The Japan Times - Milan menswear fashion week heads to the slopes

Ralph Lauren marked his return to Milan after a 24-year absence with symbols of American elegance, from formal suits and tweeds, toughened up with boots and cowboy boots, in front of celebrities including actors Liam Hemsworth and Tony Leung Ka-fai.

The American designer also looked ahead to the Winter Olympics that begin on February 6 in the Italian city, and where he is dressing the US team, with nods to winter in Aspen, featuring patterned jumpers and a blue ski suit cinched with turquoise.

Dsquared2 also presented for autumn-winter 2026-27 an army of holidaymakers shod in provocative footwear.

Puffer jackets cut like dresses and huge parkas topped with XXL fake fur hats completed the look of the "hot as ice" team, as one jumper had it.

Canadian actor Hudson Williams, star of the television series "Heated Rivalry" in which he plays a professional ice hockey player, opened the show for Dsquared2.

Armani's sports brand EA7, Italian label K-Way and Chinese sports giant Li-Ning, sponsor of its national team, have also planned Alpine-themed events before the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

Earlier on Friday, designer Alessandro Sartori invited buyers and journalists into Zegna's personal wardrobe, with structured jackets paired with flowing trousers in natural green and terracotta, and innovative fabrics.

"He's created a wardrobe that puts down roots in the past but looks to the future," the head of the Italian Chamber of Commerce, Carlo Capasa, told AFP.

He called it an example of "the trend towards a return to basics, to craftsmanship, to tailoring" and a positive sign at a time when Italian fashion is in crisis.

- Crisis -

Italy's fashion industry remains mired in the luxury downturn and caught between falling exports and claims of abuse in sub-contracting.

In menswear, the turnover of Italian companies fell in 2025 by 2.1 percent year-on-year, to 11.2 billion euros ($13 billion), according to the employers' federation Confindustria Moda.

Every category is down, apart from leather garments, in a sector that represents 19.3 percent of Italy's textile economy.

Exports, mainly to destinations such as France, Germany and the United States, have fallen two percent while imports are up 2.8 percent.

China is buying less but the Italians are "working on new markets", said Capasa.

"Welcome to Mercosur (the four Latin American countries with which the EU has recently secured a free trade deal), to the Middle East, which is growing, and also the first Indian buyers," he added.

- 'New colours' -

The Giorgio Armani show is scheduled for Monday in its historic workshops in the heart of Milan's fashion quarter.

Even though his partner and collaborator Leo Dell'Orco was already in charge of the menswear collections, this will be the first show without the supervision of the indefatigable founder, who died in September last year, aged 91.

Dell'Orco has indicated that there will be "continuity, with bright touches".

"We allowed ourselves take a few liberties, we have looked again at sizes, some new colours, fabrics with changing shades, as symbols of a change, with the utmost respect," he said in an interview with the Corriere della Sera on Friday.

Milan show regulars Prada and Dolce & Gabbana are scheduled over the weekend while British designer Paul Smith is making a comeback after a first menswear show in June last year.

K.Hashimoto--JT