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

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