At Pitti and Milan Men’s, It’s Gorpcore vs. Quiet Luxury

Milan men’s fashion week will see a shakeup in terms of focus, albeit partially unplanned. Satoshi Kuwata’s Setchu, fresh off winning the LVMH Prize for young designers, has maximum buzz heading into its presentation on Saturday. Magliano, which won LVMH’s Karl Lagerfeld prize, will show on Sunday.

Milan has been working hard to draw more buzzy, emerging brands — historically scarce on its the heritage-heavy calendar — and the spotlight from the prestigious prize could accelerate that shift. Meanwhile Gucci, theoretically a top draw since making its return to the calendar, has scaled back to a presentation while it waits for its new creative director to settle in (Sabato De Sarno’s debut is slated for September).

In Milan and at Pitti Uomo earlier in the week, look for signs of what’s next for two key menswear trends: gorpcore (think hipster-meets-hiking) and quiet luxury.

On the quiet luxury front, purveyors of classic Italian menswear like Zegna and Brunello Cucinelli are currently enjoying a surge in heat. Who else will manage to capitalise on the current love for tailoring and suiting? Smaller menswear houses like Caruso and Corneliani, which have struggled for years to attract younger customers and adapt to more casual tastes, face a rare opportunity.

A host of hip outdoors brands will also be present at Pitti, including Snow Peak, Goldwin and Hikerdelic, which takes an ‘80s acid house aesthetic to the woods.

It’s unclear to what extent rising interest in minimalism and dressier clothes will be incorporated by gorpcore and streetwear brands, not to mention big luxury houses like Fendi where logos and monograms are a key driver of sales. Some sporty labels are already rolling out more toned-down fare, like Asics, which launched a new sub-brand by Kiko Kostadinov. This week in Florence and Milan we’ll see which other influential brands jump on the bandwagon — or if quiet luxury really was another passing TikTok craze.