Minimalism by Calcaterra, cheerful vibes by Fiorucci, Sagaboi

On Thursday, the Milan Fashion Week runways showcased extremely diverse Fall/Winter 2024-25 collections, styled for self-reliant women who like to express themselves through their looks. Designers put the accent on their own unique identities, presenting smart collections infused with an amusing touch. Cheerful vibes characterised Fiorucci and Sagaboi, while Calcaterra pushed minimalism to the max.

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Calcaterra received its guests at Moebius, a tapas/cocktail bar in a lively district of Milan. The venue, illuminated by large skylights, welcomed the models in a confidential atmosphere. They all displayed an innate elegance in their austere autumnal looks, energised by a few splashes of vibrant red. Generous volumes, designed to ensure maximum comfort, were the order of the day.

Ample overcoats and cape-mantles, in some cases with pockets galore, reached down to the ground, cocooning the body. A menswear-style jacket enveloped the figure, which was sharpened by a skintight turtleneck jumpsuit. White suits featured collarless and buttonless double-breasted jackets. Pared-down tunics in glossy satin were worn over matching trousers.

Small details underlined the fluidity of the lines, like the white sail-like scarf slipped inside a grey suit jacket, or the fabric flowers and leaves stitched along the length of a bouclé wool coat, as though they had fallen off a tree. There was fluidity also in the tops and dresses seemingly sculpted out of fabric, cleverly swathed around the body.

As usual, designer Daniele Calcaterra has created a powerfully minimalistic collection, focusing on fabrics and innovative textiles. He used fine wools, cotton, silk and alpaca, often blended with high-tech fibres. Each look was carefully thought-out in terms of weight, length, lines and balance of proportions, resulting in extremely powerful designs. Timelessly elegant items, designed to make women feel special in their everyday life.

In her second collection for Fiorucci, designer Francesca Murri continued to explore the legendary label’s dual nature, at once innocently angelic and vibrantly amusing. For example, a pair of red wellingtons combined with a white cotton t-shirt that extended into a pair of suspenders. Sexy candy-pink pumps came equipped with riding spurs. Face powder puffs found an alternative use as earrings. Sorbet prints cropped up in the lining of some jackets and coats.

Murri breathed a cheerful, playful mood into the collection via a lookbook styled as a photo-story, its pictures taken in Fiorucci’s new showroom/creative hub, the backdrop to the new looks. Love played a starring role of course, each pic a romantic tableau. And the collection riffed on the romance theme via the messages embroidered on the clothes, all about love.

Except for the pastel pink that characterised a few of the looks, like the vinyl bodysuit worn under a formal tailored suit, vivid colours abounded, like the electric blue of a tasselled top with a garland effect, or the clashing shades of red, from cherry red to bright purple, in other items. A sequinned bodysuit was worn under tomato-red tracksuit bottoms, trimmed with white piping.

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The collection shown by Sagaboi on its Milanese runway debut on Thursday exuded the same positively vibrant mood. Sagaboi was born in 2015, initially as a magazine, under the aegis of Geoff K. Cooper, Trinidad-born but based in London, and morphed into a fully fledged fashion label in 2022. Sagaboi’s focus is menswear, but it staged a mixed-gender show in Milan that was steeped in Caribbean spirit.

The girls strutted on the runway with long ribboned braids down to their thighs, in some cases interwoven with the flowing strips at the end of a miniskirt. In a boots-and-miniskirt set, glittering with turquoise or orange sequins, the ribbons twirled like garlands along the models’ legs.

Other looks featured colourful shaggy fur tops, tank tops inscribed with slogans, and multi-coloured striped crocheted sweaters. Miniature metal bin lids were affixed like bra cups on white cotton shirts. Longer outfits added a festive touch, like the body-hugging jumpsuits and sheath dresses in a vibrant palette of yellow, red and mauve.