“I am excited to see Marine’s first standalone menswear as I love her vision,” says Julie Ehrmann, Printemps general merchandise director for men’s ready-to-wear, accessories and shoes. “Printemps was one of the first stores worldwide to introduce her [Serre’s] men’s collection.”
On 11 June, British menswear stalwart Paul Smith will return to Pitti to present his main line for SS25. He was the first guest designer to show at Pitti’s historic Stazione Leopolda in 1993, but has something slightly different in mind for his second outing, decades later. “I plan to do something more intimate and personal than the very elaborate shows that seem to have become the norm,” he told Vogue Business in April.
“Pitti is the tailoring capital, so I’m very much looking forward to seeing what Sir Paul Smith has in store for the fair,” says Jian DeLeon, men’s fashion director at Nordstrom.
Elsewhere, Italian label Plan C, founded by Carolina Castiglioni (daughter of Marni founder Consuelo Castiglioni), will present its debut menswear capsule.
During the fair, we’ll be visiting ‘S/Style #8’ — a Kering-backed showroom of designers prioritising material innovation and/or social responsibility — in the fair’s sala delle nazioni. The roster includes London’s Denzilpatrick, Italy’s Via Piave 33, and Buzigahill from Uganda. Each designer has created special looks in collaboration with Kering’s Milan-based material innovation lab (MIL), established in 2013, to help the group’s design teams source and work with more responsibly sourced materials.
Milan Fashion Week men’s
Next up is Milan Fashion Week men’s, from 14 to 18 June. Like last season, which began with Sabato De Sarno’s Gucci menswear debut, this season commences with a fresh start: Moschino creative director Adrian Appiolaza will present the brand’s first menswear show since SS23 on 14 June. It’s also Appiolaza’s first full collection for the house (he took the helm just weeks before the brand’s AW24 womenswear show in February). Appiolaza is a “grand master menswear nerd”, says Vogue Business’s Luke Leitch. “His debut for Moschino is a hot ticket for me.”
“I’m expecting a bit more fun and playfulness in Milan this season, compared to the last few seasons that were quite conservative,” says Printemps’s Ehrmann. “I guess we are all waiting to see Sabato’s second Gucci men’s show as well as the new Moschino.” De Sarno will present his sophomore collection for Gucci men’s on Monday.