My Favorite Looks From MFW Spring/Summer 2023

The Spring/Summer 2023 edition of Milan Fashion Week had many different key moments, like the massive Moncler show that took place in the Piazza del Duomo (Cathedral Square) complete with dancers, singers and musicians to celebrate the brand’s 70th anniversary. Salvatore Ferragamo changed its name to simply “Ferragamo” (this resulting in the change of the brand logo, too) and Maximilian Davis debuted as Ferragamo’s new creative director. Among this edition’s guests were Paris Hilton, closing the show for Versace, and Kim Kardashian, who curated the Dolce & Gabbana new collection for the “Ciao, Kim!” fashion show.

I wasn’t at fashion week in attendance this year because I’m currently doing back office work for both my consulting agency and one of the showrooms in the city; the days were quite busy and I was sorry to not be able to attend some of the shows.

Nonetheless, I still managed to follow them online (thank God for streaming!) and I have now picked my favorite looks from MFW S/S 2023. It was very hard to do so, since I loved many pieces from different collections, but I hope you will enjoy the ones I have chosen.

Also, stay tuned for this week’s Throwback Thursday post, which is going to focus on my experience at fashion week over the years (starting when it wasn’t even called fashion week!).

1) ANTONIO MARRAS: this was one of the fashion shows to open Milan Fashion Week; Antonio Marras had been absent from the last editions and the designer’s return coincided with the brand being acquired by Calzedonia, one of the biggest Italian manufacturing groups, which chose to invest in this luxury brand.

The collection was named “Il Teatro dell’Opera” (Opera Theatre) and it was dedicated to Marras’s love for opera and Maria Callas, to whom he paid homage at the end of the show with a few custom-made pieces. Green was one of the key colors in the designer’s vision for S/S 2023, which focused on a sort of renaissance of theatricality; the show was inspired by the imaginary search for an abandoned theatre in the heart of Sardinia, the designer’s native region. Nature took over and became its own character in this défilé, as shown in the floral print look above, which I find very exotic and elegant.

2) ROBERTO CAVALLI: Fausto Puglisi, the house’s creative director, presented a dream-like collection which stayed true to the essence of the brand, heavily influenced by animal prints and baroque paintings. The collection was inspired by the Golden Age of Hollywood (mainly the 1940s and ’50s)and its glorious costume designers Edith Head and Gilbert Adrian; Puglisi talked about it backstage, mentioning the time he spent studying the Adrian jackets at the Foundation Azzedine Alaïa, since they are part of the legendary couturier’s collection of fashion memorabilia. Puglisi looked at this period of time not only because of how magnificent it was in terms of style innovations, but also because he wanted to convey some of the era’s optimism, as we are living in a post-Covid age, defined by the war in Ukraine and the economical crisis.

The designer used pineapples and palm trees on the prints as jewel details, creating a mix that exudes elegance and giving strength to the silhouette; he played with transparencies in order to add a touch of sensuality to the clothes. The print on the skirt I have chosen as my favorite outfit from this show was used for a few other looks and comes from a 1979 collection by Roberto Cavalli; it has something ethereal to it and gives the outfit the glamour of a bygone era.

3) MAX MARA: the French Riviera was the main inspiration behind Max Mara S/S 2023; the collection was inspired by Renée Perle and Eileen Grey, who were part of the local artistic scene in the first decades of 1900, so it echoed 1930s Riviera at its best. This style is characterized by hats with giant brims, long skirts and tops that leave the back exposed, not to forget wide canvas pants. I am a huge fan of Max Mara as a brand and I love everything about this collection; the outfits are immensely chic thanks to the use of balanced shades like beige and light blue. The entire show centered around the concept of elegance and femininity, with its looks that combine beige and brown with sobriety, the same sobriety that permeated the very few flower print looks closing the show.

The outfit pictured above could very well be worn at a luxury beach resort; the short black jumpsuit is minimal and chic and I just love the giant hat and bag that complete the look. I am not always a fan of black for spring/summer (even though I love it for winter evening looks) but Max Mara reinterpreted it for S/S 2023 in the right way and the fluidity of this look remains timeless.

4) ALBERTA FERRETTI: talking about fluidity, it was also, along with lightness, one of the aspects that defined the Alberta Ferretti S/S 2023 collection. We could interpret it as fluidity mixed with lightness in order to create a series of looks that are ideal for a dynamic woman, someone that loves traveling, since travel was also one of the themes that inspired this collection. It combined different colors like turquoise and orange, giving way to eclecticism in a way that did not feel excessive at all; materials like line, satin and chiffon were the highlight of the collection. Alberta Ferretti has always liked to experiment with new styles; she told Vogue: “Fashion speaks a lot of languages now. It’s important that the woman changes and develops, but also that she stays feminine, sensual, elegant – this is my woman.” The avocado-green outfit reminded me of a dress from Philosophy by Alberta Ferretti S/S 2007, but the leaf-like designs improve it in terms of originality and wearability; it is definitely something different and more elaborate than the classic plunging-neckline dress.

5) MOSCHINO: I have loved Jeremy Scott’s work since he became Moschino’s creative director about nine years ago. I think his creativity is really one-of-a-kind; he fully embraces surrealism, and the S/S 2023 collection certainly did not disappoint in that sense. When designing the collection, Scott focused on the theme of inflation, as he explained backstage: “Everybody’s talking about inflation. The cost of everything’s going up: housing, food, life. So I took inflation into the collection” and he literally did, as pretty much all the looks included pool inflatables, even in details like the red heart-shaped collars on the black outfits. The inflatables helped enhance the beauty of his evening looks, turning the whole fashion show into a sort of pool party; this extravagance brightened the mood, thanks to the designer’s brilliant sense of humour. He added: “Sometimes we feel like we’re drowning. […] But no matter what is going on, we have to save space for joy, right? The darker it is, the lighter I have to be.” The collection was entitled “1980s Icey Beverly Hills” and took inspiration from the wealthy women who used to shop around Beverly Hills during that time (this also brings to mind Alicia Silverstone’s character in Clueless). It was hard to choose just one look, but this light blue dress complete with inflatable dolphins is beautiful in its own unique way.

6) MISSONI: this was the first collection designed by Filippo Grazioli, Missoni’s new creative director, and it was very much inspired by the house’s classic pieces, while also verging towards the sexy side, typical of 90s minimalism.

We didn’t get to see the kaleidoscopic palette which has always been one of Missoni’s distinguishing marks; it was switched in favor of other color variations, like the black and white pattern of the outfit I have picked as my favorite. The silhouettes were vertical and clean, with stripes and zigzags as the main protagonists of the collection. Transparency and light merged together in a fashion show that incorporated a variety of accessories into each look; pattern sunglasses, plexiglass heels and metal jewels were mixed not only with optical geometric print looks but also with outfits in vivacious colors like yellow, turquoise and fuchsia. I have chosen this black and white striped outfit because I think it fully represents the essence of Missoni, which Grazioli is recreating after a careful examination of the house’s archives.

7) GIORGIO ARMANI: titled Fil d’Or (Golden Thread), Giorgio Armani Spring/Summer 2023 was focused on gold and its purity; the designer added gold to its palette, interpreting it as the substance that mostly comes close to the idea of perfection. The collection saw the use of gold in a gentle, subtle way; as always, Armani is the epitome of elegance and feminine beauty. This aesthetic was very reassuring, with colors that ranged from silver to deep azure blue; violet and turquoise were also the colors chosen by the designer for his S/S 2023 creations. The entire collection had a feeling of tenderness; the silver dress I have picked is so simple and delicate that it conveys ethereal beauty and charm.

I love every single Giorgio Armani collection I have ever got to see; he has an unmistakable taste for dressing women in order to enhance a woman’s class and savoir-faire.

In a world where sometimes one feels like sophistication and femininity are fading away while bad taste, disharmony and vulgarity take up way too much space, it feels comforting to see Armani once again as the timeless ambassador of finesse and elegance in its purest form. I feel grateful to be able to witness his creative genius every time I watch one of his fashion shows.

Additional notes:

The images in this post link to the Vogue Runway website, where you will find all MFW SS2023 collections.