The Download: Milan Fashion Week spring/summer 2025

Bottega Veneta Spring/Summer 2025: Embracing Childlike Wonder

Bottega Veneta brought childlike wonder and playfulness to its spring/summer collection 2025 with the objective to ‘find power in gentleness’.

The line featured oversized trouser suits with one leg missing as well as distorted and creased pieces.

Models wore trench coats with floppy collars resembling rabbit ears, and accessories re-imagined as luxurious versions of everyday items like paper lunch bags and grocery totes.

According to the show notes, the presentation embodied a new kind of power dressing that revolves around sincerity and chic awkwardness. 

‘As a kid, there is the adventure of the everyday, there’s a feeling that anything could happen, no matter how fantastical, and we are not so bound by regular expectations and conventions,’ explained creative director Matthieu Blazy.

The guests were seated on limited-edition animal-shaped leather bean bags designed in collaboration with The Ark and inspired by Steven Spielberg’s ET. Gen Z heartthrob Jacob Elordi’s bunny-shaped seat and actress Michelle Yeoh’s ladybug-shaped seat, along with the presence of Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif and the ‘very demure’ sensation Jools Lebron, quickly went viral. Ironically, the brand deleted its social media accounts in 2021, but its PR teams keep their finger on the pulse to maximise user-generated content and clout.

Sunnei Spring/Summer 2025: Defying Age and Embracing Time

Milanese brand Sunnei celebrated its 10th anniversary with the collection 10 Years Feel Like 100, exploring the dynamic facets of time. The line –described as the most seasoned and mature yet by Hypebae’s Cait Monahan – featured eccentric colours and graphic prints of faces painted by co-founder Loris Messina’s mother, Marylène Fantoni, in the 1980s.

Messina, along with co-founder Simone Rizzo, made the guests wait indefinitely before using sonic illusion to match the collection’s theme. The show then fast-forwarded into time with a runway cast that featured only elderly models. According to Vogue, the cast of Boomers was ‘proudly showcasing their wrinkles and greying hair with absolute aplomb’.

Rizzo and Messina described their work as ‘snobbish, explosive and detached from so-called trends’. Perhaps that’s why the collection showcased oversized silhouettes with dramatic volumes, featuring super-puffed tops, smock frocks and roomy balloon shirts. 

Floor-length striped dresses and relaxed trousers highlighted graphic folding techniques from head to heel. ‘We don’t care about the future, we don’t care about the past. We just want to live in the moment,’ said Rizzo. Sunnei’s signature denim and striped t-shirts also embraced this expansion, while bold-coloured knit tank tops featured subtle textures.

The show concluded with an impactful finale, with the cast lining outside in front of the venue. ‘Nobody knows what Sunnei will look like in 90 years – and none of us will be around to see it,’ concluded Rizzo. 

Milan Fashion Week Trends: A Synthesis of Science and Elegance

In what can only be described as a rare confluence of fashion and science, three notable runways juxtaposed the fantasy of the former and the rigour of the latter. 

Taking inspiration from 4th-century female mathematician and astronomer Hypatia, Max Mara’s spring/summer 2025 collection gave a trigonometric twist to tailoring with crisp white shirts, fluid slinky dresses and the brand’s signature camel coats. ‘Why do people dismiss science and maths so much when there is such a strong parallel between what a scientist does and what we in design do: imposing order on chaos?’ wondered creative director Ian Griffith backstage (source: Vogue).

Designer Daniel Del Core took a more direct approach with his collection, A Day At The Lab, in which a scientist transforms into a fashion fanatic after working hard in a laboratory all day. The models wore sheer white lab-like coats and carried books written by female authors, including Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and Hannah Arendt’s The Human Condition. As the collection progressed, models traded books and lab coats for leather handbags and delicate floor-length gowns.

Prada challenged the influence of algorithms to highlight the importance of personal style and individuality in a landscape in which Instagram and TikTok algorithms often dictate what individuals should like. Reminiscent of an exquisite corpse, the venue was twisted into hairpin bends to prevent the audience from seeing or expecting what was coming next. Models strutted the runway in perforated skirts, S&M rings, trompe l’’oeil belts, ultra-mini bandeaus and sci-fi glasses and visors inspired by superheroes and their opposing villains. 

Nostalgia in Milan Fashion Week: A Look Back at Iconic Styles

As the luxury industry grapples with a slowdown and economic downturn, brands find it safer to look back to the past with archival mining and heritage inspiration instead. Roberto Cavalli’s spring/summer 2025 collection paid homage to the brand’s founder, who passed away in April 2024. The show closed with seven iconic archival runway looks that encapsulated his impact on fashion and pop culture in the early 2000s. 

Gucci went back to the swinging 1960s for its collection, Casual Grandeur. For spring/summer 2025, the brand drew inspiration from the summer style of Jackie Kennedy Onassis. Sabato de Sarno re-interpreted her gloves as rock and roll fingerless ones adorned with gold hardware. The former US First Lady also inspired head scarves, wide-brimmed sun hats and oversized sunglasses. Japanese painter Nami Yokoyama reimagined a vintage Gucci Bamboo 1947 bag – blending legacy with modernity. According to Hypebeast, Gucci’s treasured Horsebit motif drew eyes not only to its 73 Bucket Bag but also a legion of footwear: platforms, creepers, ballerinas and ankle boots included.

Similarly, Donatella Versace revisited the hedonistic days of the 1990s with mixed prints, mismatched separates and dopamine dressing. ‘I feel like I need to bring positivity,’ she told The Guardian. ‘This is a terrible moment. War is tearing the world apart. What else can I do but try and bring joy?’

Also sending throwback looks down the runway were Dolce & Gabbana, which recreated pop singer Madonna’s iconic styles. On social media, fashion enthusiasts were quick to credit Jean Paul Gaultier as the first to dress Madonna in these iconic looks.