Meanwhile, Prada deserves a mention simply for its original design of the showroom. The architecture shifts with every season, but never so fluidly as for spring/summer 2024 menswear. The collection Fluid Form was viewed through a wall of clear falling slime – a form of fluid architecture – that gathered on the metallic grate runway in piles of green foam. The moving architecture was a metaphor for a collection that was meant to express the fluidity of menswear.

Here are some highlights from the past weekend of Milan Fashion Week of mostly menswear runway shows for next spring and summer.

1. Dolce & Gabbana feminise menswear

Designers Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana feminise the menswear silhouettes this season with tailoring tricks long deployed for women.

The wide-ranging collection of nearly 80 looks is a departure for the designing duo in any season, a play on quiet luxury. There are no prints, no colour and no bling. Instead, the focus is on shape and materials, with a neutral colour palette of black, white, camel and ivory.

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Taffeta is ruched around the waist, creating a cummerbund effect but reminiscent of the duo’s provocative ruched dresses. Cottony tunics feature chest-baring deep-Vs and long, trailing sleeves. A sheer organza top and pants are prettily decorated with floral appliqués on the cuffs. Organza panels gave an ephemeral touch over trousers. Wide satiny trousers were paired with a form fitting mock polo neck, a look that would equally suit women.

A series of oversized tailored jackets summarise the tailoring, with hourglass waistlines on long coats and ruched detailing on oversized puffers.

Booties and shoes that zipped up the back gave a futuristic edge to the looks, especially worn with ribbed long johns or briefs.

2. Prada explored fluidity

Prada explores the fluidity of menswear through a 1940s workwear-tailored silhouette that is at the same time liberating.

Co-creative directors Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons said they were experimenting with the idea of a fluid architecture that animates the male form, never constricting. Think white shirts, mid-thigh shorts, black socks and thick-soled shiny loafers. The collection also includes jeans, blazers and raincoats, and the leather bags are soft.

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The textiles are super-light, allowing button-down shirts or jackets to be tucked neatly into shorts, which were gathered at the waist, emphasising an idealised male form: wide shoulders, narrow waist.

“We were very interested to see how we could liberate that, in the sense you had a lot of freedom to move,’’ Simons said.

Hawaiian-inspired prints of sci-fi dragons were curtained with a long fringe, creating motion. Pockets on a reporter’s vest are more decorative than utilitarian, the designers said. Looks were finished with moulded eyewear and headbands, conveying a kinetic energy.

3. Charles Jeffrey Loverboy proposes a new Carolean era

Like the new Romantics, Jeffrey used costume “to depict euphoria, to depict a better life”.

The designer used Loverboy’s design codes of tartan, tailoring and knitwear, and combined them with what he called “joyful slapstick accessories”. They include a fanciful shield and sword decorated with classical figures, and tricorne hats adorned with scenes from Carolean theatre created with paper dolls.

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4. Simon Cracker challenges fashion with full upcycling

The upcycled, handcrafted artisanal brand Simon Cracker presented an irreverent and even chaotic collection dubbed “Theoretically” for that so-called moment when everything goes well.

This season “we used all the materials we didn’t love”, said Botte, plunging into a stock of chenille, Lycra and “nasty prints” that they had previously rejected.

Dresses were made out of men’s shirts. A quilted garment was turned into a funky bolero. Slip skirts were paired with painted button-down shirts decorated with fluorescent beads. Overcoats and T-shirts were treated with a solar printing process.

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5. German luxury house MCM relaunches

The brand is moving into smaller leather goods, treated canvas bags and accessories, and maxi bags with the new understated laurel motif. The new Diamant bag, featuring a pointed arch, can be carried as a clutch or cross-body bag, and also comes in an oversized version.

The accessory line is also being expanded to sliders and trainers, also featuring the laurel logo, that signifies a move toward a quieter luxury. MCM is testing the apparel waters with travel-ready wrinkle-free garments, like a treated canvas miniskirt and jacket for her and varsity-style jacket for him.

As inflation has pushed up accessory prices in the luxury sector, MCM is keeping its prices under 2,000 euros (US$2,190). “It’s a sweet spot left by big luxury producers, who unfortunately had to increase prices,” said Sabine Brunner, MCM president and brand officer.