MILAN — Celebrities flocked to Milan Fashion Week on Saturday, the final day of runway shows, sending masses of adoring fans from venue to venue.

Madonna sat in the front row at Dolce & Gabbana, alongside Naomi Campbell and Victoria De Angelis of Maneskin. Damiano David, the frontman of Maneskin, attended Diesel, one of the season’s most popular shows, across town. Jacob Elordi took a seat in a bunny-shaped bean bag chair to watch the Bottega Veneta show.

Highlights from Milan Fashion Week’s largely womenswear previews for next spring and summer, held on Saturday.

Dolce & Gabbana celebrates Madonna.
Madonna made a semi-stealth entry to the Dolce & Gabbana catwalk show covered in a black veil, echoing her 1990s glory and praising the cone bra.

Models paraded in Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s iconic corsets and fitting jackets, each incorporating the aggressively feminine cone bra, in a collection that notes stated: “pays homage to an ironic and powerful female figure.”

Madonna Makes Veiled Entrance To Dolce&Gabbana For Show Celebrating Her 1990s Heyday

Madonna was not particularly mentioned, but the Milan designers and pop singer have been working together since 1993 when they created costumes for her Girlie Show tour. The tour supported Madonna’s “Erotica” album, which was released alongside her taboo-breaking coffee table book “Sex.”

Madonna has always been our icon. Many aspects in our lives have changed because of her,” the designers stated in a message.

The collection, titled “Italian Beauty,” brilliantly depicted that point in time. Cone bras poked out of cropped jackets with pencil skirts, garters hung from corsets, and coats molded the figure. Floral designs reappeared to enhance a black, nude, red, and white color scheme. Oversized crucifix earrings completed the look. The heels were unashamedly high.

After taking their bows, the designers headed down the runway to meet their guest of honor. Madonna, still wearing the Chantilly long lace veil with a gold and crystal crown, stood to embrace them both.

Bottega Veneta taps Wonder.
Bottega Veneta’s sometimes misplaced, sometimes crinkled, always intriguing collection delves into the crossroads of reality and dream, adulthood and infancy. Matthieu Blazy, the creative director, has a simple meaning: to delight.

“We need beauty. “We need joy,” Blazy stated backstage. “We need the experimental act. It’s also an act of liberation.”

In this reality, a dental clinic receptionist wears a skirt with a pant on only one leg, which Blazy describes as a fun gesture. In a typical sight, a well-dressed father transports his daughter’s pink and purple schoolbag. Do we like the bag? I do not know. Does it tell a story? “Yes,” Blazy answered.

Each element is intentional, from a flat collar on a dress styled like rabbit ears to large colorful raffia wigs, even if their ultimate goal is simply for fun. Crinkled garments represent a child’s attempt to dress up, which is wrecked at the end of the day.

Blazy’s characters carried what appeared to be typical plastic shopping bags, but they were constructed of nylon and leather as part of the brand’s continual technological breakthroughs. The faux plastic bags represented everyday life and were joined by the brand’s signature woven bags, one for a violin and another for a wine bottle.

Ferragamo’s freedom of movement
Maximilian Davis, Ferragamo’s creative director, praised the freedom of movement inherent in ballet in his new collection, which was inspired by archive pictures of company founder Salvatore Ferragamo fitting African American ballet dancer Katherine Dunham with shoes.

Dunham frequently taught and worked in the Caribbean, allowing the British designer with Jamaican ancestry “to find a link between Ferragamo’s Italian-ness and my heritage.”

The design is inspired by 1980s fashion, with broad shoulders and exaggerated tailoring, and pays homage to Russian ballet great Rudolf Nureyev, another long-time Ferragamo customer.

To emphasize movement, Davis designed long parachute gowns in silk nylon, suede, and organza with a billowing bubble form. Ballet dancers are honored with color-blocked cashmere shawls and layered leotards. More subversively, torn denim shorts resembled a tutu.

Madonna Makes Veiled Entrance To Dolce&Gabbana For Show Celebrating Her 1990s Heyday

Diesel enhances denim.
Diesel models walked through 14,800 kilograms (almost 33,000 pounds) of denim shreds to showcase the beauty of waste and create a dystopian atmosphere for their current enhanced denim collection.

Under creative director Glenn Martens, the Veneto-based business has transformed into a textile experimental laboratory. Short shorts are embellished with a waterfall of extra-long fringe, creating a skirt-like look. Jeans are laser-cut to look ruined, and cotton sweatshirt necklines appear distressed, but the impression is actually a jacquard with the cotton burned away to the tulle.

Marten’s stated that the brand’s “disruption” extends beyond its design. “We are pushing for circularity in our production,” he explained. In similar vein, a coat was constructed from discarded spools of denim thread, and giant jeans were made from recycled cotton, some of which was produced by Diesel itself. The scraps on the floor were to be recycled after the show.

SOURCE | AP

MILAN — White is this season’s trendy palette cleanser. This season, Milan fashion firms frequently launch their runway preview shows for next spring and summer with all-white outfits.

Tod’s emphasized white with tables of artisans crafting white driving shoes inside the shop, and then opened the show with a pristine white appearance, as did a slew of other fashion labels this week, including Moschino, Alberta Ferretti, Del Core, and Cavalli.

The fashion crowd arriving for the highly anticipated Gucci show traveled through a white tunnel that burst into sunset colors along the runway.

Highlights from largely womenswear previews for next spring and summer on the fourth day of Milan Fashion Week, Friday:

Gucci provides ‘Casual Grandeur’
A year after unveiling his first Gucci collection, Sabato De Sarno launched a new fashion cycle that focuses on some of his self-described interests, including tailoring, lingerie, leather, and a 1960s silhouette.

In its most basic iteration, a white tank with Gucci-stripe piping was worn with dark slacks and a hemline slit over trainers, evoking masculinity. Gucci monogram overcoats dragged imperially down the catwalk, while lingerie peeked out from glossy, rough leather.

Gucci Touts ‘Casual Grandeur,’ Tod’s Focuses On Artisanal Intelligence And Versace Plays It Safe

A blouse slid insouciantly off the shoulder. Sequined dresses rustled. Bamboo-shaped hardware was used to anchor the crepe garments. Miniskirts bubbled slightly. Floral headscarves or large sunhats completed the look.

De Sarno called the collection “casual grandeur.”

“Moment by moment, I’ve built my ideas for Gucci,” he said in notes. “A casual grandeur that takes shape through my obsessions … and always with an irreverent attitude.”

Jessica Chastain, Kirsten Dunst, Nicola Coughlan (who stopped to take a selfie with fans) and Italy’s tennis hero, Jannick Sinner, a Gucci ambassador, all graced the front row. A swarm of K-pop fans chanted in anticipation of another brand ambassador, Jin from BTS.

Versace plays it safe.
The first movement of Beethoven’s Fifth marked the start of the Versace runway show in the courtyard of the medieval Sforza Castle.

However, as soon as the models reached the runway, the tempo changed to contemporary club music as a drone captured the spectacle from above.

The Spring-Summer 2025 collection was modest by Donatella Versace standards, with good girls mixing and matching satiny pencil skirts, polos, and demure cardigans held together by a car coat. The silhouette and mod hairstyles evoked inspiration from the 1960s and 1970s.

Gucci Touts ‘Casual Grandeur,’ Tod’s Focuses On Artisanal Intelligence And Versace Plays It Safe

The most daring looks included short-shorts with tights and platform heels, or a chiffon dress left open from the belly button to display a pair of wavy-patterned panties. Gigi Hadid wore an off-the-shoulder floral midi dress that was both beautiful and not provocative. A metallic-finish dress with a plunging cowl exuded eroticism.

The menswear looked extremely similar to the women’s styles, with wavy knits in three different colours and satiny flower motifs on shirts or pyjama suits. That is, many parts to mix and match, with a carefree attitude.

Tod’s celebrates artisanal intelligence.
In a world obsessed with artificial intelligence, Tod’s emphasised handmade intelligence.

Dozens of workers lined the store, hand-stitching the brand’s signature Gommino driving shoe. Models emerged from beneath artist Lorenzo Quinn’s huge white hands, gripping a spiral of leather.

“Artisanal intelligence contradicts what everyone is talking about,” creative director Matteo Tamburini stated ahead of the show. “The focus is on a very elevated product, which is the cornerstone of Made in Italy.”

The Spring/Summer 2025 collection began with clean cotton pairs, such as trousers or skirts with large shirts. The designs were recreated in supple leather, designed to be fluid for the warmer months, while a leather overcoat was more sturdily old. The collection’s asymmetrical shapes and wraps added a sense of casual elegance. The looks were completed with barely-there crisscross sandals, the new Gommino in glove leather, or a clog variant.

Tamburini stated that the only thing he employs AI for is to create talking points for journalists. “I am not a writer,” he admitted, laughing.

Gucci Touts ‘Casual Grandeur,’ Tod’s Focuses On Artisanal Intelligence And Versace Plays It Safe

SUNNEI GROWS UP.
The Sunnei fashion label celebrated its tenth anniversary by questioning the fundamental concept of “growing up” and putting doubt on the idea of “maturing.”

With a dose of irony and quest for diversity, company owners Simone Rizzo and Loris Messina, both in their mid-30s, cast solely older models, primarily greying and most likely falling into the over-65 category, which according to the show notes accounts for 25% of Milan’s population.

The show, which spanned two floors, was kept at a sluggish pace, which the notes stated was due to the stairs, but could also have been due to the colourful platform flip-flops produced by the company in conjunction with Camper.

In any case, the collection maintained the brand’s winning, young jubilance, as seen in oversized pieces such as billowing bubble tops gathered at the waist, a striped T-shirt so large it resembled a tunic, and a blouse that tented over an A-line pleated leather skirt.

The season’s trouser for men and women features fanning pleats around the ankle. A more simply fitted pant has a built-in apron that can be worn over a utility belt with zipped pockets.

The designers openly admitted to an AI failure, relying on a human design team for the collection’s prints of six faces, which featured on dresses and tops and were available for purchase immediately after the show on Sunnei’s website.

Backstage, brand creators Rizzo and Messina congratulated their workforce with embraces, tears, and chants of “Bravissimi!”

SOURCE | AP

Shein, the online fast-fashion behemoth, has filed another lawsuit against Temu, alleging the Chinese-founded shopping platform of stealing its designs, reproducing its product photos, and indulging in other forms of fraud.

The case, filed this week in a Washington federal court, argues that Temu, which has risen in popularity in the United States, has subsidized its cheap costs by encouraging sellers to produce counterfeited items, stolen designs, and subpar products.

Shein Sues Temu Over Copyright Infringements As The Legal Feud Between The Two Companies Heats Up

The charges come as Shein faces litigation from brands and designers who accuse the company of stealing their designs and selling counterfeit merchandise on its e-commerce platform.

When asked to comment on the latest case, a Temu representative said in a prepared statement that Shein’s “audacity is unbelievable.”

“Shein, buried under its own mountain of IP lawsuits, has the nerve to fabricate accusations against others for the very misconduct they’re repeatedly sued for,” a spokeswoman told me.

The new action against Temu escalates the existing feud between the two corporations, which have already sued each other in U.S. courts.

A platform controlled by Chinese e-commerce business PDD Holdings, said in a prior complaint that Shein forced apparel manufacturers to enter into unfair supply chain agreements to restrict their cooperation with Temu.

Shein, which was formed in China but is now based in Singapore, accused Temu in court of deceptive business tactics and misleading consumers by creating counterfeit social media pages using Shein’s name but directing visitors to Temu’s platform.

The corporations abandoned the claims in October. Temu sued Shein again in December, accusing its rival of using “mafia-style intimidation” of suppliers to hinder its expansion in the United States.

Shein Sues Temu Over Copyright Infringements As The Legal Feud Between The Two Companies Heats Up

In the latest complaint, Shein’s attorneys claimed that at least one Temu employee took “valuable trade secrets” from the company, including best-selling goods and internal pricing information.

They further claimed that Temu misrepresented itself as Shein using imposter X accounts that referred customers to Temu’s website. They also claimed Temu had engaged in similar tactics through sponsored Google advertising.

SOURCE | AP