Milan Fashion Week

Sumptuous. Giorgio Armani SS27

| Design & Culture by Ed

There’s been a lot of chatter and speculation about who will eventually take over Giorgio Armani. As if Leo Dell’Orco, the late master’s longtime right-hand man, weren’t already doing a brilliant job. His menswear is sumptuously sublime – like the perfect vitello tonnato, a plate of artichoke hearts, and an espresso martini – and it breathes pure Armani DNA. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:


Giorgio Armani Solid Seersucker Sport Shirt



Giorgio Armani Herringbone Cashmere and Wool Sport Coat



Giorgio Armani Cotton and Silk Crewneck Sweater



Giorgio Armani Dyed Satin Oversized Button-Down Shirt with Pocket



Giorgio Armani Cotton and Lyocell Straight-Leg Pleated Trousers



Giorgio Armani Pleated Bib Tuxedo Shirt



Giorgio Armani 5-Pocket Stretch Cotton Pants

Skinny. Prada SS27

| Design & Culture by Ed

Prada’s latest collection left me feeling a bit unnerved. It wasn’t that Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons’s offering was “bad” – honestly, can they ever get it wrong? – but the collection’s near-fixation on extreme skinniness felt genuinely discomforting. I’m an XL; I’m never, ever fitting into those cropped denim jackets or hyper-slim trousers. But this isn’t about me – it’s about the message the collection sends. If you don’t possess the frame of an adolescent, forget about being invited to this party.

While I can perhaps forgive the romanticization – and even the fetishization – of youth in, say, Hedi Slimane’s work, I hold Prada to a higher standard. Prada is so much more than that. Where is the nuance? READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Past Present. Act No.1 AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

Luca Lin of Act No.1 is leading Milan’s new wave of designers, carving his own path in a landscape still largely dominated by mega-watt houses. His brand is a decade old, yet Lin’s work feels unseasoned in the best possible way. Trained in a traditional design discipline, he aims to “take that standard and use it to mix and match, creating something new.”

The result is a distinct way of carrying oneself: layered, oversized tailoring interwoven with details that possess a soul of their own. For autumn-winter 2026, the standout piece is a structured top hand-embroidered with more than 25,000 tiny deadstock buttons sourced from Italian manufacturer RIBL. Some of these buttons are over 50 years old, allowing the piece to blend past and present in the spirit of new materialism – a direction poignantly echoed by Hodakova in Paris.

But Act No.1 isn’t only about one-of-a-kind collectibles. The label also offers beautifully cut jackets, coats, and trousers, all subtly deconstructed and radiating an airy coolness. The sunburnt palette – ochre, mustard, orange, and burgundy – is delicious.

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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Well-Traveled. Loro Piana AW26

| Design & Culture by Ed

There’s something inherently soothing – almost regal, but in the best possible way – about the fact that Loro Piana has no publicly known creative director. It sets the Italian house apart from the endless game of musical chairs in which designers constantly arrive at and depart from brands. Not that it doesn’t evolve – on the contrary, a breath of fresh air has lifted its ready-to-wear in recent years, and substantial internal recalibration has brought it back into the orbit of clients who once flocked to The Row – but the absence of headlines like “Breaking: X leaves Y after just two years” lends Loro Piana a sense of stability. It feels like a safe space, a sanctuary insulated from creative turbulence and industry storms.

And yet, the brand never lets you feel too comfortable. It’s like a Poliform or Cassina sofa – something you can sit in for a while, but not indefinitely, because you begin to notice a certain luxurious discomfort. There’s an intriguing, almost intimidating quality to the world of Loro Piana, and that tension is precisely what makes it aspirational.

The styling of its lookbooks is undeniably snobbish, though in a well-traveled, flamboyant way (the menswear especially has that sensibility, as if it was custom-made for a queer prince – Manvendra Singh Gohil, the first openly gay prince in the world, comes to mind). It feels less concerned with the “good taste” archetype so restlessly pursued by brands like Toteme, and more with a kind of irreverence toward anything that even faintly reads as “mass.” When everyone else leans into a CBK uniform, Loro Piana charts a cross-continental journey, its latest collection tracing influences from Normandy to Persia. READ MY FULL REVIEW HERE.

ED’s SELECTION:


Loro Piana Reversible Shell And Cashmere Bomber Jacket



Loro Piana Happy Day Large Leather-trimmed Felt Tote



Loro Piana Boris Double-breasted Cashmere Coat



Loro Piana Broderick Corduroy-trimmed Linen And Silk-blend Coat



Loro Piana Alba Leather Slippers



Loro Piana Vivian Cashmere-blend Mini Skirt

Collage by Edward Kanarecki.
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