna Gvasalia look like? All will be revealed on 17 January when the game-changing collective presents its latest offering – the first since its co-founder announced his departure in September to, he said via a statement, “pursue new ventures” and focus on his creative directorship at Balenciaga. With a departure comes a return – Virgil Abloh is back to work at Off-White after taking a couple of months off earlier last year on the advice of doctors. The Paris men’s week mainstay will be the warm up for Abloh’s Louis Vuitton show later in the week – if last season’s bright-red, LV-branded bouncy castle in the historic Place Dauphine is anything to go by, we will be in for a ride.

One of the only other designers with the imagination (and budget) to rival Abloh’s world-building instinct is, of course, Kim Jones at Dior Men. Fresh from his pre-fall collection that showed in Miami in November 2019, featuring a co-sign from Shawn Stussy, and following recent collaborations with Daniel Arsham and Raymond Pettibon, expect the collection to have an artist’s touch – and keep your eyes on Instagram for clues in the days leading up to the show.

There are plenty of British exports on the schedule alongside Jones. Many will be looking to Craig Green to see if his move to Paris brings with it a more rarefied take on workwear staples. Meanwhile, JW Anderson will be showing in Paris for the third time. From across the Atlantic, New York-based Emily Bode will be bringing her heartfelt designs to the French capital for a second time, while fellow 2019 LVMH Prize finalist Spencer Phipps will stage his third show.

It’s also a bumper season for designers with a queer slant, from the romanticism of Palomo Spain, to the racy minimalism of Ludovic de Saint Sernin, to the underground, utilitarian details of GmbH.

Finally, attendees can look forward to the return of Givenchy, after showing at Pitti last season. Under Clare Waight Keller’s guidance, the house’s menswear has undergone something of a reboot, with an emphasis on razor-sharp, rock star-inspired tailoring. Keller’s signature calm, considered approach will provide balance to an increasingly ambitious Parisian line-up.