From Prada to Dunhill, Paul Smith, Tod’s, Dolce and Gabbana, and Giorgio Armani, Menswear Spring Summer 2026 Milan Fashion Week sent out relaxed, joyful collections; the collections highlighted bold colors, inspirations from introspection, strong talent, and returning to the basics.
Prada, Menswear Spring Summer 2026 Milan Fashion Week
Menswear Spring Summer 2026 Milan Fashion Week arrived with a quiet cultural recalibration. This season saw fashion brands take a step back from theatricals to explore softness, introspection, and a return to authenticity. From Prada’s rejection of aggression to Paul Smith’s celebration of curiosity and craft, the mood was one of reflective optimism. As power dressing gives way to gentle, emotionally resonant aesthetics, Milan becomes a mirror of the times — and the menswear runway, its most expressive voice.
“The most important thing for us was a change of tone: an invitation to embrace gentleness,” Miuccia Prada told journalists after the showing. “Basically, the opposite of aggression, power, nastiness, which seems to not interest me right now.”
In this shifting environment, legacy houses offered collections steeped in emotion, function, and fine tailoring. Prada led with instinctive minimalism; Dolce & Gabbana reimagined a luxurious visual language; and Armani invited wanderlust with airy silhouettes and traveller-inspired tailoring. Meanwhile, British brands Dunhill and Paul Smith brought a sense of storytelling through vintage and cultural references. Across the board, the collections signalled a directional pivot in menswear: away from dominance, towards grace.
Prada
‘A Change of Tone’, Prada Spring Summer 2026 Menswear by Miuccia Prada and Raf Simons, presented at Fondazione Prada Deposito in Milan, signals a dismantling of power. The show — attended by Lee Do-hyun, Sana, Anthony Edwards, Benedict Cumberbatch, Will Poulter, and Harris Dickinson — featured dishevelled suiting, micro shorts, military shirts, striped tracksuits, and hut-shaped intrecciato hats. Elsewhere, there were double-breasted tailoring, mackintosh jackets, and roll-neck sweaters.
For footwear, there were loafers in bright colours worn with long socks, sandals and boat shoes. And, straw hats and bright raffia headpieces in cone shapes. “This is the first time the Fondazione is completely bare, with the light coming in,” Raf Simons told Wallpaper. “We wanted to show something in this moment that, hopefully, feels positive and balanced. Sometimes it’s good to reflect and be a little bit more calm.” More directly, Mrs Prada said it was about a rejection of ‘useless, complicated ideas’. “This was not conceptual, it was more instinctive,” she continued, in an echo of recent seasons.
Dolce&Gabbana
Dolce&Gabbana: an universe within a definition. A world made up of sensations, traditions, culture and a Mediterranean nature. For Spring Summer 2026 Menswear held at the Maison’s Metropol venue in central Milan, Stefano Gabbana and Domenico Dolce focused on the cotton jacquard pyjama with vertical stripes and a classic Made In Italy aesthetic.
In the showing titled “Pyjama Boys”, this took the shape of loungewear and versatile, slouchy separates, trousers with pleats and wide hems, shirts and jackets with oversized stripes, and leather pieces inspired by the 1980s. Softness was another theme with fluffy parkas, cotton-jersey Henleys and gelato pastels while the closing looks saw pyjama sets with hand-finished crystals and floral embroidery. One of the standouts were the accessories, with cameo brooches, glimmering pins, rosaries and stone necklaces.
Emporio Armani
Nobody captures easy elegance better than Giorgio Armani. Staged on a runway of sunbaked tiles, this collection was about the fantasy of travel and escape – a perennial theme of the designer’s summer collections. There was a shift towards fluidity, marking a departure from their typical suiting. Double-breasted jackets with shawl collars were shortened, voluminous trousers were ruched at the ankle or hung loosely towards the floor, and tasselled jacquard jackets made an impression.
Giorgio Armani was not present; the ninety-year-old designer “worked with his usual dedication on the collections that will be presented [and] although he cannot be there in person, he will closely follow every phase of the shows,” according to a statement from the luxury fashion brand. Leo Dell’Orco, head of menswear design, took his place at the end of the show.
Emporio Armani, Menswear Spring Summer 2026 Milan Fashion Week
Dunhill
Dunhill is one of the British brands that moved to Milan this season. Filmed within the gardens of Giardini Poldi Pezzoli in Milan, Dunhill Spring Summer 2026 creatively helmed by Simon Holloway unfolded with soft tailoring, regal charm and Sixties-Seventies hedonism. From lightweight Glen checks to summer blazers and eighteenth-century-inspired floral waistcoats styled with irreverent charm, the collection reflected the brand’s classic tailoring codes of craftsmanship, regal character and quiet rebellion.
Tod’s
At Tod’s, designer Matteo Tamburini leaned into unfussy pieces that had polished appeal. Describing the collection to CNN as “relaxed elegance with a little touch of sportswear,” Tamburini used materials, such as compact linen, crepe cotton and ultra-light wool, that he felt would be comfortable to move around in, reflecting high-quality craftsmanship, refined elegance and functionality for the contemporary lifestyle.
Paul Smith
British menswear brand Paul Smith made its Milan debut with a show that championed positivity, curiosity, and creativity. These qualities underpin Paul Smith design, be it a shirt, a store, or a collaboration. Flea markets and vintage relics and a book of Cairo street photography were referenced. Dismissing a traditional runway, the show took on the ambience of a European marketplace and guests, including actors Will Poulter and Daryl McCormack, sat on blue food crates from farmer’s markets.
The Paul Smith SS26 collection takes inspiration from Paul’s lifelong love of travel. A rich palette of sun-faded tones, hand-made collages, and vintage-inspired tailoring tell the story of a seasoned traveller. Among the key looks were pinstripe suiting, linen essentials and embroidered motifs on tops and outerwear. Silhouettes nodded to 1950s tailoring, with jackets cropped and trousers high-waisted, with leather appliqué birds, florals, and photographic collages on shirts, outerwear and ties.
Per Wallpaper: “Surprisingly intimate for a label of its scale, the salon format allowed models to meander through the space, offering a close-up look at accessories that winked at the art of souvenir hunting – such as hotel room key fobs that became charms dangling from leather belts, berets, and net bags filled with fresh veg. Few designers could pull off such a maximalist assemblage of ideas, but a bold eclecticism has been Smith’s first language since founding his brand in 1970.”
Jasmeen Dugal is Associate Editor at FashionABC, contributing her insights on fashion, technology, and sustainability. She brings with herself more than two decades of editorial experience, working for national newspapers and luxury magazines in India.
Jasmeen Dugal has worked with exchange4media as a senior writer contributing articles on the country’s advertising and marketing movements, and then with Condenast India as Net Editor where she helmed Vogue India’s official website in terms of design, layout and daily content. Besides this, she is also an entrepreneur running her own luxury portal, Explosivefashion, which highlights the latest in luxury fashion and hospitality.
