Milan Men’s SS20
By Jo Phillips
For the Men’s SS20 in Milan, A Cold Wall presented a signature collection, continuing the brand’s narrative by supporting designs made from durable textiles and raw fibres. The pieces experimented with bolder colours as well; their affinity for clay and cement colours stood out in many of the looks. The clever use of the colour palette to demonstrate how streetwear like hoodies can be hoisted as sophisticated clothing is noteworthy. The sculptural metalwork that appeared in several outfits was inspired by artist director Samuel Ross’s personal experience which he later revealed, “They’re clamped pieces of lead. My father is a Central Saint Martins–trained stained glass artist, the only black one in the country.”
What if the Chinese infused their culture in Western design? This question was not only etched on a top-to-bottom fiery red runway but also in the mind of Caten twins’, the founder brothers as they crafted the perfect answer for Milan show. D-Squared’s collection was inspired by Bruce Lee and China, apparent from their origami paper animal patterns, Bruce Lee printed t-shirt and silk kimono. The standout from their collection was a corseted leather jumpsuit paired with harem pants that brought the Italian roots to mind. Together, it all created one of the most ready-to-wear collections from the brand with bold graphics and vivid Asian colour palette.
Based on tropical Sicily, this jungle-themed collection had lots of palm leaf prints, fruit prints and cheetah prints moving the loose cargo pants and short-sleeved button-up shirts into vacation mode. The silhouettes were loose and baggy but with a distinctive waist typically tucked in shirt or cinched with a leather belt. Lots of khaki colour was presented as the base of the collection with pops of green, electric blue, yellow and orange.
Entitled Desert Saga, this collection follows a Star Wars-theme yet utilises native prints and colours. Influenced by the Indian, Persian and Mauritian cultures, this line had ranges of dust colours in browns and tans mixed with pops of deep reds and burnt yellows. The line mixed Western-styled structured blazers and vests with loose shirts styled with hanging fabrics. The native style also had a strong emphasis on the poncho, styled with loose pants and sandals and long necklaces.
Inspired by gardening, Fendi’s new collection utilises a natural colour palette of olives, tans, washed-out pinks and yellows. The silhouettes were loose and over-sized, gardening tool bags and bucket hats were added to style the looks. The outfits were created with lots of layering of shirts overcoats and button-downs shirts tucked in and belted to loose cargo style pants.
This collection features muted tones of blues, browns, blacks and greys surrounding sharp tailored suits and jackets. The focus for the collection was structured tailoring, with an emphasis on suit jackets and trousers with sharp-angled button-down shirts. Linen and checkered patterned jacquard fabrics were the standouts of these classic but futuristic line. The men were styled with aviator-style black sunglasses with duffle and laptop bags.
An imaginary wedding between Truman Capote and Ernesto Guevara was the theme for this runway that featured lots of tailored suits, mixed matched patterns and bold colours. The palette was full of blacks, navy, creams, electric blues and oranges. The prominence of camouflage, stripes and floral patterns were all mixed to create the youthful and fun three-piece suits and trousers with layered polos and utility suits. The models were styled with straw or linen hats that further amplified the fun fantasy wedding inspiration.
Missoni’s 70s inspired collection mixed prints with burnt oranges, browns, blues, greys and navy blues. Known for mixing patterns to create eclectic looks – vertical and horizontal stripes with floral and checkered patterns. Missoni’s vision was present in the knitwear and jacquard sweater fabrics to create tailored suits.
Focusing on a more youthful style with this collection rather than his usual minimalistic approach, Barrett mixes colours and prints to give the boxy button-up shirts and loose Bermuda style shirts a fun feel. To amp up the youth style, Barrett used a lot of sports jersey styled shirts and tank tops underneath monochromatic matching tailored jackets and shorts. The colour palette ranged from whites, creams, tans, blacks to Aquas, electric blues and yellows. Barrett mixed sportswear with workwear in the loose silhouettes of his track pants and sports jersey tops with tailored jackets and suits.
Inspired by the rocker-chic aesthetic and the band KISS, which was printed onto many T-shirts and hoodies, this collection was mainly made up of the colour black with pops of electric blue and red. The collection used lots of mesh, leather, chain, sequins, and spikes to bring out the punk-rock style of blazers, hoodies, trousers and jean jackets. Models were often styled with sequinned skull bandanas covering their mouths or folded and wrapped around their forehead. The leather jacket and band T-shirt or hoodie was the main staple of the show for the men. The silhouettes were often loose tops with tighter pants.
This collection featured different proportioned clothes mix-matched to create the youthful yet classic designs. The collection had twills, tweeds, shirting, sportswear in ranges of colour from blacks, tans, navy blues, light blue stripes, oranges and reds. The monochromatic looks were broken up with colour blocking jackets with detachable pocket utility jackets. The line also featured a combination of oversized cropped leather jackets mixed with long button-down shirts.
The line featured a lot of black leather and jersey suits to create the classic silhouettes with fun and modern twists of mixing patterns and colours. Cheetah, cartoon and psychedelic prints were mixed together to form the trench coats and suits. The silhouettes were oversized jackets and tops with loose straight-legged pants. There were often models styled with Versace logo t-shirts and hoodies underneath their leather trench coats, suit jackets or dark jean jackets. The line ranged in colour from blacks, neon greens and pinks, to light blues and pastel mints.
