While fringing continues to lead autumn’s craft-heavy approach, the Italian fashion capital is also championing ankle-grazing knit gowns and skirt suiting fit for a new-gen film noir heroine. Here’s everything you need to know. 

The classic Milanese wardrobe codes — form-fitting silhouettes, tactile knitwear and ultra-luxurious leather separates — were all present and correct at Milan Fashion Week autumn/winter ’20/’21, but a closer look revealed a new, edgier elegance. Call on Daniel Lee’s easy going glamour at Bottega Veneta (think lashings of sparkle and trailing fringing) and draw upon Gucci’s sublime theatrics — the latest fashion lesson from the Italian style capital offers a schooling in characterful dressing. Here are the six trends you need to know from Milan Fashion Week autumn/winter ’20/’21.

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The trend: XXL fringing

Where we’ve seen it: Prada, Jil Sander, Bottega Veneta, Alberta Ferretti

What you need to know: The abundance of fringing adorning everything from evening dresses to blazers and clutch bags on Milan’s catwalks this past week won’t, perhaps, come as a surprise to anyone who’s been following the trends emerging out of New York and London. But this was MFW and when the Italian fashion set turns their attention to all things tasseled, they aren’t about to be outshone. The bottom line? “More is more.” Miuccia has spoken.

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The trend: skirt suiting

Where we’ve seen it: Fendi, Gucci, Prada

What you need to know: Ultra-feminine silhouettes are yielding new power in the hands of the industry’s foremost design talent. While London continues to enjoy an enduring love affair with corsetry, Milan is all about the cinching, belted jacket. And, yes, the time has come to reangle your approach to full-look tailoring. Autumn’s biggest wardrobe switch up will see the slouchy, late-1990s trouser (a perennial front-row favourite over the past five years) relegated in favour of the straight-cut pencil skirt.

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The trend: pared-back metallics

Where we’ve seen it: Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, No. 21

What you need to know: There’s something meme-worthy about the Milanese approach to bedazzling eveningwear in 2020. The scenario: you’re half-dressed for the party of a lifetime, but might, you know, also perhaps stay in and rewatch Succession in a hoodie you’ve had since university. Consider the pared-down glamour spotted on the runways at MFW as the custom solution for the non-committal modern woman. Go the whole nine yards on the bottom half, but keep all else conspicuously cosy.

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The trend: babydoll revival

Where we’ve seen it: Gucci, MSGM, Alberta Ferretti

What you need to know: Alessandro Michele beckoned showgoers on a journey into wonderment at Gucci, with a show that flipped the concept of a catwalk reveal in favour of a theatrical ‘backstage’ journey. The clothes were no less subversive — among them, the abbreviated hemlines of the sugar-sweet babydoll, refashioned in bonded lace, buffed leather and clashing paintbox hues.

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The trend: knitted gowns

Where we’ve seen it: Jil Sander, Agnona, Bottega Veneta

What you need to know: Joan Didion’s influence over fashion was felt keenly in Phoebe Philo’s Céline collections and later the 2015 campaign that Didion herself starred in for the house. For autumn/winter 2020, we’re turning, once again, to the most admired piece in the acclaimed American writer’s fashion playbook — the ankle-grazing knit dress. Jil Sander’s luxurious rib-knit gown is more than worthy of a modern-day homage to Julian Wasser’s legendary shot of Didion’s leaning against the side of a Corvette Stingray in front of her Hollywood home back in 1968.

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The trend: lacework retake

Where we’ve seen it: Emilio Pucci, Ermanno Scervino, Fendi

What you need to know: Koché designer Christelle Kocher’s guest slot at Emilio Pucci this season marked a stylistic shift for the label that’s long remained associated with the hallmark print of a bygone jet-set era. Kocher’s ace-in-the-pack? Pucci’s archival lacework — primed for a new decade revival thanks to the French designer’s intuitive understanding of how Gen-Z likes to dress.