In Milan, Tod’s, MM6, Calcaterra and Sportmax all go minimalist

Austere elegance at Tod’s, radical minimalism at MM6, masculine aesthetics with large volumes at Calcaterra and a futuristic vibe with total white looks at Sportmax. Four different points of view on fashion, with one thing in common: a return to a profound sobriety for spring-summer 2024, as shown in Milan on Friday. 

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For his last show at Tod’s, Walter Chiapponi, made some waves. The creative director, who is leaving the Italian luxury shoe manufacturer after four years at the helm, managed to land the Laboratori Scala Ansaldo hangars to use as his venue, after two years of negociations. The impressive space is where the sets for the famous shows at La Scala theatre in Milan were created. The backdrop featured statues, wood panelling and other decorative pieces that were being prepared for the set of ‘Verdi’s Don Carlos’, which is opening the bel canto season on December 7. The entire show had a very solemn touch. 

Purity defines this beautiful collection, in which the designer sought to go straight to the essentials. The almost austere looks, often in a tone-on-tone neutral palette, were both comfortable and ultra chic. “I’ve moved away from romanticism towards a more severe elegance. I worked a lot on the couture aspect and on the essence of the garment, using precious fabrics and a great deal of research into materials,” explains the designer, who also brought along some of the company’s artisan shoemakers, who could be seen at work on their long wooden benches set up in the middle of the set.

The codes of the men’s wardrobe were subtly hijacked and inserted into the women’s dressing room. Suits and men’s jackets, sometimes worn inside out for a new effect; shirts transformed into dresses; classic men’s waistcoats reworked as sleeveless, low-cut tops; chunky leather belts with pockets and a metal buckle for hanging a pair of driving gloves, emphasising the waist.
 
Pleated skirts added movement to certain looks, while flashes of colour made an appearance here and there, particularly in chunky knitwear. As always at Tod’s, leather had pride of place. Particularly very soft skins, from which the designer cut shirts, jackets, skirts, trousers and trench coats. The show ended with a tight-fitting strapless dress buttoned at the back. An emotional Walter Chiapponi came out to take his bows, and the audience cheered him on.

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The day before, Martin Margiela unveiled the new collection of his contemporary MM6 line in a similar spirit, with loose, comfortable looks in a palette of black, grey, white, beige and flesh, interpreted through different materials and textures. “Matte, satin, shiny”, said a slogan printed in black on a white apron.
 
Once again, the focus was on the construction of the garment, starting with work uniforms. Asymmetrical tunics held by a single-shoulder strap resembled butchers’ aprons. They come in white cotton, in a lingerie version with black lace, or in a dark wool fabric usually used to cut a suit.
 
MM6’s collection was deconstructed, working on lengths, superimpositions and asymmetries. Long tunics and T-shirts were slit at the sides, sometimes without sleeves. Jackets were elongated, resembling short coats; baggy trousers, reminiscent of cargo pants, were split at the sides like the sides of a skirt; impalpable cardigans stretched to the knees. While little jackets and bib tops were tied with simple ribbons. Just like the aprons.

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Simplicity and couture construction were also the order of the day at Calcaterra, which used the same neutral, classic palette. Designer Daniele Calcaterra put the emphasis on volume with a collection made up of ample shorts, wrap-around coats, hood-like trench coats, exaggerated waistcoats, floating dresses and suits.
 
Everything seemed oversized, with clear references to the 1980s, as evidenced by this large faded denim jacket, and the extra-wide shoulders and sleeves of another suit jacket, cut very short like a Spencer.
 
The designer delved back into his archives, going back to the time of his first steps in fashion. We found his penchant for beautiful materials, precise cuts and the masculine/feminine interplay. Cooler or warmer shades, such as botanical greens, a hint of tangerine or a rusty brown, enhanced this sober collection. Fringed pieces in raffia and delicate details, such as pearls scattered over pegged trousers or mini-baguettes sewn onto a silk blouse, added a feminine touch to the ensemble.

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Sportmax took things in a different direction with a minimalist-futuristic collection. The models walked along a white-tiled catwalk as if in a laboratory, circling an enormous aquarium filled with lush flowers and plants. Everything felt aseptic, as if we had been plunged into a milky world. Unsurprisingly, the collection was also made up entirely of total white looks, presented in a wide variety of shades and textures.

Candy white, ivory, vanilla, matt, translucent, opaque and even blurred, when a layer of tulle covered the body and clothes, making it seem to be wrapped in cellophane. Some dresses were made from shiny satins, others from PVC or technical fabrics. Dresses, coats and suits were made from strong cottons, crisp coated linens or paper fibres.
 
Everything suggested a world from the future, sometimes disturbing, with dresses that looked like medical scrubs, shirts with oversized shoulders and extended sleeves, reminiscent of straitjackets, and strange tubular dresses in the shape of giant sleeves with oversized collars. Velcro fastenings added to this techno-futuristic vibe.