Dolce & Gabbana and Paul Smith Show Their Strengths at Milan Fashion Week

On the second day of Milan Fashion Week, Dolce & Gabbana showcased their signature "molto sexy" Italian aesthetic, brimming with la dolce vita. The runway featured clingy muscle vests and micro shorts that made regular shorts look modest; some models were even topless. Jeans were ripped, shredded, or embellished with sparkling jewels, while T-shirts bore giant prints of Sicilian lemons, ancient amphitheaters, and a mosaic depiction of Christ.

This was the brand's first men's collection since a controversial all-white casting earlier this year, and its first show since Stefano Gabbana stepped down as chairman. In March, it was announced that Gabbana had resigned in December. In January, former Gucci CEO Stefano Cantino was appointed co-CEO alongside Alfonso Dolce. Gabbana remains co-creative director.

Despite red-carpet success with fans like Colman Domingo, Patrick Schwarzenegger, and Ryan Gosling, the house is grappling with a £391 million debt pile. Reports this week suggest the brand is considering a sale-and-leaseback of several properties in Milan to negotiate with creditors.

Later that day, British designer Paul Smith, who has been showing in Milan since 2025, presented his specialty: suits. Backstage, Smith attributed the suit's resurgence to young people not wanting to dress like their Gen X fathers. "A lot of our customers grew up with their dads wearing hoodies during the pandemic," Smith said. "Those kids are now 18–25 years old and don’t want to look like their dad. They want to smarten up."

He pointed to Harry Styles, who shifted from flamboyant stage outfits to pared-back tailoring for his latest tour, as embodying the trend. Smith, who turns 80 next month, said his younger team mined 80s and late 90s tailoring references from his Nottingham archive, which holds over 5,000 pieces.

Smith emphasized that suits often evoke formality, funerals, or weddings. "A lot of what we try to do is show how it can be more relaxed," he said, noting rolled cuffs, popped collars, and untucked shirts. The runway also featured unbuttoned waistcoats and shirts revealing skin. Smith, who still works at his London Albemarle Street store on Saturday afternoons, described his suits as "a bit different" with "perceived value," citing pad stitching for fabric contouring, lightweight non-creasing fabrics, and quirky details like crocodile-eye buttons and lapel pins inspired by teaspoons or sardines.