Feather crowns, lingerie and CEOs: SS24 street style from Milan

At Milan Fashion Week, visitors showed themselves in all their different facets. Some played with their sex appeal and showed skin, while others experimented with layers and silhouettes. Stiff suits joined birds of paradise and casual looks.

Laces and all-white looks

Like the tight programme of MFW, some visitors appeared to be pulling in a similar direction, having agreed on two things: choosing a look in shades of white and cream, and lace-ups being a defining detail of an outfit. The laces were typically place front-and-centre, equivalent to a corsage, but for some pieces, such as skirts and trousers, they were also used as an asymmetrical detail sitting slightly to the side.

Some attendees used lacing for close-fitting pieces to create a straighter, body-hugging silhouette, while others used the space to style other pieces around it that contrasted the tight base.

CEO of street style

Power suits, which often stand out for their radiant colours, were already a popular look in womenswear for previous seasons, often styled without any directly visible layering and thus playing with the mix of strong charisma and sexiness. This season, however, the suit was combined with a tie and shirt, in a more dressed-down way and could also be found in more restrained choices of colour. This created the a more serious and sublime appearance.

Wearers combined this look with a pointed shoe that was tone-in-tone but still contrasted with the suit. With long hair, a tight braid reinforced the severity of the look, while short hair could be pulled back.

Lingerie

Maintaining its popularity and likely offering a much more comfortable alternative to the stiff suit was the ongoing lingerie trend. Here, nightwear became the focal point of the outfit – as it did for Dolce & Gabbana on the runway. For knee- or floor-length dresses, the silky piece could already make up the entire look in combination with a pair of high heels. A jacket could also be styled around it to make the outfit slightly more dressy. Transparent nightdresses that highlighted the underwear worn underneath were also on show. Knee-length stockings with bows and long gloves refined the look.

Wild hats

Whoever thought that the cowboys and cowgirls were already wild with their hats for the street style looks of the men’s fashion weeks should now hold on tight to the saddle. In Milan, some visitors went one step further and showed up in the gaudiest headwear with chaotic patterns and details. From a cowboy hat with wild feather trim to a sun hat with a combination of leopard and colour explosion to an entirely plush fuzzy hat, colour was definitely the focal point.

And it didn’t stop there. While these pieces were statements in their own right, attendees also applied the colour scheme of their respective hats to the entire look – following the motto: ‘more is more’ – and played with different patterns, colours and silhouettes.

Casual cardigans

Even in Milan, summer seemed to be slowly coming to an end as the days begin to get colder. This is why many of the first visitors to fashion week showed up in their oversized, cosy cardigans. As a casual look, this could be combined with a single top and wide jeans or a simple skirt. Alternatively, the cardigan can be worn slightly closed over a T-shirt. No matter which look was preferred, one thing was certain: the cardigan must have horizontal stripes.

Head scarves

Looks were also very different for this trend, where a tight bonnet took centre stage. Whether coarsely knitted or as a shimmering addition to the outfit, street style showed the most diverse facets of this type of headgear, which was combined with different types of dresses but also with a casual outfit of a simple top and kilt.