The Trends Spotted by Retailers

Milan Men’s Fashion Week is known as an epicenter of commercial but still directional menswear — and this season was no different.

For spring 2025, retailers praised the collections of Prada, Zegna, Gucci and Giorgio Armani, among others. When talking about trends, they all agreed on soft tailoring, destination dressing, earth tones and technical outerwear as the key messages of the season. 

Let’s start with the biggest sartorial trend, lightweight tailoring, many in breezy fabrics such as linen, organza, soft wool also blended with cotton or cashmere and silks for more of a lush aesthetic.

“I’m seeing a ton of fisherman sandals and lightweight tailoring for warmer seasons. It’s great that men are getting dressed again but finding ways to do it while beating the heat,” said Jian DeLeon, men’s fashion director at Nordstrom.

“In terms of fabrics, everything seemed pretty light this season, a lot of linen, seersucker, organza, mesh, soft wool,” confirmed Raphaël Deray, buying manager for men’s luxury and designers at Printemps.

“Tailoring is important, as always, but again I feel there is a softness and fluidity, trousers are pleat front with a wider fit, blazers are longer line and relaxed and often styled back to a spread collar shirt, which feels fresh and not literal,” said Sophie Jordan, menswear buying director at Mytheresa. 

“Destination dressing was a big focus, with many collections featuring elegant, easy Italian Riviera-inspired looks,” affirmed Bruce Pask, senior editorial director at Neiman Marcus. 

Young-Su Kim, the divisional merchandise manager for men’s at Bergdorf Goodman, echoed Pask, saying: “A reference for many of the designers was a seaside escape and an ode to the Riviera.”

Outdoor-ready garments were strong this season. “The collections showcased outdoor-ready garments, trenches, nylon jackets and vests that offered a sporty-luxe element for the city-to-town guy,” stated Reginald Christian, menswear senior fashion manager at Saks. 

“The most represented item was the classic trenchcoat seen in different fabrics, colors and length,” said the buying and merchandising director at Rinascente, Giuseppe D’Amato. 

Earthy tones like terra-cotta, sage and sun-faded shades were prevalent and set the color palette for spring 2025. Deray said, “We saw a lot of earthy tones (charcoal, terracotta, sage).”

“Effortless tailoring from Giorgio Armani, Dolce, Eleventy and Zegna was seen through unlined deconstructed jackets in cashmere, linen yarns and washed silks, done in sun-dried tropical colors of rose, sage and apricot anchored in rich shades of navy, ivory and mocha,” confirmed Joseph Tang, fashion director at Holt Renfrew.

“A soothing, gentle color palette carried throughout most collections, from Brunello Cucinelli to Kiton. These soft shades weren’t pastels, but chalkier, sun-faded tones that added versatility and ease in mixing wardrobe pieces. Sage green was especially prevalent and looked very fresh,” said Pask.