Without making overt declarations, Milanese designers have conveyed through their collections their worry over the current state of unrest around the world.

MILAN: Milanese designers used their designs to subtly convey their concern about the current state of unrest throughout the world.

According to Miuccia Prada, she wished to convey hope.

“I think it was the right thing to do, even in these difficult times,” she remarked backstage during the Prada event. She’s not advocating for escape. “I eventually make a constructive suggestion, but I don’t like escapism.”

The designers of Simon Cracker, a company founded 14 years ago to offer recycled designs in opposition to the dominant fashion system, stated that it would be “irresponsible” to not use the platform to remark on the situation of the world.

“A Matter of Principle” is the collection’s dedication to “the children victims of matters of principle.”

Following Sunday’s third day of mostly menswear previews for Spring/Summer 2025, here are some highlights:

The concept of imperfection is explored in the Prada menswear line. All is not as it seems, though.

Hoodies, jackets, and shirts appear cropped rather than shrunken. Three-quarter sleeves are found on overcoats. It’s a worn-out, inexplicably inherited wardrobe. Creases are as much a part of the construction as a pleat. Wires hold pointed shirt collars high. Faux belts on trousers are low, sitting below the waist. Additionally, belts are used to adorn bags as if to seal them.

Playing with the idea of the real against the phony, as co-creative director of the brand alongside Raf Simons, Miuccia Prada stated, “is very contemporary,” calling such elements “an invitation to take a closer look at the clothes.”

The designers noted that the vibrant green cardigan, the floral shirt, and the turquoise coat indicate a mother’s or grandmother’s outfit, breaking up the neutral color scheme. To layer, arrange pieces with cuts of inverted triangles aligned up.

Backstage, Simons remarked, “We wanted (the collection) to be already alive, as if clothes you already lived with.”

Models for Prada appeared from a plain white hut and descended a runway surrounded by a white picket fence to enter the showroom. The scene is described by the designers as both youthful and utopian.

According to Prada, “youth is the hope and the future here.” “At this time, we felt it was important to encourage young people to consider our world as well.”

A world full of knots that need to be untied, just like the ones keeping the most recent Simon Cracker line of largely repurposed clothing together.

Designers Filippo Biraghi and Simone Botte put together their collection of reused garment castoffs for Spring/Summer 2025. They used drawstrings and laces to make dresses out of knitwear, skirts out of tennis shirt sections, and jackets that were restructured. Every component is distinct.

Through dying, the “nervous” color palette of acid green, sea blue, violet, and black was created. Each material responded to the dyeing process differently.

Behind the scenes, Biraghi remarked, “It is a way of recounting what is happening in the world, without being too explicit.” “It would be reckless not to engage in politics at this time.”

The name of the 14-year-old brand is intended to suggest that there is a flaw or crack in the fashion system. Using abandoned or neglected clothing and deadstock fabrics—this time from the Italian sportswear brand Australian—they accept imperfection as a feature of their creations’ beauty.

Australian, which is becoming more and more popular with clubgoers, also produced a technological and black neon capsule collection of clothing for Simon Cracker, its first manufacturing line. The shoes were donated by Doc Martens, and the designers embellished them with costume jewelry, badges, and pins.

The soft and spongy clothing in JW Anderson’s warm weather collection for men and women cocoons the form, which is an odd decision given the planet’s growing temperatures. Real Sleep, the collection’s apparent motto on tees, jackets, and sweaters, might be interpreted as a guide to surviving in the real world.

According to the Northern Irish designer, the humorous collection “played with this idea of miniature scale and maximum scale” following the presentation. Large quilted jackets led the way, giving way to large cashmere balls filled with yarn, each in triplicate.

With intarsia windows and doors, Anderson’s small rendition of Georgian terraced residences and country cottages was displayed on the front of knitwear.

Sweatshirts with pillows seemed sturdy enough to break a fall. Large, vibrant silken balloon-like shapes were deflated on coats, giving the impression that there is too much in the world. If that’s the case, find solace in a cheerful pint of Guinness; the Irish stout is highlighted in a capsule collection that features humorous pictures of a promotion for knitwear from the previous century.

As for the attire, Anderson said he was experimenting with “the idea of permissiveness.” We believe that telling stories is what we do best.”