A weekend in Milan with Simon Cracker, Magliano, Dhruv Kapoor and Pronounce

Young creativity was fully expressed during this Men’s Fashion Week. The collections unveiled in Milan for fall-winter 2025/26 showed real research work in design and materials, with on one side the Italian know-how of Simon Cracker and Magliano, and on the other the Asian exuberance of the Indian Druv Kapoor and the duo of Chinese designers at the head of the Pronounce label.

At the opening of the third day in Milan, a cry of rage is launched by Simon Cracker, who signs the most subversive fashion show of this Milan Week, entitled “Le perle ai porci”, (Pearls with pigs). Quite a program! His collection for next winter challenges the system by parodying the fashion sphere and the archetypes of luxury.

Chanel, Hermès, Gucci, Prada… The most seen accessories and looks on the high-end market and the key pieces of the most copied houses are revisited with a humor that is both fierce and joyful, by systematically reusing pieces and fabrics. vintage or worn from dormant stocks and reworked in shapes, treatments and colors.

For fifteen years, the Italian brand has been practicing upcycling, intelligently subverting fashion codes. She draws, among other things, this time from a stock of cardigans, which she ties together, reassembling them in her own way, to give new shape and life to this typical piece of the chic wardrobe, casually entwining it around a neck or shoulders.

The entire wardrobe of the fashionista addicted to luxury goes there, from tweed suits with gold buttons to small coats with fur-lined collars re-dyed in unexpected and faded colors, including the famous silk squares tied into fichus or this bag “iconic”, painted with a stencil on several meshes or reproduced on a fabric, which is superimposed on the different vintage bags collected for this collection.

It’s all about attitude. The bag is displayed in full view, hanging at the end of the elbow, with the arm slightly raised. The little puppy shown off by a lady wears a knitwear matching Madame’s suit, decorated with a bow. Sparkling fringes twirl in skirts seen a thousand times on the catwalks. But feathers and pearls give way here to garlands and ribbons for gift packages. These same inexpensive Christmas decorations are used to make jewelry, boas and other frilly accessories. They are also reconverted into long hairs on flashy shoes, wonderfully simulating the abominable fur-lined slippers, which have been all the rage in recent years.

In this “bourgeois punk” wardrobe, neither the diamond sweaters, nor the three-piece suit, nor the pearl necklace are missing. Embroidery and golden charms complete the look. Note the final look, entirely composed of business cards and labels from the most prestigious luxury labels and brands! The funny thing is that when we leave the show we have difficulty distinguishing the models from certain characters in the public, dressed in the same Instagrammable outfits.

“We wanted to make fun of this world of fashion that has gone crazy, where nothing works anymore while the world explodes between economic, ecological and geopolitical crises. We have a hard time getting out of it. But unlike the big brands, we we don’t benefit from any support”, slip behind the scenes Filippo Biraghi, the coordinator of the brand, and Simone Botte, who founded the label in 2010 by committing from the start to a 100% approach eco-responsible recycling.

The time is one of reflection and introspection, as also demonstrated by Luca Magliano, who leaves aside his ironic vein this season, to refocus on the essence of clothing. “I tried to look for that precise moment which reconnects you to the truth of things, to the truth in this world, to a certain intimacy too. This goes through a more romantic vein, which has always existed in my Magliano brand and which I particularly highlight it in this collection,” the stylist tells us.

Working on the “archeology of romanticism”, the latter was inspired both by symbolic writers of the 19th century, such as Emily Dickinson, the Brontë sisters or Virginia Woolf, as well as by a particularly evocative place. Namely the beaches of the Adriatic Riviera, which he frequented in his youth, deserted one winter evening. The ideal setting “to stage something romantic,” notes Luca Magliano, who opts for a dark and vegetal palette.

The models cross this stretch of sand, just lit by the halo of the moon, in sober and simple looks, designed for everyday life. Everything seems whispered, barely suggested. We find unstructured jackets, superb trousers with pleats or drawstrings, ultrafine knitted knits or the warm sweaters characteristic of the brand.

A revolution is taking place in weights this season with light and soft materials used for a men’s wardrobe that gains in sensuality. The salt and pepper sweater is trimmed with a lace collar. Mohair pants transform into dance leggings. The wool jacket is enveloping. The classic white shirt has no collar and is worn bare shoulders, draped over the torso like a bralette.

Change of register for Dhruv Kapoor, who returns to his roots, reinterpreting the multiple facets of India in a more contemporary vision, where he mixes an opulent and vibrant style with a softer and technical register. Floral velvet suits, inspired by Indian tapestries, are worn under sweaters or zipped boat-neck sweaters in dark tones. Skirts and tunics are modeled in the manner of the drapes of saris. The fluidity of the sari also shines through in the loose shapes of the pleated pants.

Crumpled materials recall the consistency of seersucker, local waffle cotton. Don’t miss the embroidery, of course, which insinuates itself into denim ensembles or adorns formal pieces via minute beaded decorations in the form of carnations or jasmine flowers. Elsewhere, a ribbon of matte ash blue sequins simulates a garland of flowers. Made up of precious pieces and basics that are easy to combine, this wardrobe is particularly effective.

The whole mix tayloring and sportier pieces seems restrained and soothed. An impression accentuated by an autumnal palette (brown, pine green, mauve, rust, gray) and by warm materials ideal for winter, like felted wool. Even this shirt with almost pop graphic prints invites you to relax. The front is illustrated with the image of a man covering his eyes and face with his hands. A typical gesture of “bhramari pranayama”, a vibrant breathing technique to relax the mind and body, the instructions for which are delivered inside the shirt!

Red lights and rhythmic music. Pronounce invites its guests to the Teatro Principe, a nightclub that was one of Milan’s heydays during the Nineties. The building built in the 1920s was also a famous boxing gym. The perfect setting to parade the chic warriors of the Italian-Chinese brand launched in 2016 by Yushan Li and Jun Zhou.

The models advance with forced steps, led by thunderous percussion, to a soundtrack by artists Zheng Ke, 1334 and Jie Shi. The wardrobe makes the big difference between masculine classics and extravagance. On one side, therefore, a series of flowing suits with double-breasted jackets with wide lapels, impeccably cut in luxurious fabrics, cashmere coats and pleated trousers.

The short suit and short coats worn bare legs with sturdy boots are all the rage. The torso is also visible under unstructured jackets, cropped like boleros, or through large slits made on the front of jersey tunics. Passionate about crafts, the creative duo makes macramé vests with long leather straps to slip over jackets. A bit like chain mail.

The theme of armor and the carapace develops in the more eccentric part of the collection with three-dimensional knits and sculptured garments via cocoon volumes made with drapes, excrescences and textile blisters, which are reminiscent of silhouettes of prehistoric animals.