Gatsby-esque suits and dolce vita tailoring: here’s what Milan thinks men should wear for summer
Shorts at Gucci that are short enough to make a matron blush, crop tops at Prada that no man over 23 would dare to wear and sparkles aplenty at Louis Vuitton. Men’s fashion’s current focus is Gen Z, and who could blame the conglomerates for trying?
Times are tough and it’s standard corporate practice to snare them young and lock them in for life – a phone case at first, levelling up to trainers in time – but across the men’s Spring-Summer 2025 shows, there hasn’t been a great deal for the grown-up male consumer for whom Taylor Swift sounds like a breed of bird rather than the biggest sensation sweeping the world right now.
Thankfully Alessandro Sartori at Zegna takes the long view approach to men’s dressing. The 57-year-old designer isn’t about the flash and frippery of the new, but a more gradual tectonic shift towards a more considered way of dressing for men.
This season, his designs were a fresh, light antidote to the searing 29 degree heat in Milan, with a focus on long term excellence of fabrication over a hit bag. His choice of models was also notable – characterful men of a certain vintage with sweeps of grey hair alongside the more youthful types who normally walk catwalks. Oh, and choosing 58-year-old actor Mads Mikkelsen to grace the catwalk looking effortlessly cool, was the perfect triumph of men of substance over kids creating a social media frenzy.
“We wanted to create a moment to really consider how men dress today,” said Sartori. “We focused on the fabrics and fibres themselves to push new boundaries and explore different possibilities, it’s a gesture towards a different way of speaking and thinking about clothes.”
When Sartori rejoined Zegna in 2016, having first worked there back in the late 80s and early 00s before a term at Paris house Berluti, the rather mannered house – then termed Ermenegildo Zegna after its founder – was known for immaculate suiting. It still is, but it’s been radically re-branded as Zegna and created a mode of dressing that preceded the “soft luxury” movement that’s currently in vogue. The focus under Sartori is all about softness over rigid structure, natural fibres and neutral colours over the City Boy flashiness that used to denote a “successful” man.
The focus was on the possibilities of linen, and the kind of guy living his best life during an Italian summer; light layers, plenty of that delicious, creamy yellow that’s so reminiscent of Italian architecture and deconstructed tailoring that looked inviting in the baking heat. The palette of nutmeg, cinnamon, pewter, stone, olive and rust tones was nuanced and sophisticated, and the suiting was part of an ongoing push by Sartori to reinvigorate tailoring for the 21st century, twisting and contorting it to make it more modern and workable.
He’s previously introduced a jacket that’s halfway between a double and single breasted, and shirt-jackets with suit trousers over traditional blazers. This time around he elongated the jackets and proposed tailored T-shirts instead of stuffy shirts. You could call the look “the new formal”.
The result was one of the most refreshing and wearable proposals for men’s dressing we’ve seen throughout this most recent round of men’s shows.
The question of how to cater to a grown-up customer (and crucially, one that actually has the funds to buy luxury goods as opposed to their sons asking for that hit pair of trainers) was on Simon Holloway’s mind at Dunhill, the creative director showcasing his second collection for the house in a tranquil Milanese giardino where traditional Britishness was on the agenda – Holloway spoke of references like Henley, Ascot and the British season.
It’s clear that Dunhill’s agenda is to steer back to that heartland territory that it previously made its own, creating evening wear for Cary Grant, and fashioning the wardrobe of the British aristocracy.
For the man who spends his time between Henley, Ascot and the City – increasingly rare, it has to be said – Dunhill created a bedrock for that formality. Nothing entirely new, but when fashion is so focused on the next big thing, it pays to consolidate and double down on what you can do well.
That’s the sentiment behind Ralph Lauren too, which showcased its wonderfully preppy offering during the men’s fashion shows. Suits in sorbet shades, alongside the kind of princely, Gatsby-esque cream three pieces and luxurious suede jackets that all feed into the Ralph Lauren lifestyle so invitingly.
There’s plenty for the kids to enjoy in fashion right now, but this season the brands which separated the men from the boys felt like they might be the true winners.