The second day of the women’s ready-to-wear runway shows at Milan Fashion Week focused more than ever on virtuoso craftsmanship. But classic Italian artisanal expertise was reinterpreted with a contemporary vibe, incorporating new techniques. Especially in textile research. For next winter, designers have vied for creativity by experimenting on shapes and materials, as notably demonstrated by the collections of Diesel, Antonio Marras and Rambaldi.

Diesel’s Fall/Winter 2025-26 collection has picked up the thread introduced the previous season. Zombie-eyed models stared at the audience with the same disquieting gaze as in September, occasionally sporting day-glo Joker grins. Only the setting was new: this time, the huge hangar hosting the show was panelled with miles of graffiti’d canvas, which also covered a gigantic inflatable sculpture.

A few months ago, the jeans label owned by Renzo Rosso’s fashion group OTB called on graffiti artists from eight countries (China, UAE, India, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and the USA), from beginners to street-art legends, to participate in the Diesel Global Street Art Project, gathering together the world’s largest urban art collective. In total, 7,000 talented taggers gave free rein to their creativity, designing a series of graphic works which, assembled end-to-end, added up to 3,200 square metres of canvas in total. With the invitation, in the form of a can of spray paint, the guests were able to complete the décor doing a little bit of tagging of their own.

Designer Glenn Martens, who has recently taken charge of Maison Margiela, put all his ingenuity into developing new textures, shapes and constructions, through highly impressive research work. A classic denim jacket was lengthened into an overcoat. Martens dropped the waistline in skirts, trousers and jeans which seemed to hang miraculously at buttocks height, thanks to elastic belts and ad hoc underwear. Sensuality guaranteed, especially when male models donned their jeans under a bare chest, giving a glimpse of their derrières.

See catwalk

Martens was not afraid to jettison all-denim looks as he vigorously overhauled the OTB flagship label’s wardrobe, adding a dash of sophistication and modernity. He certainly has a thing for neoprene, which he used to make sharply fashioned, laser-cut black coats, but his limitless inventiveness was most evident in the fabric treatments he presented.

He used materials with worn, frayed, brushed, felted and bouclé effects, stressing the fabrics in every way possible to create dévoré looks. The fabric in some houndstooth wool sets seemed to pale and fade away in places, or even dissolve after being slashed and frayed, sometimes taking on a shaggy appearance. A denim top with shorts turned out to be a tracery of rainbow-coloured threads. Leather shirts and jackets featured corkscrew pleats, as if they had just been wrung out.
 
The front of a crumpled shirt was printed on a huge plaster glued to the torso. Elsewhere, tweed outfits were matched with printed leggings reproducing exactly the same texture. Trompe l’œil effects were indeed the collection’s centrepiece, in a medley of sizes, lengths, types of materials and garments, etc. The most striking item was a breathtaking cable-knit sweater made in flesh-coloured silicone, open onto a make-believe hairy chest! It is bound to be a smash hit.

See catwalk

At Antonio Marras, elegance rhymed with passion. With his sophisticated, sensitive fashion, the Sardinian designer knows how to raise the temperature. And it was no coincidence that Sharon Stone, the unforgettable Basic Instinct actress, was among the guests.

Perched on stiletto-heeled boots, their mouths painted crimson red and hair swept up in sparkling bejewelled buns, the models strode along the long runway clad in ultra-chic night-black looks, arms and legs covered with gloves and black lace stockings. Sometimes, there was a glimpse of a bare shoulder, as a jacket’s or a sweater’s sleeve slid down an arm.

The attitude was proud, defined by mid-length suits, tight-fitting dresses, straight skirts slit at the front, coats in sumptuous fabrics, and flowing trousers sets. Black was the dominant colour, featured in all kinds of fabrics – damask silk, brocade and velvet – and of treatments: floral fabric appliqué, embroidered micro pearls, panels, prints, jacquard, even patchwork assemblages of menswear fabrics in tartan and Prince of Wales checks.

Double rows of ruffles at the bottom of some dresses and skirts, long pleated skirts, slits, layered lightweight fabrics: they all contributed to add motion to the silhouette, which Marras undoubtedly imagined as coming to life in a tango’s body-to-body contact.

Sensuality was clearly felt, even in a simple outfit like the retro floral summer dress slipped over a cute neon yellow mohair sweater. The men’s looks were instead more casual, featuring comfortable suits, woollen long-johns, casual tops and sweatshirts.

See catwalk

For next winter, Rambaldi has designed a highly elegant collection with a vintage mood. The looks focused on tradition and the maternal figure, skilfully blending second-hand and upcycled items with contemporary creations, such as the knitted dresses and sweaters in a lozenge chequerboard pattern mixing 3D-knitted grey wool sections and old white crochet placemats.

The vintage items were identified with a special label bearing the inscription ‘Rambaldi Out of the Closet’, and fitted harmoniously within the collection. For example, the old stiff leather jacket that belonged to Rambaldi’s father, and the jumpsuit transformed into a pleated lace skirt. As well as a few classic pinstripe trousers and jackets.

The lozenge theme was also printed on nylon skirts and, in XXL size, on some knitted dresses, and in other items inspired by typical Icelandic knitting techniques. Wool and knitwear, the label’s core business, also featured in a series of highly appealing knitted handbags.

Rambaldi, who staged his show in the huge covered space of Milan’s wholesale flower market, had fun playing with sleeves. Some were knotted around the neck as a tie, others fitted around the chest forming an original flesh-coloured nylon top, or around the waist in sarong skirt style.